NatteheksJul 13

Part 1/2 Dead Things

So..uhm..I collect dead things. I don't kill them, but if I find dead insects or roadkill, I often bring them home for further study. Larger creatures go in rotting cages to observe carrion beetles and collect skulls and bones later, smaller ones as wet specimens, or if they are dry in airtight containers.
Occasionally the container is not airtight enough or the dry specimen wasn't as dry as I thought, and today something was stinking up the place something awful....

Show threadJon SullivanJul 13
@Natteheks Neat! I expect you’re learning all sorts of interesting things about these species.
Show threadNatteheksJul 13
@joncounts Absolutely! Scavengers are fascinating. The embodiment of waste not, want not.
Burying beetles for instance, coat their meal in antibacterial microbes to protect from harmful bacteria, they salvage nutrients from something we would deem vile and unsanitary and they thrive while performing invaluable ecosystem service.
Gloves, sanitizer and a dab of vicks under the nose helps with the smell of cadaverine and putrescine😂
Show threadJon Sullivan

@Natteheks That reminds me of one of my all-time favourite childrens' books when I was young, "Nature's Smallest Gravedigger". I still have it, so here are some photos from it.

It is all about the life of the American burying beetle, *Nicrophorus americanus*, and, remarkably, it was one in a whole series by Golden Books called Nature's Sanitation Corps.

The book was written by Victoria Cox and Stan Applebaum with illustrations by Dorothea Barlowe and it was published way back in 1974. My Nana gave it to me in 1977 (yes, I'm old).

I still think it's a marvellous book. I like how all the illustrations are accurate depictions of the animals exactly as they are, not simplified down and sanitized for children.

#insects #entomology #scavengers #decomposition #ChildrensBook #nature

Jul 13 at 11:49pmWeb
Show threadNatteheksJul 14
@joncounts Your nan is awesome!!! That book looks so cool, I'll have to see if I can find the series in a bookshop somewhere. They would fit in nicely on my library shelves🙂