Want to See the Elephant Dung? Dung beetles – they might seem a little unusual as housemates, but once you see them in action it’s a whole different story. They’re amazing and efficient creatures that make their homes in piles of dung, or cow patties. They burrow through the soft feces, and when they find soft lumps they can eat their fill – eating the beetles actually makes the dung pile harder and can make the dung healthier. They do all this work to prepare the environment for a much-awaited, and highly valued, addition: new babies! The first thing baby dung beetles do when they hatch is to come out to the surface, to look for food. Since this is likely to be a new creature, you won’t need a lot of food in the beginning. The babies feed on the dung that beetles have already consumed. These young dung beetles use other dung beetles’ feces to feed. It’s a beautiful symbiotic relationship. The dung beetles will also help in disposing of older piles of dung by eating them, if nothing else, and will eat the eggs of other animals that lay eggs in their dung. In a way, the dung beetles are helping to make the world a cleaner place for future generations. They’re helping the food chain to evolve by making our feces healthier for creatures like us. And as such, they deserve more attention and recognition for doing what they do best: transforming dung into something useful and beautiful. There’s a few species of dung beetles in the U.S. – one of which, Trichodes albipunctatus is found on Long Island, NY. It is found in fields, pastures and stables. In New York, all insects that eat dung fall under the “bogus” insect category, and are not harmful to us at all. We think dung beetles deserve some recognition – if not just for the grossness of their work, then for the amazing job they are doing keeping our environment clear and pest free! If you want to see dung beetles, here’s a couple things you should know: They fly, but are more likely to crawl than walk. Don’t try to catch them if they do fly. The beetle’s common name comes from the way it’s shaped – it resembles an elephant’s trunk. You might see a mother beetle that looks a little different from the rest, as she carries a fertilized egg in her abdomen. This last bit of info is useful to know, because it’s actually easy to get rid of dung beetles – and in some cases, people even go out of their way to do so! When I was at the National Dung Beetle Awareness Center, we actually had a dung beetle exhibit with a video game that let you learn more about dung beetles and even let you experience the different ways of getting rid of them. You could even take the dung beetle control to a higher level by setting up an electric dung beetle trap. It’s pretty neat. I will admit it – sometimes I still find myself wanting to go over to the dung pile and scoop out a little bit. It’s fun and easy and it’s a little gross! I could say the same about roaches. They also eat poop and lay poop, and they’re gross – so they’re also a great subject of fascination! What’s that saying? Nature is nature, I guess. In the meantime, if you want to see what dung beetles look like up close, you’ll have to go outside. You can try to see them at night, when they’re more active. If you’re lucky enough to have them come into your house, enjoy watching them on their dung run. If you want to know more, here’s some links you might want to check out: Hey – you’ve got to love an animal that makes itself poop and uses its poop for a toilet! Who can resist that? I’m always looking for a good story about poop, and poop-eating beetles. This is one of my favorite sites – I love to see pictures of the “poopers” – I mean… “poopers” everywhere! Some of them have so much poop around them, it looks like they wear a sign! It’s so funny. This site is funny, and disgusting, and fascinating, and all in all very interesting! Do they have other animals that make poop? Some animals poop out of fear – it’s a last-ditch effort to escape danger, to get away from something that wants to eat them. Some predators, like snakes or gila monsters, can sense the smell of fear and attack in response. Others rely on their poop to serve as a lure to distract predators. So in some ways they’re taking a poop. Even though it may smell gross, it’s a way for the animal to use its poop as a defense strategy. When I was living in the desert, a lot of creatures would get the fear of the desert. Most creatures avoid walking on hot rocks when it’s too hot. Many scorpions are nocturnal, and you’d see them scurrying along in the early morning or at night. They do this by using their claws as feet and their tails to feel their way along. But if a scorpion is in a dangerous situation, it can use its poop to distract a predator. A poop-eating beetle! There’s more about them, so check it out. There’s some great information about how this works, and how it helps certain types of animals to avoid being eaten by predators. And if you think about how funny it sounds, I think it’s really fascinating! Some animals find their poop a good source of food. Some bird species can eat both the stuff in their beak and their own poop. Or rather, the stuff in their beaks and the stuff that falls from them! They’ll also eat their poop if it falls onto the ground and they don’t want to lose it! Some birds will poop on plants – on a plant that’s blooming, in a way that attracts insects. This is a very common thing among birds – more than one million birds die each year because they eat berries that have pesticide on them. Birds die because they eat berries, that was why they died in the first place! But birds that eat things that aren’t meant for them get sick. So what do they do? They also eat their own poop! It’s not so funny when animals eat their own poop, especially when humans are the ones doing it! You can check out this story on how some poop helps some animals, how some animals eat poop, and how you can clean up your poop if you think it might be a food source. I know I have a strange fascination with animals that eat poop, even though it’s a very gross thing to do! It’s interesting how many creatures in the natural world eat poop – or at least, poop from other animals. I really do wonder if we could learn from animals, and how much they do to survive. I think it’s interesting how we put creatures in neat little boxes that are all about human convenience, like “pets,” instead of looking at the ways they really do things and making fun things of the way some animals eat poop. It’s interesting to me, but it does also make me very glad I’m a human! But in case you can’t get enough of those images – here are some more: And here’s a page about animals using human poop as a source of food. The picture is very creative. What do you think? Do you think we should learn more about poop eating? Do you think it’s gross that humans poop or that animals eat poop? And for my fellow animal lovers out there, here’s some info you might like