Yard Critters of the Week

A Yard Critter twofer! 

Although sadly one est morte (that's French for "is dead"; all that studying in high school finally paid off!).

A Northern Short-tailed Shrew and a beetle, the Roundneck Sexton Beetle, Nicrophorus orbicollis.

This is the Shrew (duh!). Patty spotted it a couple of mornings ago at the end of our driveway. Other than the blood about the mouth there are no obvious injuries. 

As with most of the shrews we've seen in the yard, they are dead, And curiously, untouched by other non-insect critters. (There was a live one.) This one has been at the end of the driveway for several days now. But while larger carnivores have ignored it, the insects have not.

Why are they uneaten? Well in the case of this critter one of its defenses is to emit a foul oder when attacked. Stinky! And it seems this critter is venomous. And uses echolocation to find its prey (its small beady not much use underground, where it spends most of its time).

Pretty cool critter, huh?

Now I suppose that stinky odor attracts insects.

Including this Burying Beetle. Today was trash day, and as I was taking this weeks rubbish to the curb (full disclosure, we have no curbs on our road) I noticed the shrew was moving. 

AARRGGHH! A ZOMBIE SHREW!

But it was just this beetle pushing it around. As the name suggests, Burying Beetles tend to dead critters, and help keep the world from being piled high with dead bodies. Once a male beetle finds a dead critter, it emits its own fragrance, attractive to the lady beetles. 

My insect guides state that this is a rather common beetle, and given its distinct coloration, and the dead critters we've had in the yard, I'm surprised I've not seen it before.

But I've seen it now. And it, and the shrew, are the latest additions to the yard critters.

🪲  🐀  🪲  🐀  🪲

You can find all of the Yard Critter posts listed here.