(OK, I have small fingers, so this creature is probably not as big as it looks in this picture... but it was still pretty big!)
This is a male Reddish-brown Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus), and when I found him, he was on his back, waving his legs weakly in the air. I offered him a clump of dirt to cling onto, and he obliged. Those mandibles may look scary, but they're basically just so that male stag beetles can fight each other -- and anyway, this guy wasn't moving much, so I didn't really feel threatened.
Those are some very pretty colors you have, Mr. Beetle:
I thought this guy might have been reaching the end of his life, but when I looked out on my porch again later in the night, he was gone. What a cool creature to have hanging around!
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