Attack of the Cicadas

It is now cicada season.  These little critters, which in Texas we called locusts, live as grubs for seven years then come out to mate, lay eggs and die.  They are out in mass.  Go out just after sunset, stand under any tree and the sound is deafening.

My dogs love cicadas.  It’s like an Easter egg hunt the way they go after the dead ones.  Hilbert was an expert at finding them.

 

We were out walking one late summer morning when Hilbert was just over a year old.  A cicada landed on the ground near Hilbert.  He quickly grabbed it up in his mouth.  Suddenly, it started buzzing.  He spat it out, jumped back, barked at it for a while -as if to scold it for startling him- and then grabbed it up again. After one crunch, the buzzing stopped and Hilbert swallowed it.  After that the fresh ones became his favorites. 

The vet says that cicadas are a cheap and healthy source of protein for dogs.  Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?