Don't test a rattlesnake's rattle.
Don't count the teeth of a shark.
Don't stick your head in the mouth of a bulldog
to find out what's making him bark.

Don't count the stripes on a tiger.
Don't squeeze an elephant's trunk.
Don't pet the scales of a boa constrictor
and don't lift the tail of a skunk.

Don't study spots on a leopard.
Don't check the charge of an eel.
Don't pull the claws on a grizzly bear's paws
regardless of how brave you feel.

Don't pull a porcupine's whiskers.
Don't touch a crocodile's toe.
Learn all you like, but try not to forget:
there are some things you don't need to know.

--Kenn Nesbitt

This poem appears in the book
The Aliens Have Landed at Our School!