Passport to Puglia #4

Today, In my self appointed role as poolboy I saved this drowning dinosaur- he must have been in the water for a good ten minutes when I hauled him out, but slowly he revived in the midday sun and he's been following me round the plot ever since.
He's an adolescent male European Rhinocerus Beetle (Orcytes nasicornis) apparently blind (well I couldn't see anything resembling eyes) but with great spatial awareness, heavily armoured yet capable of flying (like a Lancaster Bomber).
He doesn't bite or sting, is vegan and most impressively can snatch and press up to 650 times his own body weight (the elephant doesn't even get on the podium)

As the light faded and WonderA and I made to head off to Locorotondo for an evening of jazz and gelato, we said our goodbyes and he trundled off into the trullo' s cracks and crannies....grateful to be alive, we all thought to ourselves.