I have been negligent. All this time I have been concentrating my posts on the big guys—lions, elephant, buffalo—and I have neglected to mention the lowly, but important, dung beetle. This very large insect looks like a small bird and sounds like a mammoth bee.
Here’s what I’ve learned:
1. Dung beetles love the fresh stuff. They flock to it. And they really love fresh elephant poo. They make balls that tower over themselves and each other. Then they go head over bum rolling their balls away from the crowd. There’s usually a pair working together. At every turn (literally) the couple have to fight off would be thiefs who would run off with their ball in an instant. (See below for video footage.)
2. Also, and importantly, dung beetles zip through the air. Quickly. Never have an animated conversation with your window down while driving through elephant territory. Better to keep your mouth closed. I speak authoritatively on that from having had a near miss.
3. Dung beetles really like elephant poo but they are not actually that particular. Any poo will do, it seems. When we camped in Khutse in Botswana, we had a contest. Who can get the most dung beetles in one, ahem, sitting. Well, I won twelve to eight, but only because I’m a slow shoveler.
I would include more photos, but this is probably one of those less-is-more situations.