Ahhh, Cicadas... Arizona is home to the most diverse population of cicadas in the country. If you don’t live in cicada country here’s what you are missing: Every 17 years a cicada climbs out of the ground and becomes an insect instead of a larvae. It climbs a tree and then begins making a rattling popping noise to attract a mate…something on the order of Eminem’s songs done by a mariachi band. Apparently this is a fairly sophisticated process involving a number of differing love songs all played on the abdomen of the cicada. Meanwhile, the cicadas are sucking on sap and then peeing it out on unsuspecting passers by who may be walking under their favorite deciduous tree wondering what that delightful mist is in the mid-summer heat. For many, the incessant daytime rattle is soothing and pleasant. Most of those people live in the cemetery. For the rest of us, it is unnerving after a while, and I’ve actually seen people walking with their fingers in their ears at times. Fortunately, cicadas don’t make noises at night…I strongly suspect they are busy mating in the moonlight to make more cicadas instead.
I wonder if the rate of violent crimes goes up during the cicada season? I think our society might make rubber hoses and water boarding obsolete if the police just made suspects listen to cicadas during interrogations instead. I am lucky that I live higher up in the pines and have few cicada bearing trees near my home. Apparently pine trees are not very romantic places.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Greg
|