First, let me tell you that this is not my usual type of “bug” post.  Here’s what happened:

   My 5 1/2 month old son had just started an afternoon nap and my wife took the opportunity to get in the shower (which is why you can’t believe her if she says I screamed like a little girl and jumped on a chair).  I heard my son stirring and walked into his nursery to help him get back to sleep, I sat down next to his crib and was patting him back to sleep when I felt something tickle my foot.  At first I just guessed it was the cat, but a moment later it occurred to me that CATS ARE SOFT!  I immediately picked my foot up and looked down to see….

This monster staring right back at me

It was dark and he was not the least bit scared of me.  I jumped out of the chair and turned on the light (in very manly way)  and came back to take a closer look.  I found a jar to put him in and nudged him into it and then searched the crib and the rest of the room to see if he had any friends around.  I have no idea how this guy got into the house, up a flight of stairs, and made a left into the babies room.  I kept him on my desk for a little while for ID,  where I grew pretty fond of the fellow, and now he’s been released into the front yard on parole for good behavior.

He was a male Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus)!  If you ever need to ID a bug I found these two sites to be very helpful:  Bug Guide and What’s that bug?