Illinois...

"While the reports are true, you can rest easy if you were concerned about the cicadas disturbing your peaceful summer. You've got a few more years of peace and quiet before 17-year cicadas loudly make their presence known across Will County and northern Illinois in 2024."

Phew! My peach tree should be safe from at least one bug this year...
 
I'll never forget 2007! We couldn't walk through the grass without stepping on hundreds of them.
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Every bit of tree and bush and vines were simply coated with them!
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We had to literally brush ourselves off to prevent bringing them into the house.
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DD was only 2. She enjoyed "catching" them by letting them crawl onto a stick.
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We couldn't prevent our puppy from eating ciccadas. (Flying, buzzing snacks) He was so sick and gassy that month! The vet said it was extra protein and we'd save a little on dog food.

Fun times!
Of course it wasn't limited to outside. We made peanut butter play dough to make our own edible cicadas.
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Even if my kids will be too old to play with cicadas, I'm looking forward to 2024's brood!
That was a cool year! Looking forward to it again.
 
Japanese beetles kill my apple trees and raspberry bushes every year. Its always a battle.
We used to have a horrible infestation of Japanese beetles every year. My neighbor would put out traps, I swear they attracted the beetles to our area. Once she moved out I noticed they were greatly reduced. Maybe they came down by you?
 
Japanese beetles kill my apple trees and raspberry bushes every year. Its always a battle.
We used to have a horrible infestation of Japanese beetles every year. My neighbor would put out traps, I swear they attracted the beetles to our area. Once she moved out I noticed they were greatly reduced. Maybe they came down by you?
My chickens eat the beetles...... but also my raspberries. I just planted 2x as many. The chickens eat the bottom half & we get the top.

I still see the beetles, but not as many as in our "pre-chicken" yard.
 
Japanese beetles were a problem here two or three years ago. I didn't notice them last year. I rearranged the raised beds last year though and tilled up the new half of the garden. I likely killed a lit of the larvae whole turning every piece of soil I plant in. There's a lot of work planned for this year in the garden too with raising two of our beds, adding two more raised beds, typing off the other for raised beds to make up for settlement, and tilling and hilling the two ground plots. Japanese beetles are hopefully not going to be happy (or alive) in our garden this year again.
 

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