How bad is it? Can you sleep at night? Do you feel like blowing your head off from the noise? Going out for my section hike in a couple of days…
mooneman
Cicadas?! - Appalachian Trail
system
#2
The noise is soothing but if you are thining that you might be suffer from sleep deprivation just be prepred by bringing some ear plugs.
Skylander
system
#3
The 17-year Cicadas were are full force near the GA-NC line. They make most of the noise during the heat of the day, nightime is no problem. It’s hard to describe the sound, but to me it sounds like one those wobbly old belt-driven whirring ventilation fans at an old mill factory, or maybe the saw-bowing sounds you used to hear on the sci-fi movies when the Martians are landing “woooo-woooo” ha ha. Deep in the woods it’s like mega-3D surround sound! Like Skylander said its more soothing than irritating.
The last time they came out was in 1987, for 17 years they live underground and then come out. If you see lots of little holes in the ground that’s where they come from.
Their shells are all over the trees (they molt and then fly away).
It’s an amazing phenomenon you can tell your grandkids about years in the future “When I was a young whippersnapper way back in '04…”
Next chance to experience it will be in 2021.
RockyTrail
system
#4
WOW!
you guys already have the CICADAS???????????????
i remember last time they were around…they came out in late May & stayed thru most of the summer…
obnoxiously loud & dont open your mouth outdoors during the height of thier “swarms”…ugh! (of course being a hiker…i need all the extra protein i can get!)
“Jaybird”
system
#5
I am really confused because I thought we had them last year! In North Carolina and southern Virginia they sounded like a freight train rumbling in the distance. Weird!
oldkathy
system
#6
There are several varieties and different brrods of cicadas. I too remember the 1987 hatch, it was the summer I graduated from Appalachian State Univeristy in Boone, NC, and lived at home inthe Smokies that summer. They didn’t bother me at all, just a louder summer than normal.
We actually have cicadas every summer. They make that loud buzzing noise in the trees that varys its pitch up and down constantly, kinda like "WEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEe!
Some species hatch yearly, and are much faster than the 17 and other variety. Some broods are a “13” year cicada that hatches every 13 years…there are more than one of those, which may have been what hatches last year. This years hatch is the famous “17 year” brood that is the largest hatch of insects in the world, according to scientist. They ae slower and more sluggish than year cicadas, which is why they are a lot more easily seen and caught. All in all, I thinks it’s a fascinating part of nature, and would love to be out on the trail right now to hear them. I’m going camping for two cays first weekend in June, and can’t wait. My wife can’t remember every hearing them…
BigDee:happy
Big Dee
system
#7
I did some checking, and found the exact sound I was trying to describe. You can hear it at the following link, but in real-life 3D surround sound it is a lot more impressive:
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/michigan_cicadas/Periodical/mp3sounds/sdecimchor.mp3
It turns out that the cicadas I’ve been hearing near the GA-NC state line are called “Magicicada septendecium” of Brood X. There are many species of cicadas, with different life cycles, so you might hear some any given summer, but the 17-year cycle ones are very noticeable because of the massive number of them along with their “music.” There’s more info at an excellent link below if you are interested:
RockyTrail