Bigfoot, Nessie, and Dung Beetles

They're out there! If you claim to spot one, your friends might think you should also wear a tinfoil hat to protect you from alien mind control. Most claim they're fictional, just something to talk about over one too many beers, or to scare children with around a campfire. But I have the evidence and this weekend I'm pretty sure I saw one. I recognized it because I've been visited before.

That's right. I've been visited by dung beetles. The evidence is all around me, or rather the evidence is what isn't all around me. We have four adult dogs, two of which are rather large Labrador Retrievers. To walk in our grass, the same grass the dogs walk and do their duty in, you'd think we might have goldfish or parakeets. There is no sign of the 60 pounds of monthly dog food we go through, or rather goes through the dogs.

I had a similar visitation when I lived in Oklahoma. During summer months the canine waste would disappear overnight. It was a mystery that seemed to defy logical deduction, until one evening when I actually saw the culprit at work. A small black beetle was pushing a large round ball of dog dung through the dried grass with its obviously-strong rear legs. It was exactly like a National Geographic film I had seen years before of the Scarabs in the desert pushing dung balls through the sand. Sure Asia would have dung beetles, but I was amazed to see one in Colorado.

Earthlife.net reports there are 7,000 species of dung beetles worldwide. They fall into three categories: rollers, tunnelers, and dwellers, depending on what they do with their dung. Based on my previous observation I suspect we play host to a species of roller. And there must be hundreds or more living nearby. In the winter, the evidence of our dogs leaves no doubt as to their diet. After the snow melted this spring, it took hours to clean up their winter waste. When we lived in the city, it was a year-round task. But after our move to the country and with the warming of the soil, this regular activity faded from my chore list.

A search through the internet finds many articles about African beetles, a few European beetles, South American beetles, and the famous importation of beetles to Australia to cleanup the millions of tons of cattle waste, but barely a word about what we have in the United States. Discoverlife.org says North America has about 75 species of Scarabaeinae. Wikipedia says that the American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles save the US cattle industry $380 million annually by burying livestock feces (actually misspelled on the site, so who knows if it's true.)

All I know for sure is I've seen little black beetles hiding in my yard and I haven't had to clean up after the dogs for four months. It's possible that Bigfoot is doing the work for me after I go to bed, but I believe the answer is even more mysterious: little insects are rolling balls of poop into their subterranean homes to share with their mates and offspring. Believe it! It's true!

They're out there! If you claim to spot one, your friends might think you should also wear a tinfoil hat to protect you from alien mind control. Most claim they're fictional, just something to talk about over one too many beers, or to scare children with around a campfire. But I have the evidence and this weekend I'm pretty sure I saw one. I recognized it because I've been visited before.

That's right. I've been visited by dung beetles. The evidence is all around me, or rather the evidence is what isn't all around me. We have four adult dogs, two of which are rather large Labrador Retrievers. To walk in our grass, the same grass the dogs walk and do their duty in, you'd think we might have goldfish or parakeets. There is no sign of the 60 pounds of monthly dog food we go through, or rather goes through the dogs.

I had a similar visitation when I lived in Oklahoma. During summer months the canine waste would disappear overnight. It was a mystery that seemed to defy logical deduction, until one evening when I actually saw the culprit at work. A small black beetle was pushing a large round ball of dog dung through the dried grass with its obviously-strong rear legs. It was exactly like a National Geographic film I had seen years before of the Scarabs in the desert pushing dung balls through the sand. Sure Asia would have dung beetles, but I was amazed to see one in Colorado.

Earthlife.net reports there are 7,000 species of dung beetles worldwide. They fall into three categories: rollers, tunnelers, and dwellers, depending on what they do with their dung. Based on my previous observation I suspect we play host to a species of roller. And there must be hundreds or more living nearby. In the winter, the evidence of our dogs leaves no doubt as to their diet. After the snow melted this spring, it took hours to clean up their winter waste. When we lived in the city, it was a year-round task. But after our move to the country and with the warming of the soil, this regular activity faded from my chore list.

A search through the internet finds many articles about African beetles, a few European beetles, South American beetles, and the famous importation of beetles to Australia to cleanup the millions of tons of cattle waste, but barely a word about what we have in the United States. Discoverlife.org says North America has about 75 species of Scarabaeinae. Wikipedia says that the American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles save the US cattle industry $380 million annually by burying livestock feces (actually misspelled on the site, so who knows if it's true.)

All I know for sure is I've seen little black beetles hiding in my yard and I haven't had to clean up after the dogs for four months. It's possible that Bigfoot is doing the work for me after I go to bed, but I believe the answer is even more mysterious: little insects are rolling balls of poop into their subterranean homes to share with their mates and offspring. Believe it! It's true!