ADMIRE THE DUNG BEETLE

One evening about 30 years ago my wife and I despaired of finding anything at all interesting on TV.  Keep in mind our young children had already been more or less compelled to watch enough public channel "Nature" programs to have already earned me an in-house label as “peculiar” about TV preferences.  In retrospect, that particular evening nailed the label in place forever. While the kids were luckily somewhere else and since we were frightfully bored with TV repeats and the usual fare, we resorted to watching yet another episode of Nature.  It turned out to be all about the dung beetle.  When the kids learned we had spent the evening watching an African bug roll around balls of dung, derision and scorn followed.  Now, decades later, I see vindication on the horizon. National Geographic reports this month that the dung beetle is really a "hot roller"!  He walks around on those balls (I envision some bizarre balancing act while avoiding getting squashed by elephant hooves) to keep his legs and body cool in the 150 degree African sun.  The not-so-hot balls are 80 degrees cooler than the ground.  In human equivalents, I guess you could think of these tightly packed, smelly spheres as an unwashed set of protective Birkenstocks tromping over blistering hot city pavement.  By the way, the beetles also give away those tightly packed balls of crap as nuptial gifts.  Smart and resourceful bugs, wouldn’t you say? The dung beetle deserves more admiration than scorn, though I am not sure eating one’s crap, something else they do to survive, is really worth emulating.  Our dog might see the merits.  But the rest of the family would say, “Oh Jeez, there he goes again with the Nature thing!”

J Bowen

4/26/13