Pop quiz time! Answer each of these questions:
1. You’re trying to direct a movie and you want to show the audience that it’s late at night. Besides using a moon or dark atmosphere, what kind of sounds would you use to show that the scene is taking place in the evening?
2. A comedian is trying to make a joke, but it falls flat and the audience is silent. What other sound could you play to show the audience didn’t understand the joke?
3. The Cricket in Times Square is a children’s book about a cricket that can do this so well he learns famous musical numbers.
Do you know the answers? If you have the same answer to each question then you are on the right track. The answer is crickets chirping! The sound is so well known throughout popular culture today, but how much do you know about the insect that makes it? Here at Landmark Home Warranty we have some interesting facts about crickets and how their chirping can be more than just a soothing bedtime sound.
Crickets are sometimes confused with grasshoppers in the way they look. Although both grasshoppers and crickets have two large back legs used for hopping or jumping, a cricket is generally smaller in duller colors. Their bodies are small and flat with two thin protrusions coming from their bottom. Their heads are small and round with extremely large antenna and a set of jaws. They also have a set of wings that is important for making their chirping noises. Here is what a cricket looks like:
Although most of the time only male crickets chirp, in some species of cricket females also sing. To chirp, crickets do not rub their legs together like many people believe. Instead, they rub their wings together, which house a type of vein that, when rubbed with the serrated part of their other wing, makes a chirping noise. Crickets chirp for four different reasons. The first is to call for a mate, the second is to court their mate, the third is to aggressively chirp to make other male crickets stay away, and last is after the cricket has mated. Yes, we’ll let that sink in for a moment.
That lovely soothing chirping noise isn’t a plethora of crickets trying to lull you to sleep – it’s a bunch of crickets trying to make more crickets. That might not sound too bad if you’re hearing it far, far away from your home, but if you’re hearing crickets chirping inside of your home, or in your walls, it’s a bit of a scary prospect. That chirping doesn’t feel calm and soothing anymore, it just means you have an infestation of crickets that are attempting to take over your home by making more crickets. Another frightening statistic is that each female cricket can make up to 200 baby crickets each year.
That’s a lot of crickets.
WHAT MAKES CRICKETS PESTS?
Of course, in many countries, crickets and their chirps are signs of good luck, and can be considered pets. In Brazil, if there is a black cricket in the room, it means that someone will fall ill soon. In Barbados, a loud cricket in the home means there is money coming into the family. However, crickets can devastate gardens, and have been known to bite humans. The largest reason for crickets being pests, however, is that chirping. While it may seem calm and reassuring to some people, most of the time when it is within the walls of your home, it can drive residents insane. It’s a cause for many sleepless nights.
HOW CAN YOU GET RID OF AN INFESTATION OF CRICKETS?
How can I get rid of this nefarious chirping? I mean … get rid of crickets?
One of the best ways to get rid of an infestation of loud and chirping crickets is to call a pest control company. There are many natural ways to get rid of crickets but not all of them work. However, if you have a home warranty with a home warranty plan that covers pest control, you can get the pesky crickets out of your home for less than $100, which is a good deal, considering most pest control treatments range from $500 to $1,000. If you have the best home warranty company (Landmark Home Warranty, of course!) with your home in the right state, you can get a cricket treatment for a flat rate fee of $60. All you have to do is call your home warranty company, explain the situation, and they will send out a trusted pest control treatment contractor. It’s really simple! After that, you can enjoy the sound of crickets elsewhere, just not in your own home.
If you are interested in getting a home warranty to protect your home from crickets and other pests, go to Landmark's website at www.Landmarkhw.com. There you can learn more about what happens if you have a home warranty and your home systems or appliances go out, and how you can save thousands on repairs or replacements with a home warranty.