Geauga Park District encourages celebration of 17-year cicada emergence in the parks
What were YOU doing 17 years ago?
Well, the periodical cicadas were just young nymphs burrowing into the ground.
But now they’re finally ready to emerge in our backyards and parks – and you bet we’ll be there to welcome them back!
“Like a scene from a science fiction movie, they will arrive while you are sleeping,” writes Geauga Park District Naturalist Tami Gingrich. “On a warm, spring night, when the soil temperature reaches 64 degrees Fahrenheit, they will emerge by the thousands from their subterranean abodes, red eyes blazing, black bodies glistening. By morning, they will cover every available surface, and before you know it their courtship songs will resonate to deafening decibels.
“Hearken! It is the year of the Periodical Cicadas!”
Get on the Cicada Brood V Call List at www.geaugaparkdistrict.org under Find a Program/Event or 440-286-9516 to get a phone call when the emergence begins, inviting you out to Big Creek Park in Chardon Township, home of a known population of these cicadas, to join a naturalist from 8 to 10 p.m. that night. This is an experience you won’t want to miss and will never forget!
For kids ages 3-5 with adults, there’s Timbertots: Cicada Spectacular! to engage them in the phenomenon Sunday, May 29, from 1 to 2 p.m. at Big Creek Park’s Donald W. Meyer Center, and Tuesday, May 31, from 10 to 11 a.m. or 1 to 2 p.m. at Orchard Hills Park’s lodge. Registration is required at www.geaugaparkdistrict.org or 440-286-9516.
All ages are also welcome to attend the Cicada Spectacle program on Saturday, June 4, from 2 to 3 p.m. at Big Creek Park for another close-up look and information about these incredible insects.
Yeah, Geauga County gets different kinds of cicadas every year, so what’s the big deal?
“It’s the abundance!” says Naturalist Nora Sindelar, who hosts Timbertots. “As opposed to the annual cicadas, which we can hear in the distance, and sometimes find an exoskeleton clinging to a tree, look for the periodical cicadas to arrive in full force in late May or early June and lasting six weeks.”
Just one more reason to “Come Home” to Geauga Park District this spring!
Learn more about the periodical cicada emergence (and impress your friends later) from Chief Naturalist John Kolar by watching the video on the front page of www.geaugaparkdistrict.org. Then keep an eye on Geauga Park District’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for up-to-the-minute information on the impending emergence – which, remember, won’t happen again until 2033.
Geauga Park District is online at http://geaugaparkdistrict.org, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Image Courtesy of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brood_X
