It's 72 Degrees According to the Crickets!

An interesting insect  more closely related to a katydid than a
grasshopper.   Last night, outside, under my bedroom window a feisty little male was calling for a mate!  Great!  Tossing and turning at 1:30am, the sound of this eager little cricket chirping did little to ease me back to sleep.   If anything the courtship was driving me nuts.  The females don't make the same noise.  So, what she did to lure the horny guy away from my window, I don't know but, I was grateful!   I remember someone once said, that it is good luck to have a cricket in your house.  I think not!  I was willing to risk bad luck for a lifetime the summer after we moved into our new house.  We had them inside frequently for about  two weeks.  There is nothing  fun about one outside the window  in the wee small hours of the morning.  Waking to them inside, could be considered a  living nightmare!  Their noise becomes unbearable and the  mystery of their hiding places  could drive a person insane!!  In my crazed insistence to search for and flush the culprits out the vacumn became my weapon of choice!  Free and clear and no bad luck...so, little crickets have your fun and thanks for keeping it outside!

Despite their nuisance they actually are interesting insects and we can learn from them.  Here is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more as well as  a valuable teachers  guide.  One thing to try is telling the temperature by counting the number of chirps a cricket chirps in 15 seconds.  Add 40 to that  number and you will have a number that is pretty darn close to the actual temperature (Fahrenhiet) outside.  There are a couple of  different  calculations but, this one is pretty accurate!   Here is the  link!  Have fun!