Curiously, when I walked into Glover-Archibald Park yesterday, the background "song" was notably quieter there, and there were fewer carcasses sprinkled on the ground: though to the latter point, they are harder to pick out in a forest's undergrowth than on, say, a concrete sidewalk, so maybe it's just a matter of contrast. The background whirring is frankly louder when walking along Wisconsin Ave than it is when walking the G-A P trail. You'd think with all the trees around, the cicadas would have been flying around like P-51s during Big Week in WWII and a few would have landed on me and done their ritualistic sssslllooowwww doo-wop dance or whatever thing they do. (Evidently the males form choruses.) But that didn't happen at all while I was in the park.
The distant, "whirring" song is more pronounced in certain neighborhoods than others, as is the more immediate "crackling" sound. Still, neither is as loud yet as some of the sleet storms we had this past winter. It's making me miss my dogs. 17 years ago, both our beagles were alive and in the prime of their lives, with the older one trying his damndest to gorge out on the bugs.
Poor little buggers seem doomed, though, when they're belly up. I've tried to turn over a couple. They're 17 years underground and in their literal moment in the sun, they're flat on their back and can't do a damn thing, and I try to help 'em out and move them into the grass so they can get it done. But it's hard to turn them over without hurting them. I get the impression that once they've gone to ground, it's basically game over for them anyhow. Most of the mating occurs in trees, or so I've read.
Thing is, I'm fond of the little guys but they really don't look that much different from roaches, which I absolutely despise and immediately and prejudically exterminate whenever I see them. I was walking with my wife, two cicadas alit on her and she hated that. Eek-eek, and this is someone who doesn't readily go into "eek" mode. Whereas the Flying Cicada Brothers don't bother me at all. If cicadas kept the mosquito population in line, I'd be partial to having them around all season long, every year. But then the novelty would wear off.
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