Be kindly, gentle, with the hoary toad,
help it whenever to cross the road.
Confused quite often with the frog,
that smooth amphibian can leap a log.
In meadows strolling, keep in mind
mound-maker mole created blind.
Another creature, it’s called a vole
please do not disturb it in its hole.
Field mice have exquisite charm.
to they and dormice do no harm.
Over fields of clover vetch and rye
take delight in fluttering butterfly.
Just think, such creatures, two by two,
in Noah's Ark, it is written, came through
the biblical Deluge and so survive
so long as we allow them all to thrive.
Life would be bleak - Nature bare
if some day we deigned to stare
and to our dismay became aware
of precious species no longer there.
Tobias