They're Back

[Charlie_W]

Yup....They're Back!......Cicadas...that is!

Noisy buggers too! One of our neighbors was having his windows replaced stated that he hoped he would not be able to hear the cicadas at night!


2004..... A different brood of cicadas.....they were everywhere! One flew into a car driving down the street......the driver was flustered, lost control and drove across the curb, sidewalkup and up into someone's front yard!

My Story: 2004...... I was doing a job installing some trim work for a customer. I was working on some crown molding in a two story foyer with a curved staircase/wall. I was outside with my miter saw kerfing the crown molding about every 3/4"....repeatedly kerfing..zing, zing went the saw.....HERE CAME THE CICADES!!!! They were bumping into the saw, the saw table, me...like suicide cicades diving in!
I had to brush them off before going back in the house!!!

Found this one on the tire of my van yesterday morning. It had just come out of its shell!

 

[CREID]

I was hoping it was the TV people.

 

[Charlie_W]

So, looks like not many folks are interested in cicadas!
Only one comment and not even 1 like.
Are they really that gross?...better than those slithery creatures you guys make pen blanks out of!

I at least thought Cody would mention trying to cast the shell that the cicada left behind! :biggrin: especially since the shell was already cast off by the cicada.....could be a double cast cicada shell pen blank!

 

[Curly]

I live too far north to see them Charlie so can't really comment much. Small compared to the local mosquitoes though.

 

[Bob in SF]

Cicada wings should cast into nice blanks - an opportunity that only comes around every 13-17 years.

 

[Herb G]

My dog ate them as a puppy. In 2004, brood #10 came out when my Chesapeake Bay Retriever was just a pup. He ate those things like candy.
He'd even bring them inside the house in his mouth to play with, and my wife & I would hear this muffled buzzing sound.

My wife stuck her fingers down his throat more than once to take it from him. Our vet says that's why he got so big as an adult.
He had access to tons of protein just as his body was needing it for growth. He topped out at 125 lbs.

He's 12 years old & still going strong, although he's slowed down a bit from his prime.

Our Lab ate acorns as a pup a year later. He's 11 now & he's still going strong too. The year he was born, we had a super crop of acorns here.

 

[MDWine]

I hate those things!

I have competed with the North-South Skirmish Ass'n (North South Skirmish Association) for over 30 years. We shoot real muskets in a civil war style of live fire competition. (Look'm up to see what goes on!)

Years ago, I was on the line shooting during a relay. I saw one of these buggers flying right at me! Since I have an intense dislike for these critters, I decided to throw one shot away, so as he approached the business end of my musket, I blew that stinker right out of the air with a .58 caliber mustketball!

I know I hit him, because he vaporized, and all I saw was a wing floating to the ground. It was worth a lower relay score (I'm a pretty decent shot!) just to blow one of them away!

 

[Charlie_W]

I hate those things!

I have competed with the North-South Skirmish Ass'n (North South Skirmish Association) for over 30 years. We shoot real muskets in a civil war style of live fire competition. (Look'm up to see what goes on!)

Years ago, I was on the line shooting during a relay. I saw one of these buggers flying right at me! Since I have an intense dislike for these critters, I decided to throw one shot away, so as he approached the business end of my musket, I blew that stinker right out of the air with a .58 caliber mustketball!

I know I hit him, because he vaporized, and all I saw was a wing floating to the ground. It was worth a lower relay score (I'm a pretty decent shot!) just to blow one of them away!

Great Story Michael! Blasting Cicadas out of the sky does sound like fun!

One could probably organize weekend Cicada shoots out in the country!
A business opportunity for sure! Perhaps before a paintball event!

 

[Charlie_W]

My dog ate them as a puppy. In 2004, brood #10 came out when my Chesapeake Bay Retriever was just a pup. He ate those things like candy.
He'd even bring them inside the house in his mouth to play with, and my wife & I would hear this muffled buzzing sound.

My wife stuck her fingers down his throat more than once to take it from him. Our vet says that's why he got so big as an adult.
He had access to tons of protein just as his body was needing it for growth. He topped out at 125 lbs.

He's 12 years old & still going strong, although he's slowed down a bit from his prime.

Our Lab ate acorns as a pup a year later. He's 11 now & he's still going strong too. The year he was born, we had a super crop of acorns here.

Bad dog...bad dog......Don't Eat The Cidadas!!!!

I guess the acorns count as fiber in his diet!

 

[TellicoTurning]

I've heard one or two this year, not like a couple of years back when they were in every tree around me... we were drowning in the sound.... day and night, night and day.

Although i spent many an hour as a kid collecting the shells and playing with them.

 

[mrcook4570]

Our local batch made their appearance back in May. They did not seem to last as long or be as noisy as I remember them being back in 1999.

 

[Paul in OKC]

Ahh, the sound of summer.

 

[Herb G]

Bad dog...bad dog......Don't Eat The Cidadas!!!!
I guess the acorns count as fiber in his diet!

Actually, our vet said it was actually good for him to eat the insects.
Not the wings so much, but the bugs themselves are full of protein.

This was before Andrew Zimmern made it popular to eat bugs.
(He's the Bizarre Foods guy.)
There are people who eat cicadas around here that put ads in the paper asking if they can install traps on your property to gather them.

Um, I'll pass.

 

[Charlie_W]

Bad dog...bad dog......Don't Eat The Cidadas!!!!
I guess the acorns count as fiber in his diet!

Actually, our vet said it was actually good for him to eat the insects.
Not the wings so much, but the bugs themselves are full of protein.

This was before Andrew Zimmern made it popular to eat bugs.
(He's the Bizarre Foods guy.)
There are people who eat cicadas around here that put ads in the paper asking if they can install traps on your property to gather them.

Um, I'll pass.

NO THANKS I will take a pass on the plate of Cicadas!

 

[sbwertz]

Several years ago I was riding with my daughter in law when a cicada flew up her horse's nostril. Quite a rodeo ensued, but she stayed aboard. (I nearly fell off I was laughing so hard, though!) He finally snorted it out, but would never go within six feet of that bush again!

 

[TellicoTurning]

Several years ago I was riding with my daughter in law when a cicada flew up her horse's nostril. Quite a rodeo ensued, but she stayed aboard. (I nearly fell off I was laughing so hard, though!) He finally snorted it out, but would never go within six feet of that bush again!

Horses are funny creatures... I used to go to a guest ranch in California that's up in the King's Canyon area... the horses were used to all the trails and usually would plod along gently... one of the trails we rode passed a big rock about the size of a VW.... second or third day we were out riding and someone had thrown a towel up on the rock... some hike must have lost it and a good Samaritan put it there so they could see it ... the horse also saw it and it took a lot of coaxing to get him past that rock... he sidled past and kept the towel in his vision all the way past...by the time we got past the rock, he was walking backwards.