There are grasshoppers in my yard bigger than my cat! They try to jump on my leg for a free ride around the yard, but I do not let that happen. I do not like their sticky legs. I do not like their little tight lips, nor their bugged out eyes. They are tricky little varmints. They can land on a light bulb and not fall off before propelling themselves off in any direction, except to the direction I thought they were going to jump.
They are not afraid of humans. Insect spray does not harm them. They eat everything in sight except weeds. They do not eat weeds. They travel in packs! They go from a tiny thing the size of a gnat into a 3 inch long giant grasshopper in seven minutes!
If it were not for the fact that they are the most destructive things on planet Earth, they would be fascinating creatures. They can fly. They can take off from a dead standstill and become airborne in a blur. They can jump further than a kangaroo. I think they fly. They are both aerodynamic and waterproof. I think they chew tobacco, although I do not know where they get it!
I do not know where they sleep, or if they sleep. I know I go out early in the morning and there is no sign of them, and suddenly the air is full of them. Insecticide does not phase them. I did buy something once that the man told me makes them sterile. Birth control for grasshoppers?? That did not work either. I think it actually increased the horde!
I have seen my mother goose try to catch and eat one, but she failed in that endeavor, so I am guessing the geese prefer grain.
So, I am praying for frost. It will not kill them, but it slows them down. Back in the days of the pioneers, they talked of "herds of locusts, that blocked out the sun!" They don't fool me. It was those damn grasshoppers!
They can put a man on the moon, but they cannot find a spray to eliminate the grasshoppers. So what can we do to get rid of them?
My answer to this is , "who knows?" Just pull up my big girl pants and move on! Winter will come someday!
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