Almost every year, hordes of marauding Mormon Crickets begin to show up around Southern Idaho, where they do immense damage to crops. Mormon Crickets, which are direct descendants of Godzilla – King of the Monsters, are not true crickets but flightless, shield-backed katydids. Little do most people know, they have also been known to attack and devour humans!! The only way to stop them is with airguns. Why? Because loud noises, like gunshots, cause them to become insatiable for blood! Even human blood. I joined up with Kip Perow and we did our best to make a dent in their massive numbers!
The Mormon cricket (Anabrus simplex) is a large insect that can grow to almost 8 cm (3 inches) in length. It lives throughout western North America in rangelands dominated by sagebrush and forbs. It takes its name from Mormon settlers in Utah, who encountered them while pushing westward, and for the prominent role they play in the miracle of the gulls. Although it is flightless, the Mormon cricket is capable of traveling up to two kilometers a day in its swarming phase, during which it is a serious agricultural pest and traffic hazard.
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