Wulf's Web-Den

I have finally finished publishing my photos from June with three shots of a stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) from out back garden. It was dead at the time, so I could pose it without hurting the beetle, but had been around the garden for several weeks. I don't know if its death was entirely natural causes or assisted by the local cats, which I had caught treating it as a plaything several times.

This was a female but we had also seen a male (distinguished by much larger "antlers"). We have plenty of piles of old wood in our garden, which is is the favourite site for their grubs, so we may see more in future years. If we do, we will have to remember to register them with the Stag Beetle Helpline, as the population is believed to be under threat due to changing habitats (eg. most people keep their gardens too tidy to have piles of old sticks that go undisturbed for long periods).

I am now fully up to date with my photos so plan to do a bit more photography in the coming weeks, both of the back garden and other subjects.

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