May 20, 1999
Bugs are on the move in Tooele County.
Billions of bugs!
In the countryside it's Mormom Crickets.
In town, it's grasshoppers.
Old-timers say, this summer
we'll see the worst plague of munching marauders in 20 years.
Environment Specialist John Hollenhorst has the story.
The ground isn't exactly crawling with bugs. But things are definitely
hopping in Tooele County. And it's going to get worse.
Agricultural agent Justen Smith says, "It's going to be scarey."
These are Mormom Crickets. Individual critters stop to munch on anything
they can find. But the mass moves on, great bands of bugs a half-mile wide.
"These seem to be moving, oh, about half-mile a day," Smith says.
In this area, they're moving in 5 separate bands, each covering 3 or 4
acres. As they move, they'll do some damage.
"We're worried about the ranchers here in Vernon, and the town of Vernon itself
being overrun and infested with crickets," Smith says.
But if you think it's just farmers and ranchers that are going buggy, think
again. Hordes of tiny grasshoppers are popping up here in the city limits of
Tooele, and dozens of complaints are coming in.
And we do mean tiny.
Robyn Ramos, of Tooele says, "The grasshoppers have been hatching in the weeds
and then coming down."
Things we're bad enough for the Ramos family last year. Robyn says, "I felt
like I couldn't let the kids go outside to play."
They planted trees and shrubs, and the hoppers took most of them out.
Robyn says, "'Scary' probably isn't the right word. 'Sickening' is probably
closer. And pretty disgusting, because they're pretty ugly little creatures."
They're baaa-aaaack! And this year it'll be worse for humans than ever.
New subdivisions are sprouting up in the fields around Tooele.
Smith says, "Grasshoppers are used to moving through those open fields. And now
they've got better things to eat, better plants. Better lawns."
Insecticides are available. In this case, oatmeal laced with poison.
And it works. But some experts say the lack of federal funds means it's
already too late to stop the onslaught.
On Saturday, poison bait will be distributed at the Tooele County road-shop.
The state is paying half the cost, but it's only for property owners who
share a boundary with state and federal land.
