The stick insect’s trick

Stick and leaf insects are fantastic mimics. They look like parts of a tree or shrub. Some even have eggs that look like seeds! But they don’t seem to know what a great disguise they have, because they drop to the ground and lie very still when approached. More than 2500 species of leaf and stick insects have been named, but there may be many more waiting to be discovered by a patient entomologist.

The stick insect can roam at large
Because of its fine camouflage
The sharpest eye cannot suspect
That this twig’s actually a live insect!

Behind its well-designed disguise
Which even stumps predator eyes
It wanders ’bout with perfect ease
Both on the ground and tops of trees!

Unafraid of man or beast
Relaxed and free, to say the least
Invisible to every foe
From chameleon to jungle crow!

I wish that I could learn this trick
Of simply looking like a stick
A good escape from people who
You’re not so very keen to view!

Mother snake’s problem

Most snakes lay eggs. Some have living young. Larger snakes like pythons can lay over 100 eggs, but the average rat snake or water snake will lay ten or 20 leathery shelled eggs. Usually, rat burrows or other holes serve as nests for snakes, but king cobras actually build one, with leaves and humus! The female of many species stay with the eggs until they hatch. The snakelings feed on insects, larvae (including mosquito larvae), tadpoles and other small prey until they are ready for bigger things like frogs, rats and mice.

Do you suppose
A mother snake knows
The names of all her children?
It would be tough –
In fact, quite rough,
’Cos she’s got about a zzzzzillion.

No, not that much…
Just twenty or such…
But this also requires a brain!
The snaky mind
Is the simple kind
And names are too much of a strain.

And anyway
They never stay
So why bother to make a list?
They’ll disappear
Without a tear
And Mum will never be missed.

Funny bones

Some lucky animals don’t get fractures when they have a fall, even a bad fall, because they are boneless. On this list are jellyfish, snails, crabs and octopuses. But how do they manage to move? By using other features that Nature has given them. Jellyfish open their “bell” to jet-propel through the water. Snails glide along gracefully on their foot, which is made of muscle and covered with mucus and cilia (small, hair-like structures). Crabs move using their leg joints, which bend sideways. And octopuses, like jellyfish, also use jet propulsion, sucking in and then forcing out water. They steer themselves by aiming the jets of water in a certain direction, depending on where they’re off to.

There are bony things we often say
In many human zones
And one I say, quite commonly,
Is: “I can feel it in my bones.”

But if you’re born an octopus
Or a slimy slug
Sea cucumber, nudibranch
Sea urchin, lady bug –

Then your words, and turn of phrase
“Bones” cannot include
’Cos boneless creatures may perceive
It as very rude

For us it would be very hard
To move without these features
But for the flatworm, or octopus
It’s fine; they’re smarter creatures

Their muscles and their mesoglea
Help them slide and glide,
So do segments filled with liquid
When they need to run and hide

So let’s not think that our patella
Fibula, or humerus,
Makes us superior in any way
To the octopus.

If our bones were confiscated
Even for a day
Could we make the smallest move?
My opinion is: No Way!

Excerpted with permission from Dancing Frogs and Other Creatures in Verse, Zai Whitaker, Talking Cub.