Vespillo burying beetle

Some say that powerful scents bring back the past. Not me. In that single moment of gorgeous olfaction I smelled a glorious future. All the hope in the world was revealed by the scent that wafted towards me on the gentlest breeze. There was a corpse out there, a good mile off, and I knew at once that it would bring me all the joy and happiness a beetle is capable of.

- Simon Barnes

Monday

By this time, there were two of us. We're strong fliers and we made the journey across the Surrey night with little trouble. And there it was: just about perfect. A short-tailed field vole: dead, ripe and luscious. Nothing became him in life like the leaving of it. It wasn’t just delicious: it was the start of family life.

Tuesday