As Mike was mucking stalls "out back" this morning, he heard a racket in the aluminum rain gutter on the back of the barn. Since he had the ladder out to hang fly strips, he climbed up for a peek. On its back, trying mightily to right itself, was
a male Eastern hercules beetle, also called a rhinoceros beetle, or unicorn beetle (apt names all!)
Mr. Beetle was released in a brush pile, we hope to be fruitful and multiply. OK, hercules beetles don't really have a job in our pest management program (adults eat plant sap and larvae eat decaying wood) but you have to admit they are interesting to have around!
