Code Red and Two Interesting Bugs

Hopefully, all Easton residents received their test phone call from the new emergency notification service set up by the Plymouth County Sheriff's Department. As every parent knows the school department set up an automated calling service a few years ago to notify parents and teachers of school closings. The new Code Red system includes all home phones, but if you would like to add cell phone numbers you can go to www.pcsdma.org/CodeRED.asp

I'll be adding my cell phone number as soon as I figure out how to turn the ringtone back on!


Look what I found in my basement the other day (not my photo):

It's a male stag beetle. My guy was about 2 inches long. He was stuck upside down when I found him so I scooped him up and put him back outside. They are mostly nocturnal and attracted to light. He probably fell into a crack in my basement window when I was doing a late load of washing. The scary mandibles are used by the males to fight each other for favored mating territory. Despite the big jaws these insects feed on sap and rotting fruit. The eggs are laid in decaying deciduous tree stumps, and the larva may spend several years in the stump eating the wood.