How to Catch a Cicada
Nature is abounding lately, especially today! My kids are both becoming such nature adventurers. I let them have lots of free time today, and wow have they been busy exploring God’s creation. They don’t take such interest everyday, so I’m enjoying every minute of watching them.
Alex has had this interest in cicadas for a few years now, I think ever since the last periodical ones came. And I don’t know about you, but unless the periodical ones are here, I hardly ever see a cicada. Perhaps I may hear them, but they are hard to find and extremely hard to catch…well, except for my son! He disappeared outside today for awhile. When I finally went to find him, I saw him across the yard in an empty lot next door, moving VERY slowly through the tall weeds. He heard me calling for him and turned around only to shush me with his finger, and then point excitedly to the tall weed in front of him. I knew then he was hot on the trail of a cicada.
Last summer, at our old house, he must have caught a dozen or so cicadas over the summer. This summer he hadn’t been able to catch any because they spend most of their time high up in the tall trees in back of us out of his reach. I stood there for what must of been five minutes or so watching Alex carefully inching his way toward his unsuspecting victim. When all of a sudden he grabbed with both hands and squealed excitedly, “Mom, I got him!” Without batting an eye, quickly I ran downstairs into our schoolroom for the infamous bug container.
As soon as Alex emerged into the house with him, we knew he was a male by the loud chirping. The females make no noise. Alex was shaking like a leaf with excitement as we put the cicada into the container. Then we proceeded to tell me just how to successfully catch a cicada, “you sneak quietly, until you hear it stop chirping, and then you stop until it begins to make noise again, because Mom he can’t hear you coming towards him when he’s being noisy; and when you get right up next to him, you pounce like a tiger with your hands and there you have him!” I informed him that I didn’t think it’d be all that easy for me!
Alex caught a “Dog-Day Cicada.” They are called that because they come out and sing in the dog days of summer (July/August). If your child is interested there’s a great book that you can usually find at the libraries called Cicada Sing-Song, by Densey Clyne. We ended by buying it through Ebay because Alex has loved it so much. Also, here are some great sites:
http://www.whatsthatbug.com/cicadas.html
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/ythfacts/allyr/cicadas.htm
http://saltthesandbox.org/cicada_hunt/CicadaLinks.htm
But nature hasn’t ended there today. Hannah got ahold of a male Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly.
http://www.cirrusimage.com/butterfly_etigerswallow.htm
And her and Alex both have gotten to feed a flock of Canadian Geese a few times right out in our street.
AND, while at my parents house the other day, we rescued a baby robin which had fallen out of it’s nest. We didn’t want to leave it because they have some stray cats that hang around. We intend to try and find a bird rehabilitation center to take it to, but in the meantime we are it’s surrogate mother.
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/BirdGuide/American_Robin.html
Happy nature adventures!!!!!
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