Eremophila’s Musings

The cat drew my attention to the beetles over by the horse manure pile, by gently patting something on the ground. Inspection revealed two dung beetles, mating. Now some people may regard this as ho hum, but to me, it was a highlight of the day. Dung beetles are fantastic workers, converting piles of dung into humic rich soil, and removing breeding opportunities for flies in the process. All that the dung beetle requires, is dung. Well, I am more than happy to gather the horse manure for these beetles and their off-spring. While the earthworms do a wonderful job, also converting waste into nutrient rich soil, they require much cooler and damper conditions in which to work. Come the hot weather, they go deep underground. And lately it has been hot. Very hot. Days on end of 42C plus in the shade, and only dropping to 30C over the night. Yet, here they are, these two dung beetles, getting on with their lives unconcerned by the heat.

I’m a bit like the earthworms. I retreat from the heat. Or perhaps I am more like the birds. They are out and about early in the day, and again in the evening. Early mornings will see me tending the garden, collecting manure, then taking the horse out grazing by the river. It is lovely to lie at rest then, in the shade of the solitary tree on the river bank, gazing up at the various birds as they perch in the tree briefly, before flying onto their more sheltered places for the remainder of the day. By the time the galahs have finished, the day is warming up, and it is time for me to collect the horse and head for home. If it’s too hot for the galahs, it is definitely too hot for me. I’ll follow their cue. When the rains come, as they will one day, I’ll again follow their cue and dance with my arms outstretched, revelling in the refreshing revitalising moisture. I don’t mind being a bit of a galah at times……maybe they are not so silly after all.