Most likely a Nicrophorus tomentosus --

We originally though it came in to our house with our mail (that is were we first noticed it). Didn't figure this one out until a fellow photographer, Sean Carpenter, got me started on the right path to "id'ing" it. These are a type of burying beetle (aka carrion beetle), having identified it, it made more sense having it in the house ... we had been gone for a long weekend, when we came back we had the most HORRIBLE smell in the house -- probably due to a dead bird/squirrel in the chimney flu (we're still working on this - YUK!!!) and the smell may have attracted this guy to the house?

In any case, he seemed to be really "freaked" out trying to rub his face clean. I couldn't quite make out what the problem was until I looked at the macros on the big computer screen... it turns out that these mites are fairly common on beetles, which are used as a sort of transport by the mites (called phoresy I believe)

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