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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
 Posted - 05/15/2004 : 19:24:42 [Permalink]
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filthy, I doubt your 'possum could eat so many that their numbers would be substantially depleted. If he's not swallowing them whole in one gulp, he's not eating 'em fast enough.quote:
I do not understand the fear this hatch is inspiring in so many people. I think it should be a time of celebration. What could signify the renewal of life better than the songs of a big hatch?
Well... yeah!
Heck, my next thought would turn this thread into an "evolution versus creationism" thing, which you wanted to avoid. I'll keep it to myself.
But, I haven't seen much in the way of fear of these things from people, but more fascination and/or revulsion. Of course, there are people who are actually scared of them, but I've met more who simply aren't looking forward to sweeping piles of carcasses off their sidewalks six weeks from now.
Oh, shoot: I forgot to mention rest of the story about the one I watched emerging from her shed! Her shed was firmly attached to the brick on my balcony wall. For a long time, she hung by her butt, underside upwards (legs in the air), horizontally out from her shed. I happened to look out at her at just the right moment to see her shake her wings out a little, and then bend forward, grab her shed, and with several spasms of her body, free her butt. I swear it looked like she was panting afterwards, just clinging to her shed.
I've still got her shed, but she left sometime this afternoon, with the other seven.
It's raining now. I wonder how that'll affect the emergence. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/15/2004 : 20:23:53 [Permalink]
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The little bastard certainly has my front yard cleaned out. I suspect that the damned cat is also involved. 
I'm going over the the Shake Rag Lease tomorrow night. It's a large area of forest that is leased by a hunting club. I shall spit a great deal of Black Maria on the 'No Trespassing' signs. The world belongs to me and I'll bughunt where I please. 
I saw a local news program (from the Triangle. I am a lot north of that mess) that went to some lengths to explain that cicadas are harmless. Friends, that's a sign of apprehension.
Locally, there's not a whole lot thought of it. But the people I hang with are old enough to have seen it before, and this is a rural community. Even the young guys in the motorcycle club remember '87, if reminded. But I've read some articles that that quoted people that, when told of how big a cicada is and how big this hatch will be, were quite frightened by the prospect of encountering one or a thousand.
I think that if there was nothing said about it, a large percentage of the population would not notice beyond having a noisey summer. And as mentioned, having to get rid of lots of dead cicadas.
I am reminded of the huge mayfly hatchs in MS. These things actually stop traffic and disrupt business. I would like the see that.
Someday, maybe.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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tomk80
SFN Regular
Netherlands
1278 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2004 : 11:29:59 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by filthy
Incidentally, I think a cicada watch is entirely appropriate and on topic for this thread.
Guys, it's great. I really enjoy the updates, and hope to be able to go to for example Washington in the next couple of weeks to hear, if not see, the cicadas. When I was in Rodos you heard them all night long. I was really fascinated by them. |
Tom
`Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, `if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
-Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Caroll- |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2004 : 13:06:15 [Permalink]
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Go to the suburbs, Tom. More trees.
When I took the dog for his walk this morning, the drone of the distant cicada song was unmistakable. Out on the balcony moments ago, I almost became a landing site for one of 'em. When I picked her up, she started extending her mouthparts. "Hey!" I said, "I'm no tree!"
And I forgot to pass this on: my wife, yesterday, says to me, "so now I know why there is no poetry about the graceful flight of the cicada - it isn't." Earlier today, I saw one of them leave a tree, fly almost all the way to a third-floor balcony, drop like a stone for 15 feet or so, then regain its aerodynamics and fly back to the tree it left, some 25 feet lower. I'd say that 90% of the cicada flights I've seen involve a net loss of altitude. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/16/2004 : 15:28:48 [Permalink]
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A thunderstorm's banging around just to the west. I'll go to the Shake Rag in a couple of hours.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2004 : 04:11:12 [Permalink]
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My luck sucks.
Went to the Shake Rag but wasn't able to stay long due to some physical problems (orthopedic, not mere laziness this time). I found several sheds but no nymphs. Got wet and sore for small reward.
On the bright side, I've recieved an Email that both of my daughters and assorted grands are also hunting them with the same, noble purpose in mind. I've also been told that I'm not to feed their catch to the copperheads. This from the elder girls who go EEWWW at bugs and make barfing noises. Go figger.
Haven't heard any singing yet.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 05/17/2004 : 06:36:45 [Permalink]
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| The cicadas seem to shut up when it's cooler, as it is now after thunderstorms yesterday and last night. I saw a lot of stuff crawling up the tree trunks in the dark around 10 PM, however, but at least one of 'em was an adult (who apparently found climbing easier than flying). I could identify just one brand-new adult in the trees this morning: though I saw plenty of them, only one was pale. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 05/18/2004 : 19:38:50 [Permalink]
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| And I'm still seeing lots of stuff crawl up the trees at night, and spotting new adults in the morning, but they're not flying around all that much, and dangit! I want to hear a cacophony when I go out on my balcony, not just traffic noise and my neighbor's busted air conditioner. I drove through a neighborhood about a mile away this evening, and heard them - loud - through my open car window. When I got home and parked, moments later: silence. Very annoying. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/19/2004 : 02:59:04 [Permalink]
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The grandentomologists have caught a nymph and observed the molt. My daughter reports much excitment over the brillent, red eyes. They are going to release the bug today, to the copperheads's disgust.
