I got poo on my shoe – he rolled around laughing. I admired his industrious nature, but he was smelly and talked dirty. Egypt a tooth when he bit off more than he could chew. He often got in crappy moods. Been there, dung that. “Take your shit elsewhere,” I said.
Author Notes
Author's Note:
This is number 24 in the series of my hypothetical 'new boyfriends'.
The creatures I have written about previously are: Penguin, Chimpanzee, Whale, Albatross, Rabbit, Bull, Cat, Dog, Pig, Horse, Grey Parrot, Snake, Polar Bear, Bee, Octopus, Goat, Vampire Bat, Swan, Snail, Elephant, Flamingo, Kangaroo, Rainbow Trout.
The lowly DUNG BEETLE was seen as sacred by the ancient Egyptians. The Egyptian god Khepri, Ra as the rising sun, was often depicted as a scarab beetle or as a scarab beetle-headed man. The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it again the next day.
Beetles of the Scarabaeidae family (dung beetle) roll dung into a ball as food and as a brood chamber in which to lay eggs; this way, the larvae hatch and are immediately surrounded by food. These activities of the scarab were seen as a symbol of rebirth or regeneration - the transformation of bodies and souls as a heavenly cycle.
Scarab beetles are one of the most popular families with insect collectors because the hard, highly polished forewings of many species are large and beautifully coloured.
Dung beetles influence the ecosystem in many ways. They help cycle nutrients in the soil when they bury dung or carrion. By removing the dung, they prevent populations of parasitic flies from breeding in the fresh faeces of mammals.
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