# Dynastes tityus and Mus musuculus



## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

This is a specimen of _Dynastes tityus_ (Eastern Hercules beetle, Rhinoceros beetle), one of the largest beetles of Kentucky. Beside a 5-week old mouse for size comparison.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Ooooh, is it dead?

I have one in my collection, but one of the horns is broken off . . .


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Nope, he was alive. I let him go.

Are the horns broken off or was it female? Females don't have horns.


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## SarahY (Nov 6, 2008)

Wow! I'd love to have a couple of those!!

Sarah xxx


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

They're pretty awesome, aren't they? At first, I had half a mind to freeze and preserve him but he was so very alive I couldn't make myself do that. I've tried attracting/collecting various species of exotic-looking inverts before, but it figures I'd find this one on the sidewalk as I was walking to work! :lol:

The mouse had no idea what it was.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Mine is broken. ):
There is the horn on top, intact, and then the one on the 'nose' is broken about half way up. 
They're really rare here, but they do show up every now and again.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Have you tried a UV light? If you take a UV light and put wire mesh about 2" in front of it on all sides (there are a bunch of ways to build such a contraption), and use it in the middle of summer (such as now) you'll catch many different kinds of beetles. If you've ever seen a "bug zapper" that's basically the idea, but you don't want it to fry your bugs.

I don't think Hercules beetles are particularly rare in Kentucky. I found two yesterday. This living guy, plus a dead female.


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## Rhasputin (Feb 21, 2010)

Fascinating! I might just try that.
I've never really tried to capture them, I usually just get lucky and find dead ones while I'm scavenging for other things.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Haha! I've captured some really weird bugs at night using a UV light. June, July, and August are the best months in our part of the woods. But they do fly away so you have to stay up all night and check it every half hour or so. 

There's a species of beetle in Kentucky which is longer than this type, but not as heavy. I don't know what it's called, but it's iridescent purplish black and thin. It almost looks like it's been squashed. Because it's so big, it has a very awkward way of flying. lol


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

That is a really cool looking beetle! Of course if I ever saw one in real life, I would squeal, have a moment of panic, and swiftly walk away! I don't kill things, never really have.

Even some things i like, I don't like touching me... example: About 3 weeks ago, i was stood outside my laundry room at around 11pm, because it was quite warm, I had no shoes on, and a toad jumped on my foot. I FREAKED out! To the point that my partner ran downstairs because she thought i was hurt.
And i like toads and frogs! hehehe

W xx


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Haha!

Well, when I showed Jenny she said "Oh my God, is that thing _real_?" Then when I said yeah, that I was planning on letting it go, she responded, "You mean it's _alive_?" I think she even said I was a freak for picking it up. :lol:

The good thing is, they only eat decaying fruit and other vegetable matter.


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## WillowDragon (Jan 7, 2009)

Ahhh no, see thats what they want you to think!!!

Really, they crave tasty brains...


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Maybe that's what happened to me! :lol:


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

I love beetles and if it wasn't for the fact that their life is almost done when they are at their best I'd have some.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Yeah, I did some research and apparently this guy was on his way out most likely.

I see their grubs all the time. They have a knack for burrowing into my compost.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Man, I'd be worried about that thing eating the mouse! I'm not much of a bug person. First time I saw a potato bug, I freaked out and thought it was some kind of tailess scorpian (I was a kid, give me a break! :lol: ).


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Scorpions are cool too (though not insects, hehe)!

Out of all the main "scary" animals (spiders, scorpions, snakes, mice, rats), the only ones I have a natural fear toward are snakes, but only if they surprise me (like Willow's toad!).


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Why aren't bears on your list...? Oh, are you talking about small scary animals? Or the "creepy crawly" scary kind of animals. LOL, the only reason I thought about bears is because even though I respect them, we had a bear scare my first year of girls' camp... I was 12, for for that reason, I fear bears even more than say... mountain lions...


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

I'm not afraid of them. Are most people? I didn't know that.


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Well, they're big and really strong and dangerous, so I'd say most people, if it's not exactly fear, have a good, healthy wish not to tangle with one. I'm just saying if I'm hiking, I'd rather stumble on a mountain lion than a bear. But I do have a fear of rattle snakes. Specifically, I'm afraid I'm going to be riding my horse down the trail one day, and she's going to get bitten, and there's no way to get treatment to her on the remote trails.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Cell phones!

I ran into a bear about four years ago, at 3:00am. It was a small bear so I thought it was a very large dog (I have nyctalopia) and I walked closer and as I got close I realized it was a bear and it ran away. I was spooked out afterwards, because I realized I could have been eaten, but at the time I was like "Oh, cool!" 

