4. Mormon Crickets Increase Their Infestations
Mormon crickets are named after the Mormon settlers that settled expanses of America’s West. The bugs average in at three inches in length and descend upon areas of Idaho, Nevada, Montana, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and Wyoming, usually every other year. Out-of-control swarms can devour crops, leading to substantial economic damage in the farm communities of the West. The gross factor increases exponentially when their dead carcasses pile up in roads, creating slicks that lead to car crashes. When crushed, the bugs are extraordinarily juicy, so roads and sidewalks coated with their carcasses can become as slick as ice.
While the crickets have troubled settlers for centuries, beginning in 2000, the biannual infestations became more regular, hitting the states every year with increasing intensity. In some places, Mormon cricket swarms were so dense that there were as many as 70 per square yard. Populations that high can destroy anything in their paths, decimating large farms within minutes. Being affected by crowds of Mormon crickets is just a fact of life for many in the affected areas, something that they have to get used to since they live in the region. However, it isn’t all bad news for those who can get past the gross factor: the giant bugs are known by the locals to be great for catching catfish.
