I left her to die

Remember when I found a female stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) in the bathroom?

Here is the short post I created because I was in a hurry.
More about it now:

I was surprised about the incident. As an endangered species, stag beetles are a rare sight, and even more so inside a house!
It didn't move, probably instinctively trying to hide and not getting seen. I quickly took my phone out of my pocket and shot some pictures. Each from a closer distance, slowly and cautiously moving closer.
Then I left the room to get my better camera. When I returned, it was gone. Or should I say she?
At this time I didn't think much of it. I thought this strong, independent creature just went its way. After all, it is the largest terrestrial insect in Europe.

• Maybe it left the house the same way it got in.
• Maybe it retreated to a safer location inside the house.
• Maybe it was born inside the house and lived in a hidden lair since then all its life.

After a while, doubts started building in my mind.

• What if it was trapped and couldn't get out of the house?
• Would it find shelter and enough food?
• Did it need my help? Should I have rescued it?

Two days later

I had not forgotten about the stag beetle. Whenever I opened the bathroom door I was overly careful. Really whenever I stepped anywhere.

So that morning, when I came down the stairs, I saw it/her again.
In the hallway, near the doorframe. Lying on its back. All limbs stiff, stretched away, not moving.

Sadness and guilt overcame me. My doubts were justified. I should have helped. I could have saved a life but failed to do so.

To pay my last respects to this innocent creature, I picked it up and brought it outside. So it could be reunited with mother earth and complete its life cycle with some kind of dignity.

I carefully put it on the ground outside for one last photo. In daylight's better light conditions I saw what turned out to be human hairs and a cloth thread, in which the beetle got entangled.
"Was this the cause of its death?", I thought, while carefully removing the culprits.

Hope

Suddenly there was movement! Minimal motion of a leg and the masticatory organs. It was still alive.
Now I had hope again. Did my actions help to cure it? @spreadfire1 the beetle doctor. What else could I do to help my protégée recover?

Upon closer inspection, my hope was immediately crushed like a beetle's exoskeleton by a heavy object. There was a crack in its chitin shell and bodily fluid was leaking out.
Considering the size of the wound, there was no chance of survival in my humble opinion. It stopped moving again shortly after.

One could only speculate how the wound was inflicted. If somebody stepped on it, the crack would be much more severe, or even the whole exoskeleton would be crushed. Another theory would be that it tried to fly but crashed and fell on the hard floor flagstone. The entangled cloth thread could have caused that, imho.
We'll never know for sure. Rest in peace.

I put it on the compost pile, where other animals like ants can feed off of it. Over time, the remains will become valuable nutrients in the soil.

The Bigger Picture

Who is to blame for this death?

• I could blame myself for not rescuing the beetle when I first had the chance to.
• We could blame humanity, society and modern lifestyle for destroying and restricting many species' natural habitats, endangering them or causing them to go extinct.
• We could shrug off all responsibility and refer to natural selection. Only the strongest and fittest survive.
  How natural is natural selection though when humans or manmade objects like houses or fabric fibers are involved?

How much does it even matter?

Is all life equally important?
What anatomic features define when it is morally obligatory to protect a creature from harm, suffering or death?
Does it require a nervous system, do plants have rights too or is it immoral to kill bacteria?

You could adjudge people hypocritical: breeding and killing animals for meat, but caring so much about other animals.
On top of the food chain, we can decide on the fate of creatures on lower levels of the food chain. We decide when it is necessary to kill and when we let a creature live because we don't need to kill it in order to feed and to survive.

Thanks for reading! What do you think about the topic? What would you have done in this situation? Let's discuss in the comments!

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