They are everywhere in Loveland. I listen to their undulating loudness all day through my closed studio windows. I went for a run on the trail the other day and seriously considered turning around. Not because they were flying at me, but out of fear of damaging my hearing! It was so loud on some sections of the trail that I felt as if I was at a Cicada rock concert in the front row right by the speaker!!
The pictures are of one that sat patiently for a photoshoot on my hostas. Probably munching away. I think they are fascinating bugs. I don't mind them if I have control over their bumblingness, but if they come at me uninvited....kinda freaky. Here's the rundown of our cicada happenings so far:
- Dexter LOVES cicadas. As in crunch crunch crunch. I remember when the cicadas were in the lower part of Cincinnati a few years ago, cicada recipes were shared on TV... so I guess I'm not worried about the dog popping them like m&m's. Makes for nasty doggy-gas though.
- Driving with the windows down is not a great option. I was driving home from work when one ricocheted off my driver side mirror across my face and landed on my seat just below my headrest. Turning around to find a huge cicada by your neck while driving isn't fun. I flicked it into the back, where it buzzed the rest of the way home, caught in the back door's pocket. I got a stick and got it out when I got home. I can definitely see how people wreck because of these things.
- They can hold on to a car perhaps up to 40 mph? Greg had to pull over before he got on the highway one morning to flick one off his sunroof. Otherwise, the chunk o' bug would have probably decided to hitch a ride inside after he opened his sunroof. It held on from our house to somewhere on Fields Ertle... good grip.
- Tis the season to bike with your mouth shut. We went on a bike ride last weekend and didn't hit any. They seem to stay in the trees along the trail. I have swallowed a lot of bugs on the bike trail and can't imagine how badly a cicada would choke you! I did have a big bug go down my jersey on the ride, but it was a false alarm - just a typical along-the-trail flying bug.
- Dead cicadas start to smell if there are enough of them. This we learned from our bug man. On our street, you can kind of smell an odor that reminded me of if you get a dead mouse in your wall: dead animal smell. Our bug man said it was all of the dead cicadas decomposing. That's gross. There are enough dead bugs to stink up the neighborhood? That's what I call a plague.
I don't know how much longer they will be around, but I've had my fill. And so has Dexter. I think he's gained some weight from his newfound snack.
3 comments:
Great photos! Love the "cicada happenings!"
Mom and I went down to Caesar's Creek to check out the fishing conditions and when you pulled off 73 into the park it gets real loud. It seems to be different from years past, maybe because this is a different variety? Low droan hum sound. I remember coming back from Mid-Ohio race course one year and at highway speed you could hear the darn things. We don't appear to have them here this year, at least I haven't heard them yet.
Went to the office the other day and must have crunched tons of cicadas with my brand new strappy heels, ewww.
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