Over the past two weeks I've noticed green beetles in my parents lawn. They're about an inch long and almost as round. I haven't been able to take a picture of them due to the fact that one of our two dogs ussually eats them before i can capture/grap/photograph them... They haven't made either of my dogs sick, but they're burrowing near on of our gardens and I'm afraid for the flowers. Also alot of black birds have been hanging out near the spot where the beatles are and I don't want my dogs to get fleas!!!

So what I need to know is what the heck these things are, and how to get rid of them. Although I'm not to thrilled about using pestisides becuase of my dogs. I live in southern Ontario (if that helps).

Sounds like the birds as well as the dogs are eating the beetles. if they're not doing any damage i'd just keep an eye on them for now and let nature take its course. If they start to get out of hand then maybe consider a spray but consider you'll be spraying more than just the target beetle which may not be harmful in the first place. Chances are the beetle larvae is in the soil and as they hatch and come out of the ground they're getting eaten by the birds. Either that or the beetles are laying their larvae there. Either way, the birds are getting a feed.

I bet they are green June beetle, Cotinis nitida (Linnaeus). photo They are tunneling down to lay their eggs in the soil. They make Mac-daddy white grubs in your turf, but normally do not do a lot of damage like other grubs. They can leave little piles of soil in the surface from where they are tunneling. I would not worth about them. And for the dogs, just extra protein! I would rather the dogs eat the beetles then eat pesticides.