Poor Darkling

We found a deep hold dug by a hungry badger looking for ant larve. At the bottom there was a poor Darkling Bettle who fallen? in the hole. The ants, being opportunistic as ants are, had begun to eat the poor guy alive.
















I reached in and scooped him out, but noticed that he was still dragging 4 ants, like cement shoes. No matter how fast he tried to run, there was and ant or two holding him back.






I pulled off two of them, but the two on his antenna were a bit more difficult. They had his antenna in their pincers and I was afraid that I would pull off his antenna if I tried to remove them.








Then I noticed that the beetle was using his legs to scrape them off himself.












Eventually he got free.

The Birth of Creativity

Ravens are such good parents. They make creative, soft nests lined with all sorts of manger makings--cedar bark, wool, orange baler twine...

Ravens mate for life and establish a territory, often using the same nest year after year. While 10-15 years is the usual lifespan, there are records of Ravens living as long as 40 years at the Tower of London.

They are hardy and adaptable, in part because they aren't picky eaters. They eat insects, fruit, berries, small mammals, road kill, garbage, you name it--if they can swallow and digest it, they eat it.

They are vocal and their call is raucous. Between 15 and 30 different calls have been recorded (depending on who you ask) and they start talking very early.

In short, they are intelligent birds, very clever and even playful. Here's one of the most amazing demonstrations of cleverness I have ever seen.