The 17-year cicadas have been reported in East Setauket, just a couple of miles from here. Last seen in 1991, these beasties are swarming in certain neighborhoods, buzzing to beat the band, terrifying soccer moms, and shedding their skins by the millions.I remember finding cicada shells clinging to our willow tree when I was a kid and wondering what the heck they were. Those bug eyes could scare anyone.
This afternoon I'm going over to East Setauket and try to get some shots of afflicted properties. Isn't that what a digital camera is for, getting the dreadful stuff?
Friday...Book Day. Well, I don't have one to recommend right now, but I've just started reading Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin's Three Cups of Tea; One man's mission to fight terrorism and build nations...one school at a time. It's about an American who builds schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I'll let you know how it is. Aamir has read it and says it's great.
7 comments:
I remember seeing the shells all over my place in BH one year.
Can't help but wonder why Mother Nature came up with a 17-year cycle for this little critters ...
A primary number at that!
I wonder if ALL cicadas are on the same 17-year cycle.
No, most are one-year types. And some 17-year ones are on a different schedule. Scientists have given the groups names. Some emerged in 2004. I love these unique events.
I drove around the area yesterday, couldn't find Deer Lane (could they have moved it?), was too lazy to look at the map on the seat, but did hear a lot of happy birds singing.
I'm glad you mentioned that some cicadas are annual types. And that there were different groups of the 17-year type.
I come across the empty shells left behind on trees and bushes, sometimes on the sides of the barn every year ... I was wondering if they were a series of 17-year cycle types, but obviously not.
The thought that all the 17-year types might possibly emerge at the same time reminded me of the bamboo types that all crater at the same time world-wide.
I always wondered why they get those bugs every year but I was told they came out every 17 years, now I get it! Thanks for sharing your knowledge!!!
I remember finding those strange shells stuck to trees when I was a kid. They were so creepy looking, but fascinating at the same time. How did such a big bug emerge from that small crack in the shell's back? Such a mystery!
Kristen, my knowledge often comes from a simple Google search. I don't know how we got along before Google.
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