Today I thought I'd share a bit of fun (and learning about an iconic African critter) with you, as a certain president has called certain countries s---holes - I'll bet he doesn't know about this critter, which actually does live in a s---hole, no fake news.
We had a chance to visit a small golf estate/game reserve on the edge of Kruger Park just outside of the mining and tourism town of Phalaborwa for a few days after New Year's Day. What a treat for me to see a lot of one of my favourite critters while we were stretching our legs on the pretty much disused golf course.
Catching the critters in the act
Check out the fly sitting on the beetle.
I'm pretty sure that was elephant dung - see the significant portion of the dung which is undigested grass. The other darker poo lying around is probably impala poo. Any bush experts out there are welcome to correct me!
This gives an excellent view of the beetle's pooper-scooper head. What a terrific example of evolution.
And here, the busy beetle is getting the ball into an acceptable round shape.
Teamwork
These two beetles are most likely a male and a female rolling the ball together. See how they share the domestic chores! The ants getting into the act as well.
Video
I managed to grab a quick video of one of the beetles doing its rock 'n roll thing just before it dived into its, er, s---hole. They really move fast.
Fun facts
You can learn some serious facts about dung beetles here and here, and learn some truly fun facts about them here. This last article is really worth the 3-5 minutes it will take of your life. I'll just summarise for you the five things the article says dung beetles do with their dung balls to tantalise you. They...
- eat it
- roll it
- make a packed lunch (!!)
- woo a girlfriend (really, the article is worth reading for this little gem alone)
- chill on it.
Another rather amazing fact is that they've been shown to navigate by the sun as well as the Milky Way.
Not fake news, they really do live in s---holes
So there you have it, folks, he was almost right. Just had the wrong critters. No chance these fascinating creatures would ever want to emigrate from our amazing continent!
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