Can you hear the incessant hum coming from the trees?
Its nature doing its thing and it comes from cicadas; and this summer, specifically, Brood X cicadas. It might be as loud as a long, ongoing lawn mowing session (yay).
We spent some time at Wesselman Woods to learn about what will actually happen over the next month and a half.
Check out the video and see what Cindy Cifuentes, Director of Natural Resources and Research at Wesselman Woods, had to say about Brood X. According to her, there will be trillions of cicadas at Wesselman Woods in their 200 acres of old-growth forest!
She makes them sound pretty cool, too.
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Related: Dirt, mud, and more at Wesselman Wood’s Nature PlayScape
And if all things crawly and bug-like are not your thing, you may just have to wait this out. Cifuentes does not recommend using pesticides to keep them away. She said they are not very effective and are bad for the environment. On the bright side, they are only out for about a month and a half, right?
Brood X Fun Facts:
These specific cicadas have been spending the past 17 years of their life feeding off the roots of trees and nutrients underground.
If you had trees in your yard 17 years ago, you will most likely have cicadas emerging from the ground at your house!
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If your dog eats one, he/she will be ok. Just make sure he/she doesn’t feast on the little guys. It could upset their stomach, but they are not toxic.
You can eat them… if you want.
Cicadas can not bite you or harm you in any way, although their legs do tend to get stuck on the fabric of our clothes easily. So if that happens, just help the little fella to a tree.
They stay underground for 17 years for many reasons. One reason why is so their predators can not specialize on them. Smart, huh?
After they emerge, they will mate and eventually die. This above-ground process will only last about a month and a half!
Hey Gardeners! There will be lots of dead cicadas in your backyard. Dead cicadas make for great fertilizer.
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