What are these nasty animals that keep attacking my cats?

Question

Hello

These weird animals keep coming in my garden and attacking my cats, and I've never even seen one until a month ago.

They are black, about the size of a mouse, and i think it had 4 or 6 legs and it has evil looking crab-linke pinchers at the front. They make a clicking noise when the walk, and they are really hard to kill, as in their bodies seem to be made of metal. They are shiny too and can fly. It's not a bat.

They keep ganging up on one of my cats when he sleeps in the garden of an evening to keep cool, and they pinch him with their pinchers and he yelps.

He bought one indoors the other day and when he dropped it on the floor it pinched his nose and cut it.

What on earth are they and how can I get rid of them?

They look like the kind of thing you see on programmes about Africa and the Jungle

Answer 1

Need a picture of one, otherwise leave the drugs alone. By the way, do you live near water they could be crayfish?

Answer 2

They sound like some nasty kind of beetle. Rhinocerous beetle or something like that. Size of a mouse sounds deadset creepy. Have you got in touch with the museum? They have a curator of entomology who might be able to help.

Scarabs aren't extinct. They are dung beetles.

Answer 3

Try Stag Beetle, though I can't see why they would attack your cat!

http://www.stagbeetlehelpline.co.uk/

Answer 4

I would agree that the description sounds like a stag beetle,  they can grow to nearly three inches long - although I've never heard of them attacking domestic animals - their "antlers" are used for courtship displays, rather than for aggressive behaviour. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Lucan...

There's plenty of Great Diving Beetles around at the moment as well - even though they live most of their lives in water, predating small fish, tadpoles etc you will occasionally see them flying around (I saw one yesterday in southern England) http://www.dkimages.com/discover/preview...

The majority of beetles are capable of free flight, so that fits the description.  The carapaces (exoskeletons) of both would be shiny

Whoever said Scarabs are extinct is wrong - there are many sorts of Scarab beetle still alive and well in many parts of the world - and the thing about them crawling under your skin is an invention of Hollywood - the grossest thing that most of them do is push piles of faeces around.

Answer 5

Learn to ID them, here -

http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740

http://greennature.com/article1899.html

http://www.einsteins-emporium.com/life/a...

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/

http://www.insectimages.org/

Answer 6

I would have said scorpian before you said it can fly.

other than that all i can say is scarab, but ofcourse there exctinct.

what part of the world are you from ? ! ? !

maybe try the internet.

edit- the scarabs i meen are the ones that live in the desert that go under your skin. there is dung beetles though, that are the same but not harmful.

glad i helped you ! x

Answer 7

These things are supposed to be invisible radioactive creatures from another time. Around this area they call them Cursties. I believe they are connected with flying saucers and other alien phenomena. They seem to be destroying all our wildlife, especially birds, I havent heard a blackbird singing for ages.

Answer 8

Perhaps one of the ground beetles.  You are lucky to have them in your garden.  They are predators on many other insects.  I suggest you stop killing them

http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/car...