http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/05/06/4836441/east-about-to-be-overrun-by-billions.html
I think they are cicadas....
We were overrun with them last year. Someone else's turn this year, but we still may get some late bloomers.
Quote from: beenthere on May 06, 2013, 06:50:57 PM
I think they are cicadas....
We were overrun with them last year. Someone else's turn this year, but we still may get some late bloomers.
Yep....I misspelled it, but I fixed it now. Thanks.
I don't know if we ever get cicadas in Minnesota, but we do get tent catapillers in huge numbers every ten years or so. It has been a while since our last peak year, so I guess we are due. They cover everything. I remember a house that was being built on our lake, and the carpenters left their cordless drill charger plugged in outside and it was engulfed in a squirming mass twice as big as the charger. Guess they like it warm. Unlike cicadas, they don't make any noise. Although I swear I can hear the ground moving when it is covered with them.
It appears this year will have two large hatches of cicadas, a 13 year brood and a 17 year brood.
This too will be a loud summer for many.
Here's an interesting article about the broods and areas impacted.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/a-double-brood-of-periodical-cicadas-will-emerge-in-2024/
With Tinnitus going on in my head, I hear Cicadas year round!
Hoping the hatch will not bother too much!
Looking forward to the savings on my chicken feed bill. ffcheesy
I can remember back when I was in the USAF (69-70), stationed in Thailand!
Many of the locals would catch a bunch of them, then gather a crowd and eat cicadas.
I've watched a few, they would pick off the wings, the legs, then the head, and eat the rest, kind of like we would eat chips!
They offered, but I just watched!
The cicadas are coming out pretty strong here. I can here a dull roar all day.
I think my dogs are getting full eating them.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/65100/cicadas.jpg) (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=353688)
So far I've not seen or heard any cicadas yet.
We are in on of the areas. I do not know if its the 13 or 17 year batch. I'm happy to not be in the overlap area. We had that about 20 years ago and they decimated a lot of young trees. I had planted some aspen trees and they were doing well. Then the cicadas destroyed them. I'm worried about my apple trees. I havent seen or heard them yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. I hadn't thought about the chickens. I didnt have chikens last time. We will have to be sure to let the chickens out to feed. Should be fun to watch.
I enjoy whacking them with a BB gun, when they stationary on a limb. If you hit them just right, they will fly and fall to the ground with a "Screeeeee!" sound like a whistling bottle rocket.
Now YH has a new rifle for better accuracy. ffcheesy ffcheesy ffcool
I heard my first ones today while I was eating lunch. Can't hear anything with earplugs when the mill is running. :wink_2: