Cicada - Dave's Midwestern Ohio Memories

Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s

Cicada

The cicadas emerged this year after a 17 year hibernation. Going back, they emerged in 2004, 1987, 1970 and 1953. However, living in Michigan since 1967, the cicadas are not prevalent here as indicated on the map. The map also shows there are numerous broods that come our of hibernation in other years in different parts of the county, plus some emerge every 13 years.

Since I’ve been living in Michigan for the most part of 54 years, my first and only memory of the cicada came in 1953 when I was 5 years old, an age when insects were especially intriguing to me. We had several old pear trees in the back yard that provided excellent shade, so that spring, my parents installed a swing set under the trees for us kids to enjoy.

I can recall “helping” Dad dig out holes for the 4 corners of the swing set so they could be cemented in place. While digging, we noticed a large number of cicada in their hard exoskeleton that were about ready to emerge from their underground hibernation. They must have liked the sweet juice from any rotting pears.

We were really intrigued by the insect as kids, and I recall Dad describing the insects emerging in 1919 when he was 6 years old. Mom was too young at the time (2) so she did not remember having ever seen a cicada before. After the insects emerged later that spring, the mating sounds the swarms of cicada made were deafening. Check out this video that captures the recent sounds emerging from my nephew’s woods. And while watching the Memorial golf tournament in Dublin, Ohio last weekend, I could readily hear the cicadas singing in the background of the soundtrack. Be careful walking in the woods at this time since cicadas are known to pee continuously creating mist-like droppings. For some reason, I recall we named the cicada katydids, but after some research, discovered the katydid is a species of grasshopper that makes a similar mating noises every summer.

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