Kentucky Christmas trees?

[wombat2u2004]

I was talking to a guy yesterday and asked him - He is a guy that lives in the area - what was in the trees making a HUGE racket.

"Cicadas", he told me!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada

These things are the noisiest things on the planet.

They stick up in the trees and make the loudest sound. It's starts off low and builds up for about 15-20 seconds then stops.

I laughed because I saw a news blurb about a man who was arrested for calling the police because the insects were making way too much noise near his home!

They are as noisy as hell. My house is surrounded by trees, and I swear all of the cicadas in the region live in my trees. We have Green Grocers, those things make one hell of a racket.

[pomtzu]

We have Green Grocers, those things make one hell of a racket.

We have a Green Grocer here too, but he's a guy on t.v. that gives tips on buying fresh produce. He's not noisy at all!

[happylabs]

Awwww...you don't like the cicadas? I can't say that they have ever bothered me. It's just a song of the summer.

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I'm not all "ewww... icky" about bugs in general, but I hate cicadas more than anything. I don't want them anywhere near me. If I see one I throw everything within arm's reach at it before running the other way. I call them Satan's Cockroach, because nothing God created ought to be so butt-ugly and noisy.

[Bonny]

Pretty soon the CRICKETS will be joining the outdoors concert.

[pomtzu]

Pretty soon the CRICKETS will be joining the outdoors concert.

If only they would stay outdoors. They love to get in the house and serenade you all night - and of course you can't find them to silence them since they never are where they sound like they are. My son's cats help tho - they find them to be quite tasty, tho they don't eat the legs - they leave those on the kitchen floor.

[Karen]

I suspected those were your noisemakers, Richard! But at least now you have your answer! And Pomtzu, I am so completely jealous you had a tree frog on your window! So cool!

[pomtzu]

Pomtzu, I am so completely jealous you had a tree frog on your window! So cool!

They are cute little buggers, aren't they? Many years ago when we first moved to here in the country and I saw one on the side of the house, it nearly scared the devil out of me since I couldn't imagine what the heck it was. I cautiously got closer, then saw what it was. I was almost expecting the little critter to jump at me.

[happylabs]

They are cute little buggers, aren't they? Many years ago when we first moved to here in the country and I saw one on the side of the house, it nearly scared the devil out of me since I couldn't imagine what the heck it was. I cautiously got closer, then saw what it was. I was almost expecting the little critter to jump at me.

They are pretty cute. I had one on my sliding door awhile back after a hard rain and wind. Funny to see them suctioned to the door glass.

[RICHARD]

They are as noisy as hell. My house is surrounded by trees, and I swear all of the cicadas in the region live in my trees. We have Green Grocers, those things make one hell of a racket.

LOL,
No link to the GG?

The evenings are a real trip out here.

Back in CA there was the sound of the freeway, cars, a train line and the small airport.


I do miss the small airplanes. I did see hear one yesterday and had to stretch my head to see what it was!

[wombat2u2004]

LOL,
No link to the GG?

The evenings are a real trip out here.

Back in CA there was the sound of the freeway, cars, a train line and the small airport.


I do miss the small airplanes. I did see hear one yesterday and had to stretch my head to see what it was!

Thats city livin' for ya. Everything that moves is mechanical.
I prefer to live in the country, no congestion, the air is better, and you get to eat as many cicadas as you want.

Le Green Grocer...............

[Bonny]

Thats city livin' for ya. Everything that moves is mechanical.
I prefer to live in the country, no congestion, the air is better, and you get to eat as many cicadas as you want.

Le Green Grocer...............

That is one classy beautiful green bug.

[happylabs]

Thats city livin' for ya. Everything that moves is mechanical.
I prefer to live in the country, no congestion, the air is better, and you get to eat as many cicadas as you want.

Le Green Grocer...............

Wow...he is much prettier than our version of the cicada.

Country living is a good thing!

[wombat2u2004]

That deafening drone

Cicadas are the most efficient and loudest sound-producing insects in existence. While Dr Moulds said nobody is exactly sure which species is the loudest, he said the Green Grocer "must be close".
The Green Grocer, Yellow Monday and the Double Drummer produce noise intensity in excess of 120dB at close range (this is approaching the pain threshold of the human ear). Some small species, on the other hand, have songs so high in pitch that the noise is beyond the range of our hearing.
Only the male sings as a mating ritual to attract the females and different species have different songs so they don't attract the wrong females. Cicadas are different to all other insects in that they actually have a musical drum in their abdomen.
The organs that produce sound are the tymbals — a pair of ribbed membranes at the base of the abdomen. Contracting the internal tymbal muscles causes the tymbals to buckle inwards and produce a pulse of sound. By relaxing these muscles, the tymbals pop back to their original position. The inside of the male abdomen is substantially hollow to amplify the sound as it resonates at the frequency of the call.
The loud noise produced by some cicadas actually repels birds. The males of many cicada species tend to group together when calling which increases the total volume of noise and reduces the chances of being eaten by birds.
In addition to the calling or mating song, many species also possess a distress song, usually a broken and erratic noise emitted when an individual is captured. A number of species also have a courtship song, which is usually a quiet call produced only after a female has been attracted nearby using the calling song.

This is a Yellow Monday We get a lot of these and Green Grocers where I live.