YIKES ...THERE IS SOMETHING IN MY HAIR!

“Vineyard Reach” of Santa Rosa Creek

Trap with floats in the water

I am working along the “Vineyard Reach” of Santa Rosa Creek. Occasionally something happens to remind me why many people choose not to do this kind of work. As you can see from the picture of the site, it has overhanging tree branches, bushes, and water plants that house ticks, spiders and insects that make their living and protect themselves by biting prey, injecting venoms, and sucking bodily fluids. Consequently, when we leave the site Kate and I check each other’s clothing for ticks and other critters. Then, when I get home I unbraid my hair, brush it, and wash it to make sure nobody is moving in, hanging on, or hiding there.

Now here is the problem. I spend three to six hours in hot waders each day. It is like spending four or five hours in ski or winter clothing in the full sun in July. Thus, when I get home I am dehydrated so all I want to do is sit down, have a cold drink of water, and rest.

However, like most people, I have a subconscious, but I call the Board of Directors. It has different voices or members that urge me one way or the other; and there is the so-called higher self, that is in charge. I call her The Director, because she runs the show. When I got home today, I went through the usual internal debate I experience. It goes something like this:

While looking at my easy chair I think, “Oh, I am so tired I just want to sit down, nap, and gather my energy for a shower”.

“If I just kick off my boots and sit there for a few minutes it will not matter – just this once, it can’t hurt!”

“Yeah, go ahead and do it! Sure why not give a big juicy tick time to dig into your scalp!” It's the nagging voice in my head I call The Inner Director. I cannot stand her because she is always right!

“Just once, just one time I would love to go back to my indolent ways,” I mutter while removing my boots.

In my mind’s eye I can see her, The Inner Director, just standing there with arms folded, all business like with her heels and business skirt.

“Sure, do it and see what happens!”

At that point, there is no hope of caving in to my past lethargic ways so I take off my hat and begin unbraiding my hair. That's I feel it crawling! 

My hand shoots to the top of my head and I begin to pluck it from my hair.

“It’s hard and I its tangled in my hair!” Now I panic and adrenaline floods into my system.

My heart is pounding, “Oh crap, I can feel it struggling - it’s biting my scalp!”

Then as I yank it free from my hair I realize its not a tick. They are not this hard or prickly! Sure enough its the most amazing beetle I have seen in a while.

Aloud I say, “It has little clubbed antennas and spikes all over its legs - long ones too! It’s... it is cute and really cool!”

The inner Biologist is peeved as another one of my inner voices speaks up.  


“Scientist’s do not talk that way!” she says.

“Whatever”, I mutter while dismissing her. 


Upon closer examination, it is clear it was running away and trying to hide by burrowing into my hair and tangling its leg spikes in my hair. In short, I panicked and so did the beetle.

There it is the beetle I found in my hair. It is 4mm long and the antennae are so very

obviously clubbed. On closer examination they have serrations I find attractive and 

very interesting. The spines on the legs are why it was so difficult to extract from my

hair! 

There are over 300,000 kinds of beetles and I only know the ones that live in the water. I suspect this one is some sort of carrion beetle since there was a dead rabbit nearby that a turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) was feeding on.

Interestingly, it only takes a few molecules of decaying flesh in the air to attract either one. In contrast, it takes what amounts to a dump truck of molecules to get our very primitive odor detecting system’s attention.

  

The hairs on the dorsal (previous picture) and ventral sides and the fact there was a carcass nearby
is why I think it is a carrion beetle. I have sent the image to a battle expert to resolve the question.
There must have been several because a turtle had one in its mouth as well.

I did capture two turtles today and tomorrow I will talk about how the stomach contents of the two turtles I have captured reflect the changes I am seeing in the ecosystem.

In addition, the diet also is likely a reflection of the substantive alterations made to the stream geomorphology a year ago. These are observations I can quantify by comparing and contrasting my data between the different years I have been working in different reaches of Santa Rosa Creek. Finally, by being able to make these kinds of comparisons and unearth insights re-enforces the value of descriptive research. Over the next few days, I will be assembling the pieces of this puzzle.