Are you ready for cicada-geddon?

[pinkplasticdoll]

This will be our first year with a dog during cicada season and I have a feeling he will be like icedcoffee's dog given his love for picking up acorns/pecans in yards and then yesterday when he picked up a dead bird, refused to drop it and was carrying it around the neighborhood on our walk like a prized possession.

[wawa]

Apr 3, 2024 9:59:02 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

1) The dog made this entire thread worth it.

2) I lived in Cincinnati in 2004 for their emergence, and it was like something from a horror film. Older neighborhoods with old trees had it worst, and I remember driving through them on my way home from work, and not being able to have the windows down because they were just constantly dive bombing the car. Then I'd pull up my hoodie, cinch it as closed as I could on my face, and make a literal run for it from my apartment parking lot to the door. Once inside I'd have to brush them off me. Those who love it - I wonder if you've been around it like this, or if you just hear them in the trees, because THAT was crazy, lol.
Oh, and the poor brides who scheduled outdoor weddings in the gorgeous old park? cicadas were swarming the guests, and getting stuck in the tulle of veils, lace and beading of dresses.
*shudder*

I don't mind the annual ones, but the giant broods? Never need to experience that again.

Oh yeah, i definitely had some sections of my normal running route that became sprint segments. 
We had to do stuff standing in the middle of parking lots because being under trees was a recipe for chaos. 
I still didn't think it was that bad in the grand scheme of bugs being awful.  Maybe this is too much childhood time with terrible terrible mosquitos and biting flies - if this bug doesn't hurt me or make me itch, or try to come in my house and steal my food....I'm cool.

[gardengal]

Apr 3, 2024 10:38:43 GMT -5 EvieEthelGarland said:

For where I live, there's 1 huge brood & 1 kinda big brood & then other random broods. The huge brood is I think every 17 or so years so it's not all the time. And eventually, the 17yr broods & the 13yr (or whatever) broods will overlap & then it's extra gross with skeletons everywhere & just being dive bombed.

Also, for those in the upcoming affected areas: In the recent Brood X cicadaggedon in 2021, *after* the cicadas were gone, people kept getting rashes when spending time under trees. Local scientists didn't really have a great idea during this phase what was up but I think they eventually posited that there's a mite that eats cicadas that were falling from trees & biting people.

[BlondeSpiders]

I guess that's a benefit of PNW living? I've never seen a cicada. I'm mildly terrified of big-bodied, "buzzy" bugs, so I'm glad I don't have to deal with them. I took me until my 40s to get over my fear of dragonflies.

[fryjack2]

Apr 2, 2024 22:37:00 GMT -5 icedcoffee said:

I’m just dreading them because 2 years ago my dog got so painfully obese from eating cicadas he was waddling. We had to start muzzling the poor dummy when he went outside because he thought it was a 24 hour buffet.

I can't stop laughing at this. 

[wildrice]

I grew up in IL and do not remember them being an issue at all. You'd always hear them - sometimes very loudly - but they were not covering everything or dive bombing you every time you went outdoors. If it's a 17 year cycle I think that means I would have been 8 and 25 when the last two happened.

I live in Maryland now and what we had 3 years ago was bizarre and horrible. Cicadas don't generally bother me since they are harmless, but it really was hard to do anything without them landing on you. There really was no enjoying being outdoors, which was a bummer that time of year because it was fairly nice out. There were trees that were just crawling with them. If there was a swarm in IL when I was growing up, it was definitely nothing like what we get here in MD.

It sounds like this year will be worse though so I'm curious to see what that means. I still have a ton of social media friends in IL so I am sure I will see pics.

[glw]

I was camping during the last MD Brood X and thought it was pretty cool, so I think I'm good with this one, too? It's hard to tell how those will compare.

[MixedBerryJam]

I had such a blast cicada hunting (photo safaris only) when the Brood X emergence happened in 2021 (I think) and was bummed I was going to have to wait 17 years for it to happen again. Then a year or so ago I realized how stupendous this one is going to be and was going to make a Chicago vacation out of it. But it turns out my son is getting married (outdoors, in a backyard) in suburban Chicago IN JUNE. There has been no shutting me up, and I think both bride and groom are taking it in stride. The downside will be if they die out close to the wedding, all those cicada corpses are so gross and unavoidable because they blanket the ground. (Yes I’m also pretty excited about the eclipse.)

I’m not sure how long I’ll leave it up bc you can find me irl there but here’s a link to a blog post I made about the last cicada emergence. I got some pretty good pics and even hatched one!

blog.twoboysfourcats.com/2021/05/its-cicada-oclock-somewhere.html?m=1

Also, if you’re in the area affected, I strongly encourage you to get the Cicada Safari app and help them track the emergence.

[moreace01]

The noise is going to be deafening.

When I moved from WI to Chicago - the first spring I was here and they emerged I could not figure out what that sound was - it's wild how loud they are. Weird that I don't recall them being in Milwaukee at all and that's just next door.

