The ten-lined June beetle lives underground for two or three years as a larva that looks like a hungry white prawn. It eats the roots of plants, and loves to destroy my potato crop.
When it is about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long, it hatches as a beetle, in those hot days of summer. It likes to fly around and land on an unsuspecting person’s back, where that victim can’t reach it.
These bugs freak me out. I always turn up my collar and stay close to the house when I take our dog out for last call.
Our English springer spaniel puppy, Ruby, had a different view of these beetles. She thought God had put them on this earth for her to chase and, perhaps to bring them into the house to play with.
At this point I would like to share an entry I made in one of my journals where I wrote things of note that happened on any particular day. (The Captain was away commercial fishing and might later be interested in reading how I spent my summer.) Our puppy, Ruby, was a little bit wild and crazy those first months of her life.
August 22, 2007
Ruby brought in a beetle again, after her last pee of the evening. She’s getting very surreptitious about it. She went straight to her doggie bed and put her chin on the bed, trying to look innocent. But I’m onto that fake innocence and sure enough, I heard bug screams coming from inside her mouth. “M-m-m-r-r-z-z-z! M-m-m-r-r-z-z-z!”
It was hard to make her give it up, but finally she spat it out, and batted at it meaning to play with it. I couldn’t just pick it up with my bare hands, but a little dog bowl was nearby, so I used it to try to scoop up the bug. I say “try” because it didn’t work out so well. The beetle has tiny hooks on its legs and they stuck to the fuzzy material of the dog bed. I tried scooping again and as it let go it brushed against my hand and I shrieked. The bug was flung into the corner under a chest of drawers, and Ruby, freaked out by my shriek, leapt up off the bed and backed off a few feet.
I laughed until I cried. Again. She has me laughing so often with her antics out in the yard. I’m sure the neighbours wonder about the old woman who lives alone and goes out into her backyard laughing out loud all by herself.
January 4, 2023 at 8:56 pm
So funny!!
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January 4, 2023 at 8:59 pm
Hi, Juanita. Nice to see you here. Thanks for the visit. Happy New Year to you.
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January 4, 2023 at 9:02 pm
And you as well!
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January 4, 2023 at 9:44 pm
Aww, Ruby was so beautiful! Hugs. ☺️
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January 5, 2023 at 10:35 am
Thanks, John. She was beautiful, and after she outgrew her puppy craziness, she was a wonderful, loving dog. She died a couple of years ago, into her 14th year, but it was still too soon for us.
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January 5, 2023 at 10:44 am
You are welcome. I understand the pain of losing a family member, dogs are 100% family too. ❤️
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January 5, 2023 at 12:23 am
It was fun to read this post but I guess it wasn´t so much fun for you then. Ruby was such a beauty!
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January 5, 2023 at 10:07 am
Ruby was such a monster of a puppy – always in trouble. She was like a hyperactive kid but I couldn’t help but love her. She turned out to be one of our best dogs ever.
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January 5, 2023 at 4:52 am
Ahhh, dogs and their gifts. I am sure they can not understand what all the fuss is about. Happy Thursday Anneli. Allan
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January 5, 2023 at 10:03 am
They keep life interesting; that’s for sure.
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January 5, 2023 at 5:11 am
I had a good laugh with this one. Ruby was a beauty!
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January 5, 2023 at 10:17 am
We sure loved that dog, in spite of all her crazy habits.
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January 5, 2023 at 5:52 am
Fabulous
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January 5, 2023 at 10:12 am
Thank you, D.A.
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January 5, 2023 at 6:56 am
What a fun tale. My Dixie Rose adored playing with our huge ‘palmetto bugs,’ which actually are like overgrown roaches. The good news is she’d dispatch them once she’d grown bored. I always told her “Good girl.”
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January 5, 2023 at 10:11 am
I suppose that’s a good thing, if she dispatched them. That’s a useful thing. But bringing them into the house and later upchucking the wings (outside), was a price to pay for the way Ruby dealt with them. You had your Dixie Rose trained right!
