whats making holes in horse poo?

[Sophielou10]

i work at my local stables, and we poo pick the fields.
there are holes under a lot of the piles of poo.
any idea what caused them?

 

[Mesquite]

Probably dung beetles

 

[Sophielou10]

holes about 1.5 - 2 cm diameter sound about right?

 

[JonathanD]

Birds, especially Woodpeckers. They love poo

Edit: Sorry misread post. Under poo is dung beetles as already pointed out by that bloke Mesquite.

 

[Sophielou10]

I'll keep an eye out never seen a dung beetle.
When is the best time to see them?

 

[JonathanD]

Warm sunny days. They are very active now though, seen loads the last few days whilst out herping.

 

[JonathanD]

Here you go, quite big and round. About 2cm long and walking slowly through the grass.

 

[al21]

I can't tell you what species this is, but I find loads of these in the bags of horse muck I get locally for my allotments.

Al

 

[JonathanD]

Yeah, another species of dung beetle that... Aphodius rufipes.

 

[al21]

Thanks for the ID.

Al