Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Brood X -- They're Here!

It is the 26th of May, and we are really in the thick of things with life running at full speed. Whether I want it to or not. I'm working some extra hours and days to cover for a couple of co-workers who are out of the office. 

With today as my only day off this week, I'm using it to catch up on a few things, inside and outside. 

~George!!!~

We are also in the "thick" of the cicadas, known as "Brood X." Most of the species we have are annual cicadas, which emerge every year and take only one year to complete their life cycle. But these are different. As I mentioned in a previous post, this particular "brood" has been living underground for 17 years. 

All in preparation that has been leading up to this moment when they have surfaced in droves -- up to 1.4 million cicadas per acre -- to climb whatever they can (mostly trees)

~The cicadas are making a pilgrimage up our old Maple tree~

to molt into their adult form, leaving the past behind them...

to sing their deafening love song in a loud chorus...

                           **A video below that I made today, or here's the link ....

and produce the next generation before dying in just a few short weeks from now.

I really find the whole cicada thing so fascinating, and I've taken a lot of photos. Maybe it's because it's taking place all around us, and because there are so many, we can't ignore them. 

And since their parents lived here before we did, and the ones that we are seeing did too, we are doing our best to not mow them, weed-whack them or step on them. Or let the dogs eat them, which is what some dogs in the area have been doing. Ours thankfully are not. 


Cicadas don’t bite or sting, or eat anything and so for the next several weeks, our yard, is their yard too!


I think there's enough room for all of us. 

23 comments:

  1. We're glad those cicadas aren't in our area. The annual ones around us make enough noise as it is.

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  2. Great sound, and a lovely yard for all to play on, greenery galore. Cicadas, we have them here but I would have to do some research to see if that breed live so far south

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  3. Thank you so much for that video, Kim, especially the sound portion of it. Can you believe I haven't heard one Brood X yet? At least 100 acres of dense woods surrounds us and yet nothing. Is it possible all the wildlife eat them as fast as they can surface? I have no idea but I'm grateful for your video. Enjoy them, you lucky lady! :) ~Andrea xoxo

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    1. Hello my Friend! The birds here are really making a lot of meals out of them, that's for sure! Even our resident Barred Owl is getting in on the feast in the late afternoon. And I'll add that some restaurants are serving them up too - they say they taste like crunchy shrimp... I will take their word for it.😬

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  4. I would enjoy seeing them but be worried about what they eat (your garden?) but then again they must provide a meal for many wild creatures.

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    1. Hi Betty! Interestingly enough, is that the cicadas do not eat anything - They have been munching on tree roots below the surface and now, their only goal is to reproduce. So, aside from crawling everywhere, our gardens are safe.

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  5. Hello,
    We are hearing the cicadas, it is weird I do not remember them being around 17 years ago. We live next to a forest and the creatures are loud all the time. Love the cute pups! Have a happy day and weekend ahead.

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  6. what a wonderful post dear heart!
    to think they wait 17 years to make love and then die.
    another amazing and incredible story of NATURE!
    thank you for sharing it here! and the video is amazing.
    XOXO and like you... Crunchy shrimp? EEEK. don't think so.
    I'll take their word for it!

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  7. I recently read that cicadas are good to eat. (No thanks!) We don't have any cicadas out making noise yet. It's not quite time for them here. But we do have some big, bumbly June bugs.

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  8. For a reasonable amount of sunflower seeds, I can provide you with pest control. It would be done by me and other hungry birds.

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  9. Wow, that's amazing how loud they are! How cool that all they do is hang out and do their thing.

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  10. One big happy family, you the dogs and the bugs.

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  11. This is so heartening. What a kind soul you and yours are, to be good to God's creatures and not hurt them. I miss the cicadas so much. I loved their summer song, loud though it be.

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  12. Wow- that is impressive. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. George doesn't seem to mind the cicadas, but Scott looks a little wary.
    The sound they make brings back memories of holidays spent in the Caribbean. I'm not sure if we still have cicadas here in the Mediterranean, I suspect that intense development may have eradicated them.
    If they are only around once in 17 years and are not destroyers, then I'd welcome them to my garden - noisy though they are!

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  14. That's interesting about the cicadas, we have only seen the husk they leave behind. So it was nice to see what one looks like when it emerges.

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  15. What an interesting experience. I too had no idea they were that loud. Live and let live is such a good attitude toward them, after all, they waited 17 years to show up in your yard. Their yard too.

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  16. I had a colleague who researched the muscle biology of the 17 year cicadas. Unfortunately, he didn't get all the measurements that he needed 17 years ago, and he did not live to finish the study this year. I hope that some other experts are finishing it.

    That sound is deafening. I remember it from my early years in the SE United States.

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  17. This is so interesting! I would be fascinated. And that's just a grand picture of dear George. I hope all is well at Golden Pines.

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  18. Hi friends, Ojo here! Those are very weird bugs, we have never seen anything like that!

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  19. Hi, it's been a while since I visited and am catching up. Thank you for being willing to live with those bugs. 😊

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Speak--I really enjoy your comments! Thanks for stopping by today!!