While brushing my teeth this evening, I spotted a CARRION BEETLE nonchalantly walking across our hallway!!!!! It's Nicrophorus investigator, which translates to "i thrive on eating DEAD animals!"
It also goes by the name Sexton beetle (English) or Doodgraver (Dutch) - meaning "dead digger". This particular beetle was infested with tons of tiny, reddish-colored Gamasid mites, which apparently are harmless to the beetle, but look kinda creepy to the unknowing.
After putting it into one of our plastic insect houses, Phoebe's first question was, "what can we feed it?" I can already see she's hoping to keep it as a pet, but that would entail finding dead animals. At least that's cheaper than a trip to the pet shop to buy food. Oh no, is Stijn's Dutch frugality rubbing off on me?
I'm thinking .... Hmmmmmmmm ...... this could be my new angle for coaxing them into walking in the woods! We could design a scavenger hunt (ha ha ha, no pun intended) to see who can find the most animal carcasses ... but i wonder how fresh they have to be.
Just this evening, Phoebe talked about how she missed Dudley, the dung beetle, and how we provided a happy home for him for 6 months - funny what kids remember...
One thing's for sure, when they reminisce about their youth, they're more likely to remember the creepy crawlies we found than the home-baked cookies!
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