Milly: What lies beneath....

Ever wondered why you very rarely see dead animals strewn about the countryside? Perhaps not. Whilst gallivanting around the South of France last week I got out my camera and set off into the bushes with a stick hoping to find some animal to molest. There were none. Next door's cat, aptly named Professor Kitten, had made a discovery and was gleefully tossing about a mouse that was discarded after less than 10 minutes. The next day, I went to see what became of the mouse but found nothing. At first I thought the Professor had been back to finish his meal, but then I remembered something I had read a while back featuring a disturbing creature, the sexton beetle. Working together, a male and female beetle take good care of their young by providing them with a tasty corpse to feast on, buried underground and hidden from predators.

To see the beetles in action have a look at this video.

So next time you're out having a nice stroll in the countryside, make sure you tip your hat at the sexton beetle for clearing away the corpses.