lizkat
Watching March roll out real winter
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- Aug 15, 2020
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Brood X: Why 'trillions' of cicadas set to emerge after 17 years have an ominous sounding name
In late May and early June, trillions of cicadas will emerge from the ground in 15 states. Here's everything you need to know about Brood X, including a map.
www.usatoday.com
For those with access, a WaPo take....
The map makes it clearer which states will have the best pickin' for all the critters who like to pig out on chowing down enough cicadas to fall into a coma. Yes, really. Some animals eat enough until they literally fall out from the caloric overload and have to sleep it off. Sounds like there will be plenty cicadas to go around this time. Billions, yes. Over a million per acre. Y'all in DC, Virgina and Maryland are ground zero, but the trigger is a ground temperature of 64ºF so it's Georgia and other southern states will see them first, in just a few more weeks.
Cicadas are a Thanksgiving-like feast for wildlife. As they emerge, birds, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, ants, raccoons, snakes, frogs and possums will gorge themselves for about a week until they collapse into food comas.
“What people will actually see is animals eating bugs,” said Gaye Williams, an entomologist for the Maryland Department of Agriculture and an avid cicada watcher.
Yes, she said, your dog will eat cicadas if given the chance.
“It’s very much like when you go to an all-you-can-eat crab feast,” Williams said. “The very first bunch that you throw down on your table, everybody grabs crabs and you start cracking them, and you take every last molecule of crab meat. About the fourth tray … people only take the claws. As this orgy of eating goes on, there are animals that actually won’t touch them anymore. They’re full.”