All You Can Eat Cicadas

I just read an article
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...cicadas_pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

Do I really need to worry about my outside cats eating these things
this year? I know they've eaten cicadas before but I wouldn't know if
they've gotten sick or not.

From: (Mike)


I just read an article

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...re_us/cicadas_
pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

I heard about it on the news. I guess they only come out in droves every 17
years and this is one of those years. Probably sounds like a good idea to not
let the pets eat them.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

From: (Mike)


I just read an article

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...re_us/cicadas_
pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

I heard about it on the news. I guess they only come out in droves every 17
years and this is one of those years. Probably sounds like a good idea to not
let the pets eat them.

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm

"PawsForThought" wrote in message
...
I heard about it on the news. I guess they only come out in droves every
17
years and this is one of those years. Probably sounds like a good idea to
not
let the pets eat them.

Lauren

What I heard is that any given colony of cicadas only comes out like this
every 17 years, but there are different colonies on different 17-year
cycles.

Sandy

"PawsForThought" wrote in message
...
I heard about it on the news. I guess they only come out in droves every
17
years and this is one of those years. Probably sounds like a good idea to
not
let the pets eat them.

Lauren

What I heard is that any given colony of cicadas only comes out like this
every 17 years, but there are different colonies on different 17-year
cycles.

Sandy

(Mike) dumped this in
om on 01 May 2004:

I just read an article
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_re_us/cicada
s_pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

Do I really need to worry about my outside cats eating these things
this year? I know they've eaten cicadas before but I wouldn't know if
they've gotten sick or not.

Depends on where you live. This species is mainly an east coast version.
I'm in the DC area and we're gearing up for the ugliness of it all. But
yes, and the HS issued a warning because while the bug itself is full of
protein, the exoskeleton is chiten and undigestable. A few won't hurt,
but because of the sheer number of these things during their mating
dance, it's easy for animals to try to eat too many.

--
Cheryl

(Mike) dumped this in
om on 01 May 2004:

I just read an article
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...n_re_us/cicada
s_pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

Do I really need to worry about my outside cats eating these things
this year? I know they've eaten cicadas before but I wouldn't know if
they've gotten sick or not.

Depends on where you live. This species is mainly an east coast version.
I'm in the DC area and we're gearing up for the ugliness of it all. But
yes, and the HS issued a warning because while the bug itself is full of
protein, the exoskeleton is chiten and undigestable. A few won't hurt,
but because of the sheer number of these things during their mating
dance, it's easy for animals to try to eat too many.

--
Cheryl

On 01 May 2004 18:27:48 GMT, olitter (PawsForThought)
wrote:

From: (Mike)


I just read an article

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...re_us/cicadas_
pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

I heard about it on the news. I guess they only come out in droves every 17
years and this is one of those years. Probably sounds like a good idea to not
let the pets eat them.

Piggybacking because I didn't get the original.

Most cicadas are not like the Brood X cicadas we see here on
the East Coast of the United States(Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio,
Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, New Jersey, Missouri, Georgia, Long
Island, Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore-D.C., metro area). This group
is unique to the region, and they're an enormous pain in the butt.
Every 17 years they crawl up from the ground in the trillions. And
no, I'm not exaggerating about the trillions part -- there will be
trillions in one state alone. It can get so loud that it's difficult
to sleep at night.
The cicadas are extremely slow and don't bother to watch where
they are flying. They fly into people, trees, houses, and predators.
They get caught in your hair, which is horrible. I have seen birds so
stuffed with cicadas that they can't fly (granted, I was 10 at the
time, but these things stick with you). They're the ideal insect for
dogs and cats to catch and eat because they take so damn little
effort.

Some good links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...04Mar27_3.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0330085104.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...adas.html#main
http://www.courier-journal.com/local...0112-4463.html



Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

On 01 May 2004 18:27:48 GMT, olitter (PawsForThought)
wrote:

From: (Mike)


I just read an article

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...re_us/cicadas_
pets_1
that suggests keeping pets indoors for a while because of the
'once-every-17-years mating dance' of the Cicadas. It says that pets
can get ill (vomiting and constipation) from eating the shells of
these insects.

Does anyone know anything about this? I live in the woods and our
trees get so full of them and they make so much noise it's deafening.
But what exactly is so different about this year from the previous
years? The article makes it sound like there will be a ton of them
laying all over the yard or something.

I heard about it on the news. I guess they only come out in droves every 17
years and this is one of those years. Probably sounds like a good idea to not
let the pets eat them.

Piggybacking because I didn't get the original.

Most cicadas are not like the Brood X cicadas we see here on
the East Coast of the United States(Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio,
Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, New Jersey, Missouri, Georgia, Long
Island, Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore-D.C., metro area). This group
is unique to the region, and they're an enormous pain in the butt.
Every 17 years they crawl up from the ground in the trillions. And
no, I'm not exaggerating about the trillions part -- there will be
trillions in one state alone. It can get so loud that it's difficult
to sleep at night.
The cicadas are extremely slow and don't bother to watch where
they are flying. They fly into people, trees, houses, and predators.
They get caught in your hair, which is horrible. I have seen birds so
stuffed with cicadas that they can't fly (granted, I was 10 at the
time, but these things stick with you). They're the ideal insect for
dogs and cats to catch and eat because they take so damn little
effort.

Some good links:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...04Mar27_3.html
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0330085104.htm
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...adas.html#main
http://www.courier-journal.com/local...0112-4463.html



Orchid
See Orchid's Kitties! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/bengalpage
Want a Purebred Cat? Read This! -- http://nik.ascendancy.net/orchid

From: Orchid

Most cicadas are not like the Brood X cicadas we see here on
the East Coast of the United States(Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio,
Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, New Jersey, Missouri, Georgia, Long
Island, Pennsylvania, and the Baltimore-D.C., metro area). This group
is unique to the region, and they're an enormous pain in the butt.
Every 17 years they crawl up from the ground in the trillions. And
no, I'm not exaggerating about the trillions part -- there will be
trillions in one state alone. It can get so loud that it's difficult
to sleep at night.
The cicadas are extremely slow and don't bother to watch where
they are flying. They fly into people, trees, houses, and predators.
They get caught in your hair, which is horrible. I have seen birds so
stuffed with cicadas that they can't fly (granted, I was 10 at the
time, but these things stick with you). They're the ideal insect for
dogs and cats to catch and eat because they take so damn little
effort.

I live in one of the states that has these. But I don't remember them from 17
years ago. They sound pretty yucky for sure!

Lauren
________
See my cats: http://community.webshots.com/album/56955940rWhxAe
Raw Diet Info: http://www.holisticat.com/drjletter.html
http://www.geocities.com/rawfeeders/ForCatsOnly.html
Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm