Dung beetle survey

Our Young Nature Watch branch would like to invite our members and followers to their event this month, which is a dung beetle hunt, on Saturday the 11th of March at 10 o'clock; the meeting point (at the entrance to a field in Swallowcliffe) will be confirmed for those who book a space by getting in touch.

People of all ages are always welcome to join our Young Nature Watch activities, although we give priority to people under 21 years of age if we are overbooked. In this case we have plenty of spaces left so do not hesitate in joining if you are interested in learning about beetles!

We will be led by ecologist Gareth Harris (Wiltshire's mammal recorder) and he will explain why dung beetles are very important for mammals and particularly bats. Attendants will be sent to collect interesting dung in a field we have previously surveyed and after that, we will all gather round and extract the beetles from it. Interesting dung in terms of beetles is not fresh dung, so if you are squeamish worry not about this.

Young local residents becoming interested in our recent dung survey.

Because it's going to be cold and beetles may have hidden elsewhere to keep warm, we have collected some dung in advance as a precaution, so it is entirely possible to take part in this event and not touch any dung! (Note: the landowner intends there won't be any cows in the field when we get there on Saturday).

Gareth will explain interesting facts about the beetles we find. Did you know that there are many different species of dung beetles? Did you know that some dung beetles are entirely nocturnal and they guide themselves in the landscape by looking at the position of the stars? Find out more about this and other fascinating details about our local dung beetles on Saturday!

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