Fall is right around the corner. We’ve entered into the hot, humid last days of summer. Here in Indiana, we’re experiencing cricket mating season. The male crickets’ song to attract the female bug isn’t bad when it’s outside my house. The noise becomes unbearable when one of these amorous insects sneak into your bedroom at 2 a.m.
Rooster started his yearly battle with one of the members of this pack of horny insects last night. The mating song began at around 2 a.m. It started slow and increased in frequency as the night went on. I believe the surge in the ear-splitting noise happened because of the absence of female crickets. The poor guy was in the process of franticly searching for a mate when Rooster rolled out of bed to play cricket assassin. Now we were both awake.
As I mentioned before, this isn’t Rooster’s first cricket battle. I wrote a blog last year about his cricket war. Since crickets live for about 90 days, this could be a very long campaign.
Cricket mating season and the opening shot in the war
Crickets are defenseless ugly bugs that come out at night. They sleep during the day while the rest of us go about our business. I don’t know why one would choose to take up residence in my house. Maybe as a species, they enjoy the air conditioning. Every year we have at least one male cricket squeeze through a crack to become an unwelcome house guest. I know in some cultures they are considered to be good luck. Rooster thinks they are a nuisance.
When he jumped out of bed, my husband listened for the direction of the noise to pinpoint the insect’s exact location. Once this has been accomplished, the process of moving furniture around begins. Now I am fully awake, but I am also mad because he needs my assistance to move furniture and locate the offending bug.
Cricket mating season and furniture removal
It’s 2 a.m., and we are moving furniture. I see dust bunnies and cobwebs in places where I haven’t cleaned for a while. The vacuum cleaner comes out of the closet, and the room receives a thorough cleaning. The cricket taunts us while we continue our search. I am normally a live and let live sort of gal, but I am now ready to put the tormented insect out of his misery. The problem is catching the elusive offender.
Conclusion of cricket mating season
Rooster found the noisy perpetrator behind our headboard next to the wall. The plan was to trap him between the wall and a wooden board. My husband planned to scoop him up and carry him outside the house. The offending insect would have more opportunity to find a date in the wild. I had murder in my heart at this stage of the combat. My vote was not to take a hostage but to put Romeo out of his misery.
Rooster miscalculated on the amount of force needed to scoop the cricket onto the piece of wood. He also didn’t calculate the fact crickets can jump a distance of three feet. As he attempted to lift the insect, the flight or fight instinct kicked in. The cricket spun into the air and landed on the floor. Rooster unintentionally stepped on him, mashing the horny cricket into the carpet. Thus, the cricket mating season ended in death and destruction. We have slept in quiet for over a week now. The war is over until another amorous insect sneaks through a crack in our 100-year-old house.
Update on missing cars
I’ve found the cars missing from the unfilled car lots in town. They are filling up empty parking lots all over the mid-west. This parking lot once belonged to a factory where manufactured in this plant lost ce to go into vehicles. Top secret military electronics were once produced here. It is also where they made respirators when COVID first emerged in the U.S. The plant is now deserted again. They are using the parking lots here as well as in Fort Wayne and Detroit. (I’ve heard the parking lot in Detroit was flooded after a bad storm, and the company lost the stored vehicle waiting for the elusive computer chip.) These new cars are all waiting for a chip. The irony is this computer chip could be manufactured in the same plant where they are setting, but the company moved the facility overseas. Now the assembly lines remain idle.
Over the course of the past 18 months, I’ve seen things I never thought I’d ever see.
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I’m not sure I understand the cricket on the hearth, which is supposed to be a good thing. I’m sorry your cricket had to meet its demise, but the species is not in danger as your sleep was.
The irony of the cars waiting next to the factory where the chip could have been made for them is both keen and telling. Deeply sorry our factories aren’t making things these days.
Thank you for reading. The patking lot is now completely filled with new trucks. Thay are starting to fill a second parking lot.
The irony worsens.
Yes it does. They are starting to fill a second parking lot now.
Wow, I remember one year we had a cricket chirping from somewhere and it drove people to madness. A very diligent chirping musician too since it didn’t stop even for the night. Finally it stopped after one week.
Thank you for reading.
Oh no! I feel your pain, though. When I was living in GA, a cricket had gotten in my bedroom, and boy are those things loud! I don’t remember what I did, but I’m sure I sprayed or something. I just know I was up the entire night.
It happens to us every year. Thank you for reading.
I remember how loud crickets were when I lived on the east coast. They don’t seem to be quite as much a nuisance out here in the west. Dare I say I miss their chant?…. except at 2 AM in the bedroom. I’m glad you’ve been sleeping well since Romeo’s demise.
Thnk you for reading my story about a love sick cricket. We are sleeping much better these days.