Do you wish you were an only child?
Do siblings always drive you wild?
Do you dream of being one not three?
Do you think that “me” is better than “we”?

Well spare a thought for mother pig,
Twelve pink parcels make her big.
Then what about poor darling bunny –
Fourteen kids just isn’t funny.

A wood duck lays that many too,
Imagine queuing for the loo!
Or what about that tiny mouse?
Forty yearly fill her house.

And don’t forget the tiger snake
With fifty young, for goodness sake!
But that’s just nothing next to frogs
Who have ten thousand hopping sprogs.

Though bigger families can be charming
The ant’s is really most alarming.
Three million mouths cry and bawl –
Enough to make your poor skin crawl.

So next time you’re driven up the wall
Be thankful yours is rather small.

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Illustration courtesy and copyright Jools Wilson. Thank you!