For the rest, let us watch them at work.
I plant in the sand of the cage a meagre tuft of thyme.

The shrub is at most some four inches in height.

In the branches I place a Mouse, entangling the tail, the paws and the neck among the twigs in order to increase the difficulty.

The population of the cage now consists of fourteen Necrophori and will remain the same until the close of my investigations.

Of course they do not all take part simultaneously in the day's work; the majority remain underground, somnolent, or occupied in setting their cellars in order.