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January 5, 2023 at 7:39 am
In his mouth! Yikes dogs are fun, aren’t they?
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January 5, 2023 at 10:16 am
Oh yes, she wasn’t shy about snapping at these bugs. I just didn’t like that she brought them into the house and then tried to play with them. If they got away, under the freezer or someplace like that, then I had the problem of retrieving it. (By the way, when that happens, you use a long skinny stick and sweep blindly until you connect.)
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January 5, 2023 at 8:15 am
Happy New Year Anneli. Enjoyed this delightful story with Ruby and her June bug toy. A beautiful memory to share along with smiles. Your 2023 New Year friendship blog was an inspiration! Cherish YOU, your friendship is a wonderful treasure in my life.
So glad we met the lady who laughs out loud, late in the evening!!!!
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January 5, 2023 at 10:14 am
Tnx, Marsha. Happy New Year to you too. Yes, that Ruby was a challenge, but she was worth all the trials she put me through.
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January 5, 2023 at 9:18 am
Such a funny memory of Ruby. Although, at the time it probably didn’t seem that way, when trying to pry open her mouth and not touch the bug. Eeek! I’d freak out hearing that in my dog’s mouth. I’m guessing Emma isn’t as interested in those bugs?
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January 5, 2023 at 10:01 am
It was a challenge getting that bug out of her mouth. I’m unreasonably terrified of those things. Emma tries to snap at them as they go by but I don’t think she would want one in her mouth.
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January 5, 2023 at 10:40 pm
Great story! Sorry about your loss! Ana
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January 6, 2023 at 6:57 am
Thanks, Ana.
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January 6, 2023 at 8:11 am
What a great story, Anneli. Ruby reminds me of our English Springer Spaniel, Jasper, from my childhood. I’m so sorry she’s no longer with you. When that beetle was flung, I thought of how my reaction would be the same if a spider landed on me. 🙂 Yikes! And I don’t think I’d want a 2 inch beetle on my back either.
Thanks for sharing.
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January 6, 2023 at 9:03 am
Thanks for reading my little story, Lauren. These big bugs creep me out, but when you mentioned spiders, I thought, if this had been a spider instead, I would have been hysterical.
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January 6, 2023 at 9:05 am
My thoughts exactly. 🤗
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January 6, 2023 at 6:45 pm
Ruby is enjoying is lunch Anita
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January 7, 2023 at 11:16 am
I think the icky larva would creep me out more than the beetle, Anneli. My grandmother used to wear jewelry made out of beetles and it was usually beautiful, so I was used to seeing them on her clothing (lapel pins and brooches). Weird, huh? I think I laughed most at Ruby’s trying to look innocent with a beetle buzzing for help in her mouth. Lol
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January 7, 2023 at 11:43 am
Yes, Ruby was good at that. She did the same thing when she used to pick up little rocks to chew. We used to get upset with her because it would crack her teeth, so she would put the rock on the ground and lie down on her side, covering it with her cheek.
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January 7, 2023 at 1:46 pm
Lol. What a sneak. And very cute.
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January 7, 2023 at 4:19 pm
Yup!
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January 11, 2023 at 7:26 am
Haha! That’s a great story, Anneli! Those beetles would freak me out too.
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January 11, 2023 at 12:16 pm
I dread beetle time. Luckily, it usually doesn’t last more than about ten terrible days.
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January 12, 2023 at 9:28 am
Anneli, this is a wonderful tale of Ruby and you – I’m chuckling away! Your writing is so vivid I’m picturing the scene brilliantly. Beetles are SO creepy and I avoid them as best I can!
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January 12, 2023 at 7:35 pm
Thank you, Annika. I’m glad you enjoyed the little anecdote. I’m definitely not a fan of these huge beetles.
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January 13, 2023 at 10:43 am
I just cannot help but to laugh. Hmm, I wonder what the neighbors are writing in their journals.
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