Anyway. Ugh, this is gross. I hate finding their skeletons all over the place. It's creepy af. I will have to get that Cicada Safar app MixedBerryJam, thanks for that.

[tacokick]

It looks like we are out of the double cicada zone so just the regular ones.

Honestly, the double brood year we had recently was NBD. We live in the city but have many fruit and old trees in our yard (as does most of my neighbors) but I only really saw them on and around the actual trees. I spend most of my days in the yard if it isn’t raining. No dive bombing or corpses everywhere! It was loud but not so loud we couldn’t function.

ETA when there was a double brood when I was in elementary school I saw a lot then and we had a lot less trees and nature around. Maybe they are more out and about where there is less vegetation?

[muffin0]

Apr 3, 2024 9:29:33 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

Apr 3, 2024 9:24:20 GMT -5 muffin0 said:

Finally living in FL is positive. Looks like we don’t get them.

But we get FL man, Desantis and Trump do not really calling it a win.

What? Florida definitely has cicadas. It's just that they produce adults annually instead of in broods like other locations.

I keep coming into this thread just to laugh about the smart dumb dog.

We have every single bug imaginable, so I am sure you are not wrong, but I don’t remember ever getting them like in the article.

And if I am wrong, I am happy to live in my ignorance 😂

And I have been laughing at that adorable puppy all day.

[meganew]

I love cicadas and I wish we lived in an area that was getting a big emergence. @@funny story, but I generally really like insects and the kids and I would go for walks and find cicada shells and collect them to bring home and look at with magnifying glasses. One time H went into my purse to find something and pulls out a ziplock bag full of cicada shells and was very WTF about it. Lol

[meanie]

I could have done without the close up in that article lol

We don't really get the swarms here, but I remember when there was ONE stuck in the netting around my garden and I legit was looking to the sky for a helicopter. Those things are SO LOUD!

[dancingirl21]

We live in Illinois so I’m not ready! My kids don’t like them so it should be interesting walking to school and getting them to go outside.

I remember them from 17 years ago here and it was disgusting. And so loud.

[underwaterrhymes]

Apr 3, 2024 16:23:14 GMT -5 meganew said:

I love cicadas and I wish we lived in an area that was getting a big emergence. @@funny story, but I generally really like insects and the kids and I would go for walks and find cicada shells and collect them to bring home and look at with magnifying glasses. One time H went into my purse to find something and pulls out a ziplock bag full of cicada shells and was very WTF about it. Lol

I like them too, although typically in much smaller doses than what we are expecting. 

I met the coolest cicada in Costa Rica. He was so pretty!

[basilosaurus]

Apr 3, 2024 20:52:55 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Apr 3, 2024 16:23:14 GMT -5 meganew said:

I love cicadas and I wish we lived in an area that was getting a big emergence. @@funny story, but I generally really like insects and the kids and I would go for walks and find cicada shells and collect them to bring home and look at with magnifying glasses. One time H went into my purse to find something and pulls out a ziplock bag full of cicada shells and was very WTF about it. Lol

I like them too, although typically in much smaller doses than what we are expecting. 

I met the coolest cicada in Costa Rica. He was so pretty!


View Attachment

Ooh pretty. I'm glad I'm not the only person who takes pictures of pretty bugs

[osulori]

Apr 3, 2024 9:59:02 GMT -5 DotAndBuzz said:

1) The dog made this entire thread worth it.

2) I lived in Cincinnati in 2004 for their emergence, and it was like something from a horror film. Older neighborhoods with old trees had it worst, and I remember driving through them on my way home from work, and not being able to have the windows down because they were just constantly dive bombing the car. Then I'd pull up my hoodie, cinch it as closed as I could on my face, and make a literal run for it from my apartment parking lot to the door. Once inside I'd have to brush them off me. Those who love it - I wonder if you've been around it like this, or if you just hear them in the trees, because THAT was crazy, lol.
Oh, and the poor brides who scheduled outdoor weddings in the gorgeous old park? cicadas were swarming the guests, and getting stuck in the tulle of veils, lace and beading of dresses.
*shudder*

I don't mind the annual ones, but the giant broods? Never need to experience that again.

I remember coming down from Columbus to apartment hunt in Cinci that summer...since I was going to be in grad school at UC I looked at apartments all over Clifton.  So full of old trees.  All over the place. My mom grew up in Clifton and we'd spent a lot of time at my grandparents during the summer of the emergence prior to that one so we were used to them but having to check each other's backs and hair for cicadas (then freaking out when one got in the car anyway because the buzzing surprised us) was a whole other ball game.  We still laugh about it, but yeah I'd be happy to never have to deal with something like that again. 

