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Post by bigtime on May 3, 2011 15:53:43 GMT -5
Made my trip of the year to FATS this past weekend and there was some loud irritating noise the whole time we were there. The ride was just as fun! But anyone know what that noise is from?
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Post by dgaddis1 on May 3, 2011 15:58:55 GMT -5
Made my trip of the year to FATS this past weekend and there was some loud irritating noise the whole time we were there. The ride was just as fun! But anyone know what that noise is from? en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CicadaThis is the first time I remember ever hearing them like this. It's pretty crazy. There's shells all over the ground from the ones that have a molted already.
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Post by seenvic on May 3, 2011 16:00:52 GMT -5
Huh?
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Post by bigtime on May 3, 2011 16:11:03 GMT -5
Wow, that is amazing. We thought it was from some nearby plant of some type.
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Post by brianW on May 3, 2011 19:02:33 GMT -5
The ones you hear now is one of the 13-year broods. Very good source of protein too! I noticed today the noise level has gone down a bit. The brood emerges within a short time to increase the the chances of passing on their genetic info before migrating up the food chain. Birds, mice, snakes. lizards, even fox and coyote will eat them.
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Post by nitro on May 3, 2011 20:05:42 GMT -5
I rode FATS Sunday and the cicada noise was unreal and kind of eerie. I have never heard anything like it.
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Post by bigtime on May 3, 2011 20:33:45 GMT -5
oh, meant to say my FIRST trip of the year to FATS.
Yeah the noise was a bit eerie.
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Post by oddcouple on May 3, 2011 21:05:21 GMT -5
That is not a god-awful noise.I remember them 13 years ago at Turkey Creek.I could not wait to hear them again because that means I have lived and rode for 13 more years.YES I can't wait to hear them again.I will be 61.
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Post by dparrott on May 3, 2011 21:31:41 GMT -5
Riding FATS thru the charred landscape AND hearing the cicadas at the same time is a unique experience.
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Post by yetichick on May 4, 2011 6:35:25 GMT -5
We were planning on working on Hickory Knob last Sunday, so Saturday afternoon decided to pack up the 5th wheel and spend the night at the campground. Can you say "deafening?" Had one fly into my helmet while riding on the trail. Quick stop, helmet off, dumped it on the ground, and continued on.
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Post by JIMMYC on May 4, 2011 7:49:46 GMT -5
i kinda thought the noise was cool, sounds like a 1960's "B" movie. You know, right before the giant spyders attack.
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Post by jtaylor on May 5, 2011 11:15:30 GMT -5
JC- I think they were twice as loud when we were young; back when we walked to school- uphill, both ways, in the snow... Watch the trees where the cicadas are plentiful- in about a month the last 1-2' of the branches will die where they have slit the bark to lay eggs.
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Post by Angela on May 5, 2011 11:54:15 GMT -5
I've been in and out of the South my whole life and to be honest as we returned from out of town and we heard them I didn't recognize the sound. We actually drove around the neighborhood trying to figure it out (they weren't active or we didn't hear them 10 days ago). Got out to FATS for a ride, opened the door and it hit both of us exactly what the sound was.
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Post by Mark Y on May 5, 2011 17:47:04 GMT -5
Angela, the 13 and 17 year hatches don't sound quite the same as the typical buzzing you hear late summer. I guess it is because the millions of them blended together make the individual rise and fall of the pitch indistinguishable. This variety also appears to be smaller than the ones we see annually. I recall the hatch 26 years ago; we were racing a friend's sailboat on the annual long distance/overnight race at Clark Hill. It was getting late afternoon and the wind had all but died. we were drifting along about even with Hamilton Branch and about 100 of those things decided the white sails were attractive. Real eerie drifting along with the boat covered in bugs. That was the year when they were so thick at the lake that they piled up along the shoreline and stunk to high heavens for weeks on end.
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Post by Angela on May 11, 2011 19:22:42 GMT -5
Just got off the skinny - 13 year Cicadas seem to be gone at least from that section - saw some fly against my window at work but they weren't calling the ladies. Wonder who of us will still be shredding the trails when they return in 2024.......
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Post by pandemonium on May 14, 2011 3:18:54 GMT -5
I've been in and out of the South my whole life and to be honest as we returned from out of town and we heard them I didn't recognize the sound. We actually drove around the neighborhood trying to figure it out (they weren't active or we didn't hear them 10 days ago). Got out to FATS for a ride, opened the door and it hit both of us exactly what the sound was. This is interesting since I grew up in Wisconsin and lived there for 22 some years (I'm 30 now). I specifically remember when I was young and at a retreat for church at a camp site (southwestern area of Wisconsin if I recall correctly) my first encounter with a species of cicada and their mass molt spawn. There are several species of cicada and they pretty much cover the majority of the country with forest areas. I can't wait to ride on crunchy ground.
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Post by Angela on May 14, 2011 9:10:18 GMT -5
This is really TMI but the brood of Cicadas we just had were part of the Great Southern Brood - XIX (19th emergence of this brood) one of the largest Cicada broods.
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