Squeaky scavengers

You don’t find small, dead animals in nature very often. They disappear very quickly when the rubbish collectors find them. But if you’re lucky enough to come at the right time, then you will meet the scavengers who specialise in removing dead animals.

Burying beetles are large, black beetles with two pairs of vibrant zigzag stripes on their wings. They are very strong and use their strength to bury dead mice, moles and small birds under the ground, where they then become nurseries and packed lunches for the beetles’ larvae.

It’s totally fine to pick up a burying beetle if you find one. It won’t bite. On the other hand, it can do something which is both funny and disgusting. It can hiss, by pressing air out between the plates of its abdomen, and to make itself seem really disgusting and inedible, it can also spray a special smelly liquid out of its abdomen. This isn’t to say that it smells particularly good to begin with – it does spend most of its time scrabbling around in dead, rotting animals.

Remember to put the beetle back where you found it – and to wash your hands! Many times!!