Muscular coordination doesn’t always come easily.
I am a muddled millipede;
Which leg is next to go?
With a hundred* legs on either side,
It’s really hard to know.
It’s easy for you humans,
I see you’ve got just four:
One to stand on, one to move,
And two don’t touch the floor!
It takes a lot of practice
In leg coordination
So we can run away from prey
And avoid extermination.
I’ve got a long way still to go,
But I’ll get there in the end,
And then I’ll help clear up your garden,
For millipedes are your friend**.
So please be kind to millipedes.
Remember, if you see
A millipede not moving,
It’s muddled, just like me!
Update!
I’ve heard that they’ve discovered***
A long, thin millipede
With way more legs than I’ve got
(And way more than I need!)
‘Eumillipes persephone’,
A relative Down Under,
Has thirteen hundred legs****, they say.
(Who counted them, I wonder?)
Her problems must be worse than mine:
How does she get around?
(Especially as she’s got no eyes
And lives deep underground.)
She probably eats fungi –
Not something I would eat.
I don’t think she could help me
Sort out my muddled feet…
* Roughly – most are in pairs. Certainly not a thousand!
** Well, sometimes, anyway. They feed on rotting vegetation, but if it dries out they’ll go for living plant material instead.
*** In 2021, in Australia, more than 60 m under the ground
**** Females have 1306, but males have only 818, according to the UK Natural History Museum