Francis Duggan Survivors Poems

They have been trapped poisoned, shot and exposed to disease and yet they survive
And this due in part to their sexual drive
One female rabbit can give birth to forty young a year
That they are Nature's survivorsseems obviously clear
...

Crows they are very clever birds indeed
Of any help for their survival from humans they are not in need
Worldwide despite persecution from farmers and gardeners their numbers multiply
That they are Nature's survivors of them none can deny
...

It is said that one breeding female mouse gives birth to forty young a year
Words of the experts on rodents that i read of and hear
Forty young in twelve months does seem quite a lot to me
If this be true the mother mouse has a huge family
...

One might say their own legends in wars they fought in they have made
And from history they will not be allowed for to fade
On every war memorial day and in every war street parade
For the bravery in the name of freedom in war they had displayed
...

To rid the World of them humans their best does try
Rabbits secret of survival is they quickly breed and multiply
They prove costly to farmers and gardeners and leave many in tears
And have survived myxomatosis, clavixal virus, shooting, trapping and poisoning over decades of years
...

The old thistles dying and the young thistles growing
And the thistledown in the warmth of the afternoon are blowing
Above the brown paddocks in the freshening Summer breeze
On a January day of twenty five degrees
...

Where other creatures cannot live the rabbits seem to thrive
And though man wage war against them they somehow still survive
They are prolific breeders and they quickly Multiply
And man has failed to bring about their demise though hard he seemed to try.
...