An elephant is a large animal and a grasshopper a tiny insect. It would be ridiculous, therefore, to try to catch it from an elephant’s back. The elephant is too big and clumsy. It is just as likely to tread on the cricket as chase it, you would not be able to reach down to catch the insect, if you could see it. This proverb means using a tool or approach that is too big or intensive for the task in hand.