Category: Animals

If I were but a turtle who
Had such a shell to crawl into,
I’d close my cover extra tight
And tell the world to fly a kite.

And yet a turtle’s such a wreck
Worrying about his neck.
When mine protrudes, it merely tans,
While his, stuck out, winds up in cans!

by Ray Romine Thursday, October 11, 1951

The alligator’s snout is broad,
The crocodile’s is pointed;
Bugs own six legs, the spiders, eight;
Crustaceans come jointed.

You know birds by their feathers
(Young birds are mostly moss);
Their ears tell you which elephant
You have run across.

The tiger’s coat is mostly stripes;
The leopard’s hide is dotted;
But a skunk you know six blocks away
Without his being spotted…

by Ray Romine Tuesday, October 16, 1951

Quack has a big strong yellow beak;
His downy coat is white and sleek;
He gulps the things he finds to eat;
He wears snowshoes upon his feet;
His language. is a lot of twaddle–
But it’s so cute to see him waddle!

by Ray Romine Sunday, March 29, 1953

Although he’s noted for his leaps,
His wife’s fame’s wider-spread–by heaps:
She was the first to make a showing
Of filling a purse to overflowing.

by Ray Romine Wednesday, September 3, 1952

I’ve read how the rhinoceros
An excellent man-tosser is;
And though you’ve smirked and irked and pried,
You cannot get beneath his hide.

by Ray Romine Thursday, July 22, 1948

Miranda’s cow will give no milk,
In spite of care and bluster grim.
“I’ll give the fool,” M. says, “A week,
And then for sure I’m selling him!”

by Ray Romine Tuesday, November 13, 1951

The hippo is the big boy who
Takes up the most room at the zoo.
His mouth is huge, and yet it’s right
To keep up with his appetite,
For those who feed this fellow say
He eats a haystack every day.
Still, he’s no pig, for he is neat–
He’d rather take a bath than eatJ

by Ray Romine Saturday, February 6, 1954

The Hippo is the fellow who
Fills up a whole tank at the zoo,
For, like the sleekest seal or otter,
He’s very much at home in water.
And if a fellow big as him
Can learn, so can I leamto swim!

by Ray Romine Thursday, September 17, 1953

Halfway between the sharks and crawfish
Exists a creature named the sawfish.
In a lot of jokes he bears the brunt
Because he wears a saw out front
Designed, no doubt, to help a sawfish
Construct a mansion for his squawfish.

by Ray Romine Saturday, October 27, 1951

The octopus pursues the bait
With tentacles which number eight.
He also owns a wicked beak
Designed to tear and not to speak.
Most movies give the guy top billin’
So long as he will play the villain.
Bewildered, though, his best friend begs:
“What has he eight of, arms or legs?”
(It’s difficult for one who loves
The guy. What buy him–shoes or gloves?)

by Ray Romine Saturday, October 27, 1951