A 17-year cicada

ROSE writes:

 I haven’t been keeping up with my blogs lately because of the many wild animals I’m taking care of, but recently I’ve been thinking of you daily. You see, a few weeks ago the 13-year cicadas emerged, many from my very backyard. [Cicadas were discussed previously here, here and here.] It’s half an acre and potentially could have contained 500,000 of them. There are thousands of tiny holes everywhere and it’s blanketed with cicada shells while the gigantic red-eyed bug monsters swoop down at you from the air.

And the noise… I told you they’re usually loud in the summer but this year the paper reports that people have been calling the police to find out if a big construction project or military exercises are
going on. They’re like little vuvuzelas made by God.

                                                                                                — Comments —

Kristor writes:

I heard on the radio the other day that in some rural areas the 13-year Cicadas are cranking out 130 decibels. That’s like standing four feet from a jackhammer. Sustained exposure to 95 decibels can cause hearing loss.

Amazing.

Buck O. writes:

Real men eat cicadas. 

At our Third Annual Memorial Weekend Crab Party in 2004 (Tenth this weekend!), the 17-year cicada had arrived and was everywhere. Every so often a female was heard to scream: “Get it off of me!” Manly men would emit a manly laugh, then remove the beast in a manly way. A few men would apply cicadas to particular women just to come to their rescue. 

Then, one of our group said: “Who’s willing to eat one with me?” 

In a moment, five of us were standing with a beer in one hand and a live cicada in the other. 

“Down the hatch!” It was very quick. I learned later, that it’s customary to first remove the wings. That makes sense. I recommend it.  

Our buffoonery is traditional, as is our moment of silence during the playing of taps, and a toast to our fallen warriors which officially opens our annual gathering of military men and their families and friends.

Laura writes:

Real men don’t down the cicada with a gulp of beer. They slowly chew the enormous, bird-sized, crunchy, bug-eyed, stridulating beast, savoring every morsel. And then they ask for more.  

Please follow and like us: