Another Stag Encounter !!

It was about this time last year, when I was fortunate enough to be able to photograph and study a very nice male Greater Stag beetle, an unwelcome guest at an evening party.

The weather has been very humid and sultry these last few days, perfect Stag Beetle weather,
 My evening walk with my dog takes me past a very busy roundabout, lots of pedestrian traffic lights, lamp posts and neon signs from the local Sainsbury's superstore, surrounded by trees

I am pretty sure that a few years ago, while watching one of those Attenborough wildlife programmes, in which they concentrated on a similar looking beetle called the Rhinoceros beetle or Dynastinae, they spoke about its attraction to bright lights, as it flew on one of those hot humid evenings in search for a female.

May be coincidence, but the last few days I have encountered a male Greater Stag with some pretty impressive mandibles, this was making its way off the traffic island towards the road, lots of bright flashing lights, a quick rescue was put into place and a release in the safety of the wood pile in the garden, Still there in the morning so a few more photographs were taken, a few hours later and it had disappeared.

The next night a female Greater stag was seen, making its way along the gutter of the road, another rescue, this time released into some nearby tree's.

Greater Stag beetle (Lucanus cervus)

Always impressive when you meet one of these little beauties !.