New phobia unlocked
But more seriously, it's a good thing it doesn't happen too often, because apart from moving, there's not much you could do if it happened all the time.
Comment has been collapsed.
Sorry, I laughed at the "copper-wire mesh screens moaning" 🤣
Has it been this way the past years? 17 years is quite a lot of time interval.
Comment has been collapsed.
As a person with entomophobia reading this made me physically uncomfortable so i gave up on third paragraph.
Wish this ends fast for you.
And pray it never happens where i live (i'd die).
Comment has been collapsed.
Thankfully where I live we just get a standard amount of cicadas every summer. Used to enjoy trying to catch them as a kid, and collect the shells they leave behind. Those many-year US broods always sound wild though (also the bugs themselves sound much bigger than the ones we have), nature is crazy.
Comment has been collapsed.
It seems like something incredible is happening in your area…!
Cicadas, huh… When I was a kid, every summer vacation, I would grab a net and a bug cage and go out to catch them. I remember playing by attaching the cicadas to my chest and saying, "Brooch!"
Looking back now, I can't believe I used to touch such a creepy creature with my bare hands.
Cicadas are fast, they're just plain noisy, and their appearance is grotesque...
I suppose growing up means not being able to touch cicadas anymore (laughs).
By the way, not long ago, there was a notice from the city hall posted in a park in Japan that made the news.
The notice said, "Please refrain from catching cicadas in large numbers for consumption or other purposes."
While there is no culture of eating cicadas in Japan, it seems they are eaten in China and some parts of Southeast Asia…
By the way, cicadas that only eat tree sap are said to taste pretty good.
Huh? You’re wondering if I want to try it?
Actually, I just remembered something, so I have to go now. See you!
P.S. I sincerely hope that the cicadas in your area reach the end of their lifespan as quickly as possible.
Comment has been collapsed.
last year we had 2 swams emerging at once where i live.
nonstop sound everywhere so loud that multiple people called the police
it sounds on par with construction work heavy machinery
Comment has been collapsed.
You made me laugh and cringe but most of all you took me back to my fondest childhood memories of tracking the cicadas by their song and catching and releasing them.
They don't emerge in droves here. I'm not sure if they are simply more spread out or what but it's interesting that they act different there.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm living in South Korea now. We have cicadas here too, hope there will not invasion like this.
Comment has been collapsed.
What a nightmare... I'm grateful I haven't witnessed a locust invasion in 15 years now
Comment has been collapsed.
That sounds quite overwhelming to be honest, knowing just how absurdly loud cicadas can be having a swarm of the things singing at once sounds kinda painful. When I was a kid in the summer I ran around with the other neighborhood kids and we caught cicadas with our bare hands for fun, the big green bugs can be quite sluggish to start flying, or to change directions mid flight, so they're an easy catch. My grandpa had a dog that had such good reflexes that he jumped and caught them mid fly in the air as they passed, I guess he was just bothered by the sound and decided to attack them.
While I've never seen one of those massive cicada swarms, as far as I know they don't happen here in South America, I have seen butterfly and beetle migrations. The butterflies essentially obscure the sun for a couple of hours, while the beetles are like a living black mat that passes by.
I'm lucky to not be weirded out by most insects, but having seen how some people freak out I can understand that it most be tough for you, stay strong I guess.
Comment has been collapsed.
I'm sorry to hear this. Cicadas aren't too bad where I'm at but the midges were insane this year.
Comment has been collapsed.
Sounds like quite the spectacle. I'd enjoy it while it lasts :)
Comment has been collapsed.
Yikes. I don't have too much of a disgust of bugs but this feel visceral...
Comment has been collapsed.
This sounds like a plot from some horror movie "once every 17 years monsters come out of the underground" but overall it's interesting. how long does something like that last
Comment has been collapsed.
this is absolutely fascinating. and an absolute nightmare at the same time. thanks for sharing, I've never heard about these periodical cicadas before.
stay strong! they say it won't last long.
Comment has been collapsed.
With what you're describing, I could easily make a horror movie about cicadas versus humans
Comment has been collapsed.
Once every 17 years Cicadas comes out in swarms from under the ground to breed and... do whatever else they do when out and about and it's quite a spectacle as I've witnessed here in the NE coast of US.
So it turns out that in every acre, there are 1.5 million little cicada nymphs (smaller, pale little cicadas) that lives underground eating on roots of grass, plants, shrubs and trees and somehow like a clock, every 17 years they come out in biblical swarms of billions if not trillions of them to take over towns.
My apartment has been surrounded, I cannot go much far without those clumsy things flying up to my face, or getting stuck on my shirt and/or pants. They are really, really everywhere, the yard is flooded with them on the ground, when stepping outside I feel the nasty crunch beneath my shoes as I inevitably step on them, and I kind of have no choice, really.
Restaurants have closed their outdoor dining areas and some had managed to install a temporary screen enclosure to avoid them landing on people's plates while they're eating, imagine that. And I should mention that bringing a car to the car wash is a waste of time since by the time I'm back home my front grill and windshield are already plastered with gooey cicada innards.
I had to remove the screens on my bedroom because here I have copper-wire mesh screens, and when one of them lands on the screen to begin vibrating to attract a female, the screen vibrates as well, making the copper-wire mesh produce an acoustic sound on my window akin to someone... Moaning... Yeah, it really sounds like a dude just moaning up my window, and waking up to that sound at five in the morning was absolutely jarring and I knew I had to take these off at least until they're gone.
It's quite a spectacular thing to experience, gross and annoying at the same time. Even though they are harmless, no sting, no poison and no bite, they are just nasty, like very large flying cockroaches with big red eyes staring back at you (and of course it has to be red eyes). I'm really not great with insects, it triggers a massive flight response in my brain when one of them lands on me, it's embarrassing... Last week when this whole invasion was just beginning, I (unsuccessfully) tried to walk my dog, giving up in a matter of less than two minutes I came back home to fish the keys from my pockets, only to find a huge ass cicada chilling inside my pocket and it made me freak out on my doorway, so embarrassing...
Comment has been collapsed.