Being a pet owner one of the first things you probably do in the morning is let your dog (or cat?) outside. One of the last things you want to do in the morning is hear a bunch of loud noise. I’m not talking about the car cruising down the street, the train rolling through downtown, or the anxious neighbor who wants a perfect lawn. I’m referring to the cicadas or as I like to refer to them as “crunchy bugs”.
By the way, I call them crunchy bugs because of the crunchy-like shells they leave on trees/yards/fences etc.
I was just talking to a coworker who said he can barely have a conversation outside on his cell phone because the bugs are so loud. In fact, I can hear them now as I’m sitting in the station. It’s pretty remarkable and gross… have you seen them lately? I feel like I’m being held hostage indoors if one is planted on the screen of the front door.
I never really gave much thought on exactly why these cicadas were so loud. Turns out the male cicadas have a pair of built-in drums called tymbals at the base of their abdomens. The noise is actually used to attract females for mating. Now we know!