Mother:    "Hey baby!'
Baby:       "Hey Mama"
Mother :   "There's something very important now that you need to know."
Baby:       "What's that Mama?"
Mama:     "Well, Sugar, we are animals called ruminants."
Baby:       "What's a ruminant, Mama?"
Mother:    "That means we're animals with four stomachs and when we
                   swallow our food we bring it back up to chew once again. Just
                   like that cow over there chewing its cud."
Baby:       "Are there very many of us, Mama?"
Mama:     "Oh darlin', there sure are. Hey all of you ruminants, say hi to
                  my little one here!   
Mama:     "Now you listen up dumplin' as we sing you this song."

Chorus:
Do the ruminant chew, then chew it once again
Do the ruminant chew, we'll be grazin' with our friends
Do the ruminant chew, this life is great
Do the ruminant chew, we love to ruminate.

I'd rather be a ruminant than waste my day
Wearing myself down in search of runaway prey
Everything we need is underneath our feet
There's plenty of food for all of us to eat

(chorus)

I'm a bison and I like some tasty grass
You can tell I eat a lot by the size of the scat I pass
My dinners never done from dawn to setting sun
I guess that's why I weigh over one ton

(chorus)

I'm a pronghorn and I roam out on the open prairie
If danger comes along my sharp eyes they can see
60miles an hour, baby, is the speed my feet can move
but browsing on the sage is the way I'd rather groove and 

(chorus)

I'm a moose and I can choose what I like to chew most
Everyday I put away ten pounds of fresh cellulose
I'm the largest deer here, the largest deer you'll ever see
Come down toe the march and chew some rumen with me.

We'll (chorus)

Bison, elk and antelope, moose, goats, sheep and deer
We're the ruminant chew you can see us everywhere
On the prairie, in the meadow, or the marsh knee deep in mud
If you can see us chew, well we're chewin' our cud. 

Let's (chorus)
Let's chew!  

© The Banana Slug String Band . All rights reserved. Used with permission.