Starting the year off right - with a ball of dung
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!
Team South Africa banner designed by @bearone
P.U. @killigirl. This post stinks! Well maybe up close it does. Those beetles do a lot of work to get that perfect ball so they can lounge around to do whatever they are inclined to with it. Only you could write a post so tongue in cheek. Haha. Ellie Mae loves this kind of sh..🐓🐓
Hey, Ellie Mae, glad you enjoyed my s---! I thought those little guys might just be up your alley. Frankly, that guy in the White House managed to p--- off about half a billion Africans with his comment. We joke a lot about it, though - it's given us the chance to collectively appreciate what we have and where we're going, which I'd like to think is a pretty good direction. Anyway, I hope this gave you a bit of a giggle. And I promise you I didn't spend too long at the mouse and keyboard - elbow still on the road to recovery! Just couldn't keep the beetles inside any more. Love thinking about you chuckling over this. 😊😊
Dear Kiligirl, I so get that part about getting the bugs out! Nothing worse than feeling like you are restricted from doing your routine. This post definately stretched those tendons. Lol. Love you much. Your friend Ellie Mae🐓🐓
You are too funny...and you're right, L Bow was peeved with me today, so I behaved better. Was out on the road outside of Lusaka and tried to get some roadside chicken shots for you. Will probably only get a chance to look at them over the weekend! Love you, Ellie Mae 😘😘
Hey welcome back @kiligirl. Even if you had not posted these dungs, you would have got my attention. I take it as a revenge from all the Steemians who did not miss you and as a token of you love even those got benefited who did. Thank You! :)
How have you been and why have you not been posting at Steemit?
Accept this one and I hope the next blog would not be as fun as this one is :)
Steem On!
Hi, @ugetfunded, wonderful to hear from you and thank you for the welcome (love the cat!). Glad you enjoyed the spirit of the dung as well as the, erm, more factual aspects :-). The next one which I hope to get out by Wednesday will be fun in a different way - I took a lot of photos of signs when I was in Lusaka last week and some of them are priceless. I hope those photos turned out!
A couple of things have been limiting my Steemit time - I've been building my two businesses and they're really starting to move now...and on a much more basic level, a case of tennis elbow which had been building up for months decided mid-December that I shouldn't ignore it any more. Makes working with the keyboard and mouse painful (probably caused by working with the keyboard and mouse...so maybe that cat can do something about my mouse!). Am treating it now - ice, brace, rest. That means keeping the keyboarding to a minimum. :-(
Wishing you an awesome 2018! All the best :-)
Hello :-)
Fun fact: (although it's not actually a "fun" fact)
Ingestion of a dung beetle by a dog can also lead to spirocerca lupi in a dog. It is a fairly recent illness in dogs and fatal if not treated. For example, a worm produces eggs which are excreted with faeces. A dung beetle would ingest worm eggs while rolling the infected faeces.
A dog may then eat the intermediate hosts (beetle / bird / lizard / mouse etc) thereby ingesting the larvae. The larvae move from stomach to aorta and oesophagus. Sadly most people only pick up clinical signs when it's too late (coughing, vomiting, struggling to breathe). So what every dog owner should do is treat their dogs with Advocate or Milbemax monthly in order to prevent the disease. If the dog already has it the vet will put the dog ondaily / weekly treatment for 6-8 weeks. It's a big problem in SA at the moment but most people still don't know about it. If left untreated the dog will succumb to spirocerca lupi.
Wow, that's horrible, but important to share! Maybe even worth a standalone post so your followers living in dung beetle territory will learn about this not-at-all fun fact. Thanks for sharing! 😊🐾
Hello from one s**t hole country to another 😂. Been long since I saw your post 😮. Happy 2018.
I love watching dung beetles at work! I enjoyed reading the fun facts.
Hi, @wachera! Great to hear from you. Happy New Year to you as well. Glad you enjoyed this post - what's
not to like about dung beetles? 😊😊
@kiligirl ...Great post. I think the politician who inspired your post is also rolling his own big ball of POO! Most of which he generates when he opens his mouth! Remember when we used to admire his business acumen and used him as an example - No longer. But on the other hand he inspired your post, so for that I thank him. He has once again p--off this citizen of Africa...
Ah, @sea-cottage, I always enjoy your perspective! Yes, I do remember when some admired his business acumen. I don't think I paid that much attention to him in the days of Ivana and Marla, and forgot about him until he ran for President. I'm so glad you enjoyed this post! 😊😊
Mr Trump...you are (should be) fired!
O wow, I get to here good about teamwork when I am doing a university project with my team. That is really important to learn in life and look at the courage of fly..
Interesting, @suf1an.
Hey @kiligirl once again welcome back. I really was missing your great blogs for a while. And today you gave an entry.
By the way this entry will be remembered forever for me:
I was taking my dinner and same time I found the dung beetles and I have to stop eating.
Anyways welcome back mam!
Lol, that's funny
Love Steemians!
Hi, @jawad09, I laughed out loud when I saw your photo. Thanks so much for the welcome back. I've been struggling with a niggling tennis elbow which has been keeping me from using the computer for long periods, but yesterday the dung beetles just insisted on being posted on Steemit. I hope you got to finish your dinner - it looked good! 😊😊
shit...
Zackly!
Ahahaha! S***holes, Best ending to an amazing (Shitty) post
Thank you, @njoromuts! Glad you enjoyed it. Appreciate you stopping in.😊😊
I love the nature photography, nature can inspire me to adapt with environment. Your pictures very good, I like it so much. I posted about nature too, but no explanation. You can check in my wall.
Thank you, @steemnature.