On its last legs…

The other morning I found a very big beetle upside down on the floor of the post office, and so I picked it up. During the 15 years that I was the janitor at the post office, I routinely rescued insects that had gotten trapped in the lobby overnight; usually praying mantis, walking sticks, and katydids.

At first I thought this beetle was dead, but it moved a bit, so I brought it home.

It was obviously in the process of dying, but it was still struggling.

Only part of its body seemed to be working.

I put it on the ground, and a few hours later when I looked for it, it was once again upside down, and very dead. Richard does not approve of me killing live insects just so I can add them to my collection of dead ones, so I must wait until nature takes its course.

It has joined the other items in the kitchen windowsill. I started to take a picture of it sitting there on my antique spice can, but the sill is such a dusty, cobwebby mess that I am embarrassed to take a picture of it.
 
I suppose it is time to do some “Fall cleaning.” Rather ironic, I think,  that the person who used to clean houses and local businesses for a living has such a messy one.