Instead I would think of it as... Bug Hunting!
Not hunting like killing. Hunting like finding :)
Last night I decided when I took my dog out for his walk, I'd bring my phone with me and call in some Indian take-out and pick it up on our way home. Palak Paneer and Naan here I come! After ordering my food I had about 20 minutes to kill so I started scouring a bunch of the trees for cicadas as per usual.
AND
Finally......
I FOUND THAT FOR WHICH I HAD BEEN SEARCHING!!
Did you really think I was going to end that sentence with a preposition!?!?
I clumsily got out my phone and fumbled around with the buttons to switch to camera mode. I was so excited my hands were shaking!!
This one was just coming out of its skin! It was still resting on the skin when I took this first photo.
Sooooo beautiful!! I've never seen one in this state!
My dad has told me that when they come out their bodies are yellow and their eyes are red. I didn't get to see one in that state, but I had never heard of this cool blue-green state (with a coppery body!)
I've got another week or week and a half left of living here in the Burg so you bet your @ss I'm bringing my camera with me every evening when I take the dog for his walk!
Apparently these are Dog Day cicadas. They come out during the dog-days of summer (go figure) which makes sense since that's the part of summer we seem to be in now, although this week has been a lot cooler than the last few.
This is one of those bug-events that I've always wanted to see but never, ever have! I've been seeing TONS of cicada skins on the trees around here this month (but it's not time for the big big 17 year brood or even the 13 year brood) so I've been keeping my eyes out for them, hoping to see one crawling up a tree and witness the whole transformation!
It's a kind of magic! I had this song in my head all night long after the experience :)
