Anyway, you got the joke all wrong. The elephant doesn't get a thorn in his foot. He gets caught in a net and the squirrel chews through the ropes.
Then, as the squirrel is punking the elephant, THAT'S when the latter steps on a thorn and cries out in pain. Thus the squirrel's admonition to "take it all."
For a creature who never forgets, you sure act retarded.