[audette]

I think we might be in the double brood zone. So.... Maybe I shouldn't have skipped the custom earplug fitting they had at work on Tuesday... (we need hearing protection for certain areas of the facility, and for certain job roles, so they do custom fittings about once a quarter)

[jlt19]

Great, if we’re in the path, I have a dumb hungry dog too. After we got him, he would sit outside catching June bugs and and promptly regurgitating them. I think I read they were toxic to dogs though, so probably for the best. I may need to get one of those muzzles!

Also, I remember being a driving teen in HS, so 1998-2000, and there was a bad swarm and my car was covered nearly daily. But I don’t remember anything that bad since, so maybe we’re in the “path” for this. Or it wasn’t as bad then as I thought and my memory is that of a dramatic teenager…

[gretchenindisguise]

Apr 4, 2024 14:56:18 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Great, if we’re in the path, I have a dumb hungry dog too. After we got him, he would sit outside catching June bugs and and promptly regurgitating them. I think I read they were toxic to dogs though, so probably for the best. I may need to get one of those muzzles!

Also, I remember being a driving teen in HS, so 1998-2000, and there was a bad swarm and my car was covered nearly daily. But I don’t remember anything that bad since, so maybe we’re in the “path” for this. Or it wasn’t as bad then as I thought and my memory is that of a dramatic teenager…

I was thinking about this same swarm, 98ish. Our teen memories are very similar - it was crazy either that year or right around there. I remember not being able to open the car door in a friend's neighborhood with them swarming in!

[basilosaurus]

underwaterrhymes and other bug lovers, I just today saw clips from a disney+ docuseries that aired in late January, and it's absolutely facinating from what bits I've seen. It's called a real bugs life. I wonder if they'll cover cicada swarms.

[jlt19]

Apr 4, 2024 18:03:26 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

Apr 4, 2024 14:56:18 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Great, if we’re in the path, I have a dumb hungry dog too. After we got him, he would sit outside catching June bugs and and promptly regurgitating them. I think I read they were toxic to dogs though, so probably for the best. I may need to get one of those muzzles!

Also, I remember being a driving teen in HS, so 1998-2000, and there was a bad swarm and my car was covered nearly daily. But I don’t remember anything that bad since, so maybe we’re in the “path” for this. Or it wasn’t as bad then as I thought and my memory is that of a dramatic teenager…

I was thinking about this same swarm, 98ish. Our teen memories are very similar - it was crazy either that year or right around there. I remember not being able to open the car door in a friend's neighborhood with them swarming in!

I did a quick search and there was a 13 & 17 year brood that hit Missouri (I’m sure elsewhere too) in 1998, so we were right!

We have our 13 year friends coming and Illinois has a 17 year brood, so hoping the wind blows east and we don’t get a repeat!

[underwaterrhymes]

Apr 4, 2024 18:23:16 GMT -5 basilosaurus said:

underwaterrhymes and other bug lovers, I just today saw clips from a disney+ docuseries that aired in late January, and it's absolutely facinating from what bits I've seen. It's called a real bugs life. I wonder if they'll cover cicada swarms.

Thank you! Will check it out.

I have a spider phobia and hate mosquitos, but still think most bugs are pretty cool.

[lostrn]

I remember we had a terrible cicada apocalypse in 1996 around here. I distinctly remember running through the college parking lot trying to keep them out of my hair lol. Google tells me that was a 17 year brood...although I don't remember another terribly bad year again. A few years ago there were a lot in our area but nothing like 1996. I know sometimes construction can disrupt things so that's probably what happened. I don't think we will be impacted this summer 🤞

[pixy0stix]

Bumping - is it happening yet?

[icedcoffee]

I noticed a lot of holes this morning on the ground at the base of a tree and wondered if it was cicadas, but it also might look like ant hills. So...Maybe?

[picksthemusic]

Luvvie posted that it's happening and she hates it lol. It's things like this that make me happy to live in the PNW (impending major earthquakes or Tahoma/Rainier erupting notwithstanding).

[ans1999]

May 20, 2024 12:31:01 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

Bumping - is it happening yet?

OMG YES! We are in NC and the red-eyed buggers are everywhere. They had to put a PSA not to call the police because of the weird sound they make. My cats have had a hey day with them. Thank goodness they are starting to die off. 

[moreace01]

Northern CHI burbs - they're just coming out of the ground up here. My block doesn't really have any (yet, I am sure), but one block south - they are every.where. Saw a pile of skeletons on the sidewalk this AM and all these skeletons attached to the trees. Gawd...they're so gross.

[dirtyred]

Southern Illinois checking in, and the place is literally crawling with cicadas.  They are everywhere!  There are thousands under one of our trees, and if you walk through the yard, a cloud of cicadas rises around you.  I was out working in the garden, so I caused many cicada clouds, and of course, they have to land all over me and they are just so LOUD.  My husband has a cheap decibel meter and it read over 90 this afternoon.

You can't help stepping on them, so the sidewalk is littered with squashed cicadas, as are the  streets.  The birds are gorging themselves on cicadas.  My dog just catches them in her mouth and then spits them out when they start to buzz.