Day 8: Cicada Boy

Yep!...... It's that time of year again.....

These bugs live underground for about 7 years then emerge for about 2 weeks, make a hell of a noise, try to avoid being eaten by birds and caught by kids while trying get their leg over (well, in their case, legs) - then die. And the life cycle goes on again....:)

Yep!......... It's cicada season.

"My mummy found a cicada. It wasn't a Green Grocer, or a Double Drummer, or a Black Prince - it was a Yellow Monday...........;)" - by Sunny boy age 6..........;)

On our walk today we found our first cicada for the season. Sunny Boy was so excited. The cicada went on the walk with us for a little while and he proudly showed him off to the other bush walkers that passed us by. I made sure Sunny Boy put him back in the spot where we found him on the way back out of the track. We know it was a he because only the boys make a noise, which has been described as a little car alarm.

Watching my son brought back memories of my childhood Summers, collecting cicadas and letting them crawl all over me. And having a competition with my brother and the kids in the street where I grew up as to who could collect the most in one day and who could collect the most different types. We kept them in a box inside near our back door then after a day or so let them go. I remember one morning we woke up with cicadas all over the kitchen because we didn't put the lid down properly. My mum wasn't impressed... (lol)

In Sunny Boy's hands are the empty cicada shells which we found on the trees.