The poem "How to Tell Wild Animals" by Carolyn Wells is a humorous poem that describes various wild animals and how to identify them. The poem does not deal with any serious theme, but rather focuses on the humorous ways to recognize wild animals. The poet treats even ferocious animals and beasts with a coat of gentle but weird humor. The poem suggests some "dangerous ways" to identify wild animals, and the use of words and emotions are not only humorous but ironical as well. The poet uses language creatively to create the desired poetic effect, such as deliberately misspelling words to create a rhyming effect. Overall, the theme of the poem is to identify and differentiate different animals from one another in a humorous way.