Cicada Photos of the Day (Chimpy; Scott McClellan)

[VolcanoJen]

The cicada outbreak grows more disgusting each day, here in southwestern Ohio... at first, I thought they were kind of cute, and interesting, but they're now in that awful phase where they fly around clumsily and dive-bomb you. The noise of their mating song is absolutely deafening, especially in the mid-afternoon to late-evening, when they finally chill the hell out. Is everyone else enjoying them as much as I am? :puke:

Here are some humorous, political cicada photos...


Scott McClellan... what's that on your collar?


Chimpy being stalked by a cicada, walking up the stairs to Air Force One


An Air Force Master Sgt Richard Balfour - standing at attention at the base of Air Force One's stairs... pretty impressive, really.

[Dogmudgeon]

1. MSGT Balfour

Now there's a man with an iron will.

--bkl
tenn - HUT!

[Cush]

2. sigh, why does everyone hate them?

I like 'em myself. I even had one doing it's mating call while sitting on my leg.

But yeah, they are LOUD, you really can't hear anyting else outside. I was 10 the last time they came, I don't seems to remember them being so loud

[VolcanoJen]

4. I don't hate them... but I'm growing increasingly annoyed by them.

I refuse to kill them. When one lands on me, I just grab him and throw him up in the air. The males make the loudest noise when you grab them... sometimes, they sound like screaming monkeys.

I think they're pretty funny, really, and it's endlessly amusing to watch people run from my workplace to their cars, avoiding the dive-bombing. They have really increased in numbers around here in the last week, and in mid-afternoon when they're swarming and flying clumsily about, they're impossible to avoid.

I guess the "disgusting" part for me are their rotting carcassas and guts covering every last inch of pavement around me. But, I have no cicada-hate in my heart, Cush. :-)

[Insider]

3. swat 'em if you got 'em

but don't get carried away, airman

[nini]

5. what exactly is the deal with cicadas?

I keep hearing about these here, but I'm not getting what's going on.


I must be paying attention to the wrong news... :-)

[VolcanoJen]

7. For starters, here is a map of affected areas:

Do take note that the state of Kentucky appears to have been swallowed whole by cicadas. :D

There are literally BILLIONS of them in southwestern Ohio alone. They emerge every 17 years in these enormous numbers. They must be seen and heard to be believed, truly. The most interesting part for me is the thousands of little tiny holes in the soil around my house. They emerged from these little holes, and it's a pretty damned amazing thing, if you ask me!

Fire away if you have any more questions! The Smithsonian Museum of Natural History has a great website; be sure to download the mating call of the cicada.

http://abbot.si.edu/highlight/cicadas/faq.htm

Cicada Mania is another fun site: http://www.cicadamania.net/

[nini]

9. Thanks!

Trippy... those sounds would freak me out at first.. but kinda soothing like crickets after a while.

:-)

[VolcanoJen]

10. Not all that soothing... but cool!

They are so much LOUDER than the largest swarm of crickets. The sound file doesn't really do it justice.

I have all my windows closed and the air conditioning on, and yet I can barely hear my television over their constant singing. It ebbs, too... starts off soft, builds to a crescendo, becomes soft again. It's totally crazy!

[nini]

11. how do you get out of the house?!

now I'm getting the heebie jeebies! :-)

[VolcanoJen]

13. Well, I just cover my head with a newspaper and make a mad dash.

They really only bother me when they land in my hair. They're completely harmless... they don't sting or bite, and they're wickedly stupid. Still, it's just kind of gross to have a big cockroach-sized flying bug in your hair, ya know?

There's no avoiding them, and it's a fool's errand to think you can. I've watched people absolutely wipe out face-first on pavement trying to avoid their dive-bombing. It's hilarious... but then again, I've always been the kind of person who laughs when someone walks into a glass wall...

Three more weeks, and they're dead. Then, the billions of decaying carcasses stink up the air, giving off a scent much like limburger cheese. :-) Good times!!

Hey... it's bad, but it's only once every 17 years. It's more weird and surreal than awful, ya know?

[nini]

14. LOL... the rotting aftermath! ick

guess I'm glad I live in California!

[Wickerman]

6. and another Cicada attack

[VolcanoJen]

8. LMFAO!!!

That's hilarious, luna!!!!

[dixielib]

12. I don't have any here in NE GA mountains, but

did 17 years ago. What's up? Wonder if our ground hasn't warmed up enough yet. Anyone know?

[VolcanoJen]

15. CicadaMania.org has a Cicada Sighting Weblog you might want to check.

They're in Georgia, from what I hear... if you searched through the sighting reports, you might find them somewhere in your area?

http://www.cicadamania.org/weblog.html

The ground temperature has to reach 64 degrees before they emerge. In early May, I checked around the bases of my trees, looking for the telltale signs... tiny little holes in the soil, and little dried-out mud chimneys near the holes. If you don't see any holes yet, you probably will be spared. :D

[VolcanoJen]

16. Wicked-Cool: Cicada Web Cam from the Washington Post!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/mmedia/webcams/cicadacam.htm?nav=tb

Thought I'd share this with the cicada-curious. :D

[Elidor]

17. Umm...Jen?

It pains me to say it, but - has anyone ever hypothesized that perhaps you might have a tad bit too much time on your hands? :D

[VolcanoJen]

18. Oh, constantly!

Yes, it has been hypothesized.

Dude, there are just so damned many of these cicadas around right now that I'm a little obsessed. They cannot be ignored. But I might have gone a little over-the-top with watching the webcam, when all I really need to do is look right out the window. I'll give you that much. :D