Literary and Musical Fun With Tumblebugs (a.k.a. Dung Beetles)

Have you ever heard of a tumblebug? How about a dung beetle? (Tumblebug...dung beetle...they're both one and the same.) Do you know how the tumblebug or dung beetle got its name? Have you ever been fortunate enough to see one?

Here is a picture of the very first dung beetle I ever saw...

Dung Beetle (a.k.a Tumblebug)

I was THRILLED to have been fortunate enough to see one!

Today I'm going to share an excerpt with you from Springtime on the Plains by Hal Borland, just one of many short stories found in a book that I recently finished called The Great North American Prairie - A Literary Field Guide edited by Sara St. Antoine. 

Here is the part of the story where Mr. Borland mentions dung beetles (he calls them tumblebugs)...

"...I dismounted to watch an ant hill, and I saw two tumblebugs pushing each other around in the grass. They butted and rolled and nipped and got to their feet and butted each other again, until one of them drove the other off. The victor pursued a little way, then came back and began rolling the ball of dung over which they probably had been fighting. They were strange creatures with the mark of antiquity on them, though I didn't know then that they were close cousins of the ancient Egyptian scarabs. All I knew was that these big, dark, timeless looking beetles fashioned balls of cow manure three-quarters of an inch in diameter and rolled them from place to place, walking backward and rolling the balls with their hind legs. They laid eggs in the balls and the eggs hatched into grubs which ate their way out and eventually turned into beetles which laid their own eggs in other dung balls. It seemed to me that the way the birds did it, laying eggs in nests, eggs with shells on them and food inside, was much simpler." 

Dung Beetles Doing What They Do Best...Rolling Dung
(Photo Credit)

"I watched the tumblebug maneuver his ball to the edge of the bare space around the ant hill, and I watched the ants gather to repel the invader, who paid almost no attention to them. The tumblebug rolled his ball across the little clearing and into the grass beyond, the ants rubbed feelers in a conference as though telling each other that they had driven off a major threat to the colony, and everybody went back to work...

I think Mr. Borland did a fine job of explaining the life (and life cycle) of a dung beetle in just a short couple of paragraphs, don't you?

And, if you liked that, now you're in for a real treat!!!

While you're here, take time to enjoy this song that my friend, Annie Wilson, of Tallgrass Express String Band wrote about Dung Beetle Bill...

How much fun was THAT??? 😄

I absolutely love Tallgrass Express String Band's music and own two of their CD's! To learn more about them, their music, or to see their concert schedule click HERE.

To learn more about dung beetles in general (a.k.a. tumblebugs) be sure and visit the Missouri Department of Conservation by clicking HERE.

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Nature At The Center

After leading a hike out on the the prairie, I often tell visitors that, before we end our hike, I have just a couple of more things that I'd like to share with them. 

I explain that, while it's easy to see the big things out on the prairie...the grasses, the flowers, the bison...there is a lot of nature taking place right there at the nature center that people often miss. 

Then I proceed to take them on a little tour of some of my favorite things...

It might be a garden spider, like this one. I discovered this garden spider under the eaves of the back porch on the north side of the building. A couple of years ago we had a garden spider that had made its web under the eaves of the front porch, and we watched that spider all summer long and into the fall. She didn't survive the first cold spell, but she did leave gifts. Four of them, in fact! Our resident garden spider left four, big, round egg sacs to ensure that her beautiful black and yellow species would continue. Perhaps this spider is one of her grandchildren. 

This nest sits above the door on the north side of the building and it belongs to a phoebe. Every year mother phoebe returns to the same place to lay her eggs and raise her little brood.

This den belongs to our resident armadillo. It is well-concealed within our wildflower garden.

This nest belongs to a swallow. Every year the swallows return and reuse (or rebuild) the
four nests that are found, one on each of the outside walls, of the nature center. This one is on the front side of the nature center facing west.

And this one is on the south side. This is the deepest swallow nest I've ever seen.