No songs yet.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2004 : 18:23:59 [Permalink]
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Sorry folks, I've been lax with the updates...
Yesterday, after hearing all sorts of noise while driving by a nearby neighborhood, I was somewhat miffed to - once again - just hear the distant cicada drone after I parked my car. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to hear a single cicada going nuts in a tree in my complex!
Progress was being made. This morning, lots of drone though, and nothing nearby.
That had to wait for this evening, when I got home. A scattering of individuals could be heard throughout the complex and even from my balcony. And the balcony got even more interesting. I found cicadas, once again, had found their way to my place. One in the dog dish, one in an empty bucket, for starters. I dumped them both out on the railing shelf (a 2-by-12), and started messing with them.
One was not only male, but a noisy one, too. Not that he was making the standard calls while being annoyed, but if I picked him up by his wingtips, so his feet weren't touching anything, he'd make his "Hey! Lemme go!" noise. My boy (3 years old) didn't seem all that impressed. He'd been taught by some of the neighborhood kids to throw cicadas in the air, after which he'd shout "FLY!" at full volume. So that's what he did to my noisy male.
And a couple minutes later, the female, too.
And then I noticed that the dog was trying to eat something on the balcony. I could hear the crinkly noises of either cicada wings or old dry sheds, so I pulled him away, and found a pair of cicadas mating, right there on my balcony!
(How rude is that? You're minding your own business, trying to have a little fun by making the beast with eight wings, and suddenly a giant tongue comes down out of the sky and licks you... No, wait... That might be interesting instead of rude. Nevermind.)
I was unable to take the time to examine the pair closely, and when I had the chance to check again, a half-hour later, they were gone. No, the dog didn't get them. Perhaps another opportunity will arise. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2004 : 19:40:26 [Permalink]
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My younger daughter, living about 20 miles north of me, reports hearing a song but way off in the distance. But it could have been an annual.
The molting cicada they observed has been released and I'm told that all the grands are writing it up for school. I'm also told that the whole thing was heavily photographed and a set of prints will look good to their teachers. I too, am looking forward to seeing the pics and I've demanded a set of prints for myself. Darwin knows, I can't seem to get a cicada of my own. 
Damned shame, too. I can catch rattlesnakes with both hands, but I'm stymied by a bug. :roll eyes:
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26020 Posts |
Posted - 05/21/2004 : 22:02:07 [Permalink]
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I discovered something else that's interesting tonight: boomerang cicadas. I could hear a male cicada on my balcony, grumbling around, for about an hour. He finally showed himself, at which point I picked him up and threw him towards the trees. He flew almost straight back to the balcony. So I threw him again, and again, he flew straight back. Third time was a charm with that guy, though.
An hour later, I find another cicada in a place where she'd be likely to get stepped on. I picked her up and threw her, and she flew right back - continuing so far that if I'd left the sliding glass door open even a few inches, she would have cruised right into my living room. So, I picked her up again, and this time, I threw her down towards the ground over the balcony rail. I half expected her to fly right back up and over, but she didn't.
I wish we'd been having a party, 'cause boomerang cicadas could have been great fun. People could line up at the balcony's edge, and take bets on who the bugs would land on, next time.
On a more serious note, I've forgotten to mention that while walking the dog twice daily, I get to see lots of cicadas with deformed wings, or which died while trying to break out of their last molting. Looking up one tree which the dog likes, one can see twenty feet of old sheds, sheds with trapped and dead cicadas in them, live adults with seriously messed-up wings, and normal live adults. They are thick on that particular tree. And it's a pine, which I find odd since I'm under the impression that the cicadas don't particularly like pine trees.
I might have to look that up again.
I'm unhappy to hear that you're not getting any bug action, filthy. Glad your grandkids are having such a good time with 'em, though (and I bet my kid won't ever struggle for a science paper either, while I'm around). I should try to get some snapshots of these things. I didn't even think about that. I've been too focused on trying to figure out a way to collect cicadas without being cruel (suffocating them), but also without giving the ants and other scavengers time to chomp on them after they'd died of natural causes. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/22/2004 : 03:36:04 [Permalink]
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Mangled wings are actually fairly common in cicadas. Some few of the annuals I pick up for the coppers each summer are bird bait in just this way. I don't know what the percentages are and I think that the wings are mostly damaged during the molt, rather than a deformity.
Odd, but I think that ants seem to get as many crippled cicadas as most anything else, around my location, anyhow. Could be wrong on that, but I've seen them busily stripping a downed corpse on quite a few occasions.
Still no songs.
Edited to ad: Here's the best way to collect them during a big hatch: Go to a pond or lake during the die-off. Many will be found, still alive, floating on the surface (best to have a boat for this). Just put them in a container -- they won't try to fly off -- and wait for nature to take it's inevitable course.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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| Edited by - filthy on 05/22/2004 03:43:33 |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2004 : 18:57:07 [Permalink]
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Dave W, we would all take it most kindly if you would delete the spam and scold the spammer before I do. It would be much more proper and acceptable coming from you. Just explain that spam is very poor form and should not be indulged in.
I've been hearing a little song the last couple of days. Alas, I don't think the hatch will be nearly as good as '87 in my area.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 05/27/2004 : 19:14:45 [Permalink]
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Thanks, Dave. It is appreciated.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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