Pancakes ... as big as your head

Did You Know: A grouping of maple trees is called a sugarbush?

The only reason I knew that was because I've written a few different news stories about Maple Weekend in the past and have retained that knowledge for the future. It comes in handy every year when March rolls around and Mother Nature allows a little warmth to shine down on the groves. Maple Weekend is a big thing in this region and I'm not just talking about New York, though *pops collar* our state tree is in fact the sugar maple.

I'll give you a second to be impressed.

Zombie eating beetles for the win

My dog tried to eat that yesterday. Toddler-in-training attempted to touch it and screamed like a baby when it took flight. Yeah, I know, she is a baby, but that's beside the point.

I post this photo to Facebook asking what the eff it is because I was clueless and have never seen a beetle like it in my life. That's a total of like 30 years of bug catching, frog saving, tadpole fishing, night crawler hunting interactions with the wild ... and never had one of these crossed my path. I was aware enough to know it was a beetle of some sort, obviously, because I'm not an idiot.

Responding with lightning speed, a friend posted in awesome yelling-at-me caps that it's a carrion beetle. Excuse me. *clears throat* CARRION BEETLE.