By Laura Ackerman

This is the time of year when I find dead darkling beetles. They have finished their lifecycles. Did you know that mealworms - the kind you can find in a pet store - are often the larvae of ground beetles? I didn’t know that either until recently.

Here, you can learn more about darkling beetles (click the first photo to learn more about these beetles).

Beetles are my favorite insects, and ones I also see on the farm in August are the California prionus beetles. I have a few that I have found dead, and they grace my cabinet of curiosities in my living room.

Anyway, the dead beetles, which die in the open at my place, get put back into the soil to enhance it. I’ve found two good studies to read on this:

We need to pay more attention to soils to help mitigate climate change.

The last photo is a gopher (Pituophus catenifer deserticola) snake that I encountered on a local road the other evening. Many people here call them bull snakes. They are often on warm roads during cooler weather and this one was on the edge. I got out of my car and shoed him/her to the side of the road but not without some protest of this beautiful meter long snake. It’s getting harder to find big gopher snakes. People mistake them for rattlesnakes or assume they are dangerous because they can hiss, move their tails side to side, raise up their heads, and lunge at you if you are near them. So they may be killed because of their understandably defensive behavior. But generally when you pick them up, they calm down. Snakes are my favorite animals and I used to pick them all up, but I don’t much anymore because they are wild animals and I want to respect that. Snakes are more delicate than most people understand, and there is a correct way of holding them. I know fear of snakes is common. If they frighten you, that is OK, but please don’t hurt them and encourage others to do the same. Look at the link above for some help with fear of snakes.

Find more information here. Gopher snakes favorite prey are northern pocket gophers. They are NOT venomous. They don’t have rattles like rattlesnakes and they all have eye makeup. Look closely at their eyes using photos. The Department of Natural Resources is redoing their flora and fauna pages. When the website is done, it’s another good place to look at photos. Also, try the Burke Museum. Habitat loss from development and fire suppression are of great concern for the survival of these snakes as well as other animals.

Thanks for reading this!

If you have questions or comments please email me at lackerman@landscouncil.org.