Rattle snakes, water moccasins, and copperheads are the snakes I fear most. They're the only three venomous snakes native to my area, and they're all three good at hiding. But if you have one in a cage, I'm not afraid of it. Only if it's walking (ok, sliding) in front of me. Last summer, some dumb people I go to school with decided it would be a good idea to hang a 4' long corn snake that had been run over from an oak tree overhanging the sidewalk that I used to get home. It nearly gave me a heart attack! The snake was obviously partially flattened by tires and had been tied in a knot around one of the low-hanging branches. You can imagine what Public Safety thought when I called and told them there was a big dead snake hanging from a tree! :lol:


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## Autumn2005 (Apr 21, 2010)

Jack Garcia said:


> I ran into a bear about four years ago, at 3:00am. It was a small bear so I thought it was a very large dog (I have nyctalopia) and I walked closer and as I got close I realized it was a bear and it ran away. I was spooked out afterwards, because I realized I could have been eaten, but at the time I was like "Oh, cool!"


LOL, my dad almost brought home a bobcat the same way! I was really young and wanted a cat, and there's a lot of strays where he used to work, so he figured any stray he could pick up and play with was friendly enough to bring home. The bobcat let him get within ten feet before he realized what it was and started backing away slowly! :lol: 


Jack Garcia said:


> You can imagine what Public Safety thought when I called and told them there was a big dead snake hanging from a tree! :lol:


Sorry, just about died laughing with this one! As for cell phones, I always bring one when I ride, but the trails are so back country, there's no way to get help to my mare if she's bit, and the only way out is to walk her, which would spread the venom more.


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

Yeah, I'd say I got about 10 feet from the bear. It literally just stood there and looked at me. Only after it ran away did I realize it was a bear (they move differently than dogs). I woke one of my neighbors up and made her sit with me for a while. 

The dead snake in a tree incident is funny when I look back, but at the time it really scared me terribly! 

I still walk on that sidewalk from time to time, and I always look for dead snakes hanging from trees!

In 2007 a friend of mine caught this corn snake on her pillow (she had had the door open all day because it was hot outside):










He was really sweet, but huge and very heavy. About 50-some inches if I remember right. I kept him for a couple days and then let him go. The dead snake in a tree was very similar, but a grayer color (which could have been because he was dead--some snakes change color pretty drastically when they die).


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## Megzilla (Oct 12, 2009)

The beetle=CUTE!
Over here the Stag beetles are coming out, and they're so clumsy they literally fly into you! One flew into my face, and i picked it up to show my lad (was on the way to his house) and as got a hold of it it pinched me. And I don't normally scream, but it REALLY hurt ): It left a mark, and it hasn't gone away yet...

As for encountering scary things, 5 years ago, I did a round trip of South Africa to visit all my family, and my Uncle and Aunty, their grand kids, my mum and I went to Kruger National Park for 4 days, staying at some lodge houses at night very near the park.
Scary thing number 1- When we first went in with all our luggage (it was night) I sat at the bar/table thing, and this massive termite landed on my arm! The jaws on this thing were huuggee! I ended up playing with it for a while... until it bit me :/

Scary thing number 2-One of the days, the lads wanted to go golfing, so my aunty, mum and I dropped them off, and I saw a Vervet investigating the car, so I spooked it off and chased it for a bit (they look funny when they run lol) towards the river and the overhanging tree. Little did I know that there was huge Hippo in the water, and made a very scary noise when I was almost at the bank O_O

Scary thing number 3- After the golf park incident, us 3 gals went into the park. For lunch we stopped off and sat in one of the picnic areas. Totally one with nature, no big fences or anything to part us from the big baboons. I went to the loo, and when I came back out, I saw a load of cars blocking the entrance, and people walking out with their cameras. I asked my mum what had happened, and she said that apparently a Lion brought down a water buffalo. I went over to check, because I didn't believe them, and sure enough, a very healthy and powerful male lion had brought down an adult buffalo, still moving. This happened less than 10 metres from the picnic area entrance, with little kiddies running about, and monkeys trying to steal our food.

Scary thing number 4- The last night in Kruger, we had a Braai. My younger cousin and I were the food movers, and had to walk up and down this hill at the back of our house thing, to the Braai in a cemented area- no path way or anything. On the last trip up the hill, I was something glinting on the moon light, all coiled up. I thought it was a drain, so walked right past it, almost on it, up the hill. Yet, when my food almost stepped on it, it hissed and moved. I told my cousin, and he said that he saw it as well and heard it hiss. We compared memories, and looked back on the grass, and it was a cobra of some sort, and it was very big!!

All in all, a very good holiday


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## Jack Garcia (Oct 9, 2009)

My goodness! That sounds like quite an adventure! :lol:


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