Dung Beetle
Today I did a property tour of our place for two guys from Malaysia. They have a permaculture project in Malaysia that is progressing well and whilst visiting in Australia they wished to see a few established permaculture places. Doing this gives them a chance to gather knowledge and information to assist them with their project. The project that they are setting up is to educate the younger people of their country in permaculture techniques as well as reintroducing older methods that have been lost as many farmers have moved to monoculture and chemicals. They really enjoyed the tour and were impressed with the microclimate and unique diversity that we have created here.
Part of the foodforest area creating more humidity with the diversity.
During the tour I became distracted by an activity on the ground and what I saw was perfect round balls of manure near a cowpat. This is the activity of the ball rolling dung beetle. Now the interesting thing is that this is the first time I have seen these guys on our property. Maybe I haven’t been observant previously however I’m sure that I would have noticed them before.
The Beetle with his ball of Dung.
The beetle and his ball of dung removed from the cowpat.
We have always had the burrower species which land in the manure then dig down and burrow a hole under the pat and then take the dung down into the burrow. It is always exciting to see a new species occur as this is a great sign that you are creating changes to the site with enough effect to make it attractive to an expanding biodiversity. And every new species creates more change. You can only win from this, unless its a crocodile in your natural swimming pond!
Tom
©2016 Tom Kendall; permeco.org, incorporating Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast, simplicity, permaculture, self reliance and homesteading, dung beetles and property tour.
Author: Tom Kendall
Tom is a lifelong agriculturalist and co-founder of the Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast Inc. His site "Maungaraeeda" is a Permaculture Demonstration and Education Site. He is a Permaculture Educator and Consultant, and has a wealth of knowledge about how to be truly sustainable. Water management strategies, alternative fuel generation, animal systems and numerous other Permaculture Designed Solutions are his speciality.
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