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April 11, 2002
Predictions of a bumper crop of Mormon crickets this year appear to be true, as thousands of the insects have already hatched.
The crickets get more destructive as they grow. And that has several small communities preparing for battle.
Central Utah Correspondent Sam Penrod has the story from Millard County.
The ground is literally moving in Millard County.
Over the last few weeks thousands of Mormon Crickets have hatched.
Ed Bianco/Entomologist, Utah Dept. Of Agriculture: "WE'VE GOT SIGNIFICANT POPULATIONS THIS YEAR. THEY ARE PROBABLY AS BAD OR AS HEAVY AS I'VE EVER SEEN."
The crickets are considered to be at nearly eight times the infestation level.
Estimates today show about 60 crickets per square yard!
Sam Penrod/Eyewitness News: "THE CRICKETS ARE ONLY TWO WEEKS OLD AND ARE ALREADY ABOUT A HALF MILE AWAY FROM OAK CITY. RESIDENTS FEAR THE INSECTS WILL SOON BE ON THEIR DOORSTEPS."
Janet Lindquist/Oak City Resident: "THEY WILL CONSUME OUR YARD, AND OUR BUSHES AND OUR FLOWERS AND MAKE LIFE MISERABLE FOR US ONCE AGAIN."
Besides eating their yards, leaving a mess, and causing financial damage to farm lands, Oak City residents are preparing for the psychological effects of the crickets.
Janet Lindquist/Oak City Resident: "YOU HAVE PEOPLE WHO HAVE KIDS WHO WILL NOT WALK OUTSIDE ONCE THESE THINGS HIT. THEY ARE SCARED. SO THEIR PARENTS HAVE TO CARRY THEM TO AND FROM THE HOUSE."
The crickets mostly hatch on nearby forest service, BLM and state owned land.
A citizen effort has resulted in the state and federal government spending more than a half million dollars to poison the crickets.
And the city is pitching in.
Winston Nielson/Mayor Of Oak City: "THE TOWN IS FINANCING THE PURCHASE OF BAIT TO BE USED BY THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THE OUTSKIRTS AROUND TOWN, HOPING THEY CAN CONTROL IT BEFORE IT REACHES THE CORPORATE LIMITS OF OAK CITY."
Towns in Juab and Tooele Counties are also bracing for a cricket invasion, predicted to be far worse than last year.
And with these insects growing bigger everyday, residents are fearing the worst.
Sam Penrod, Eyewitness News, Millard County.
Weather and the environment are just some of the factors creating a cricket overpopulation.
Experts predict crickets could be a problem for the next two or three years.
Mormon Cricket Facts
- Mormon crickets hatch by the time soil temperatures reach 40 degrees, traditionally in May and June.
- Mormon Crickets aren't really crickets. They are a long-horned grasshopper.
- Mormon Crickets cannot fly.
Links
"Grasshoppers and Mormon crickets are members of the Class Insecta,
Order Orthoptera, which contains several hundred species, although only
about 35 species are perennial pests of plants.
Grasshoppers and Mormon
crickets have the potential for sudden and explosive population
increases, which can be so extreme that all vegetation is consumed in
outbreak situations.
These infestations are often so extensive that
individual land managers alone cannot control the damage."
(Source: E.P.A.)