This nest belongs to a paper wasp. Several of these nests can be found up under the eaves on the east side of the nature center.

I found this spider web on the ceiling of the front porch of the nature center. I'm not sure what kind of spider made it, but it sure has an interesting shape! 

This nest was built by robins in the spring. We watched the mother robin sit on her three, tiny, blue eggs until they hatched. Then we observed the parent robins feed and take care of their three robin babies, until they were old enough to fly away and be on their own.

These are just a few signs of the many kinds of wildlife that live life on, or very near, the nature center at Prairie State Park and it just proves that wildlife is everywhere!

What about you? What kind of wild life lives on the edges of your home or place of business?

Until next time...
~Rebecca

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Product Review - Magic Things Natural Mosquito Repellent Bracelets and Mosquito Repellent Patches

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Product Review - Magic Things Natural Mosquito Repellent Bracelets and Mosquito Repellent Patches

Ticks, mosquitoes, and other insects and arachnids have been out-of-control crazy this year! I think it's because we, virtually, had no winter last year and nothing got killed out. Whatever the reason, it's been terrible and the number of tick- and mosquito-born illnesses are on the rise.

As part of my job, I recently led an evening hike out on the prairie and, by the end of it, most of the participants were freaking out. Even those who had sprayed down with insect repellent that contained DEET (which I detest) were picking dozens of ticks off...some of them numbering into the 120's and 130's per visitor! NOT a very nice experience!!! 

I myself had sprayed down with the high-powered stuff that you spray on your clothes (stuff that they provide for us at work...which also contains DEET) and, even with that, I came off the prairie with 30-some ticks! I was kind of freaking out myself. I could not BELIEVE how many ticks there were! 😱

Okay...so, soon after this, I was supposed to lead a Saturday morning bison hike. I was thinking that I really didn't want to go through the whole tick thing again, and that there must be something out there that works. I remembered a school teacher that had gone on one of our summer-school hikes. She was the only person all summer long that I had met that hadn't had a problem out on the trail with ticks. I remembered asking her at the time what on earth she had used to be so fortunate and it was her (I wish I knew her name, because,I owe her a debt of gratitude that can never be repayed)...but, it was her...who had told me about the bracelets and stickers. 

BRACELETS AND STICKERS!!!!! 😲

Nothing to spray on, nothing to rub on, nothing you have to take a bath in, nothing directly on your skin or clothing, and, the best part? There's NO DEET!!! Woo-hoo! 

Too good to be true?

So...I got online and started investigating and here's what I discovered and ended up going with...

Magic Things Natural Mosquito Repellent Bracelets With Citronella

Mosquito Repellent Patches

These two products are AMAZING and, used together, they really work!!! (I say "used together" because that's how I used them. I'm sure on their own they're each phenomenal, but I used them together, so that's all I can testify to.) 

Both products are DEET-free and are safe for children.

The Magic Things bracelets provide protection for up to 240 hours...that's 10 DAYS...and come six to a package (each one is individually sealed); the Mosquito Repellent Patches provide protection for up to 72 hours per patch.

Shortly after my bracelets and patches arrived, I got to try them out when conducting the Saturday morning bison hike and, let me tell you...I couldn't have been more pleased! Our group went out on the prairie and, in order to get close enough to view the bison, we had to get off trail. This means that we got off the mowed trail and was hiking through tall grasses waist-deep and higher. When we got done I had ONE tick! ONE!!! And it WASN'T ATTACHED! 😲 

I was sold!!! These products really work and I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone who has to be (or chooses to be) outside whether for work or play. 

The way I used them was...I put one bracelet on my right ankle and used four of the patches placed in various places on my clothing...one on my left pant leg, one near the waistband on the front of my pants, one near the waistband on the back of my pants, and one under my front collar flap. I'm telling you...it worked!

I continued to wear this same bracelet and those same four patches for several days and was outside at night during part of that time and I never got one insect bite. It was amazing! Super, super amazing!!! 😊

Until next time...
~Rebecca