The One That Got Away

My big discovery this evening was a huge black beetle in the landscaping outside the coffee shop. We do not have three inch beetles here; it looked like something that should comfortably be observed in a display case. Many things were against me getting a great bug shot, not the least of which was my costume--all dressed up for the theater, and wanting desperately to crawl around in the bushes and spy on this collector's item. It was in an awkward position and I so wanted to provoke it to turn around. Truth is, I was, shall we say, intimidated. Okay: I was afraid of the beetle. It had pinchers. It could have turned on me in a heartbeat. It was big and hard and shiny. I settled for a shot of more benign beautiful leaves, but I'm thinking of going back there today with a net.