Well, I assume everyone saw, or at least read about, Little Mikie’s Budget Show a couple of weeks ago. Quite a production, wasn’t it? All gussied up with more fluff than stuff. Did it remind you of the Wizard of Oz and all those cowardly lions with no guts, tin men with no hearts and scarecrows comprised of flimsy straw? Sure it did. I’ll bet you tossed you cookies when it was all over. But we're not here today to talk about the budget, about federal finances nor what the nut heads in Ottawa do with our money. No we're not. Instead we’re going to talk about the ecology of the African dung beetle. A much cleaner subject. - One you can discuss with the children in the room. According to the November 1979 Scientific American, four or five hard-working African elephants can, and do, produce a ton of dung every day, Add that to the labors of their many close relations. and the zillions of other animals on the continent and ... well, WOW! springs to mind doesn’t 11? It stands to reason, thercfore, that Africans would have been chin deep in the stuff long ago unless something over there was in the disposal business. There is, and that’s where our federal government ... no, no, I mean the dung beetle ... comes in. Can you believe there are over 2,000 species of dung beetles? Believe it. And each specics is so numerous that although tons of dung falls every day, the beetles gobble it all up and chirp for more. Yes, indeed. As you have probably already guessed, dung gobbling beetles have evolved in different ways. One major species burrows into a fresh dump and remains there munching and mating until there’s none left. Another species tunnels into the earth below or right beside the steaming stuff and hauls a hunk down into its burrow where it and its mate consume their prize. A third major species is a bit more ambitious. The dung beeile and you Its members cut out pieces of poop, pat them into balls of various sizes and roll them away from the main pile before burying them. Each species has evolved in such a way as to be a model of efficiency. For instance, the dung rolling bectles have long, bowed hind legs suitable for running. They also use their legs to hold their dung balls while they pack on more and more and more. There are many sizcs of dung rollers. The larger ones can pat together yummy dung balls the size of tennis balls and roll them 14 metres in under a minute. The digging beetles have bodies like carth moving machines — powerful hind legs fitted with special pads for increased traction when the going gets slippery. Their heads resemble bull- dozer blades. You wouldn’t want to be a picce of poop when one of those guys showed up. The burrowing beetles are very small and agile. They have to be small to squeeze between undigested hunks of fibre to get at the juicicr bits. All these different bectles share common characteristics. They can sense the presence of dung from miles away and they’re very fast workers. Slowpokes can’t survive as dung beetles. They have to go into another line of work — like becoming dung producers instead of dung con- sumecrs. The beetles are always trying to steal cach other’s dung and fights break out all over the place. The ball rollers can fight and roll at the same time but, if a little burrower gets into the ball while its back is tumed, it’s bye bye ball. The constant squabbling between the beetles attracts others — like beetle-eating birds (horn- bills, spur fowls) and bectle eating animals (mongoose). Yes indeed, when a football size chunk of elephant dung falls, it’s every beetle for itself. There’s lots more we could say but we've run out of space. I hope you enjoyed this little entomological interlude and don’t feel it was a waste of valuable time which could have been better spent discuss- ing what actually does go on in Ottawa. Maybe next lime. Shrine care offered by local club THE SHRINE Thunderbird Bus recently carried its precious cargo of children to a Shrine hospital assessment clinic in Bellingham — and one of those on board was a local child, severely disabled with multiple sclerosis. The Sidney Shrine Club wants you to help by informing them of others in the community who may need Shrine hospital care. Call hospital representatives Bruce Cleaver at 479-7256 or Frank Wrightson at 656-9634. * KOK FIRST, proverbial technical difficulties of the disappearing story kind left us without details on “The mind behind the bench,” which we prom- ised, in a banner across the front page, in our sports section of Feb. 21. Peninsula Eagles Junior B head coach Mike Mowat waited patiently for another weck to see his style brought from ice to ink. So on Feb. 28 we promised again, this time with a color picture of Mowat on the bench, in the front-page Inside column. And we Icft out the page number. The story was there, though, on page B6. *x kX A STORY — we promise — and photo on the Saanich 4-H Lamb Club appear on page A16 of this week’s Review, after the group met at the Jack farm near Island View Road. The club also elected a new executive in February, consisting of: president, Kelly Jack, vice-president, Alison Fitch; treasurer, Rebecca Bryden; secretary, Jennifer Scott-Polson; sunshine person, Edward Herlinveaux; phoning committee, Carolyn Bid- good, Matt Michell and Andrea Harrison. If you want to become involved in 4-H, ata youth or adult level, call Monica Pinch, 652-4223. * OK OK A “STUDY” of neighbor relations 1s really just a way of finding out what you have to steal, and the University of Victoria has nothing at all to do with it. At least one Victoria-area home has been hit by thieves alter giving out information to people who represented themselves as UVic researchers. When UVic does conduct studies, researchers will gladly show you their identifica tion cards and project numbers. * KK MARCH IS Kidney Month and canvassers will be making their way from door-to-door from Sooke to Sidney until the 31st. Kidney transplants have been taking place for more than 25 years — and the success rate is 85 per cent. And support from the Kidney Foundation is essential to those SUCCESSES. **K * POPULAR DEMAND is bringing Sunday school back to Brentwood Bay United Church, 7162 West Saanich Rd., says Rev. Donald Browne. Registration takes place at the church’s side entrance from 2 to 4 p.m. March 17 and 24. Classes themselves start April 1. For more information, call Mary Lushington, 652-6963. * kK IF YOU’ VE ever wondered what you'd do at an accident scene, wonder no more. Instead, pick up a copy of the St. John Ambulance Guide for Good Samaritans, available at Autoplan dealers and the Victoria St. John office, 941 Pandora Ave. “With this guide, no one has to feel unable to help at an accident scene,” says St. John manager Gregory Welsh. Under B.C.’s Good Samaritan Act, a volunteer giving aid at an accident can’t be found liable. * *K Xx Ss ESOS SS SS EES EEE EEE TheReview Wednesday, March 7, 1990 — A7 RECYCLE TheReview o 2 (LUMBERW@RLD | ANNOUNCES The re-location of its Sidney store to 3955 Quadra Street, Victoria. We will be happy to serve all of our Sidney customers from our Victoria store where you will find a wide variety of building products and hardware accessories to fill your needs. 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