Call of the Wild

I've mentioned before that I like crickets. In fact, I look forward to their song every fall, and to having them take up residence in my basement. I know the spiders who live down there like having them come inside, too, but we won't go down that road just now.

For the last two days, there has been a particularly boisterous fellow somewhere here on the first floor of the house. Night before last, shortly after I went to bed, it began a loud serenade, so loud that I thought it must be in my room. I listened for about half an hour, trying to drift off to sleep. It was late and I had to be at work too darned early to get up and search for a cricket. So, I shut my door, which blocked out most of the sound.

In the morning, I kept hitting the snooze button on my clock, thinking the buzzing sound in my ears was the alarm going off. It was Cricket. At 4:45 AM, almost two hours before I usually rise.

Did I say I like cricket song? Hmmmm...

Last night the serenade began at nightfall and ran all the way through breakfast, through my shower and getting dressed, and for all I know, all day long while I was at the office. I located the sound somewhere in the downstairs bathroom, but couldn't find the singer. I got close a couple of times, because the chirping stopped, but no such luck. Cricket greeted me when I walked through the back door this evening, this time from somewhere in the living room. That's quite a walkabout for one so little - from the bathroom, through my office, through the kitchen, then into the living room. Still, I could not find it.

I planned to blog about a few other things this evening - the flock of swallowtail butterflies that visited the mint blossoms on Saturday, for instance - but all I could think about was Cricket and its incessant singing. I think I'll suggest to the CIA that they use cricket singing as a torture device.

Anyway, I needed a photo of a cricket and sent Google on a search. Found a great photo of a spring field cricket, which is not the same animal as the one in the living room. However, attached to the image, when I clicked on it, was a sound file of a Gryllus pennsylvanicus (fall field cricket, my new housemate) that sounded just like Cricket. This led to other cricket sound files, and I was distracted listening to them. There is a cricket called the fairy bell cricket, because its call sounds like a tinkling bell - so cool!

I was so fascinated listening to those songs that I wasn't paying attention to Cricket, who suddenly appeared in the doorway between the kitchen and my office. Cricket was chirping in response to the other calls, waiting about a second from the end of the recorded calls before starting his/hers.

This was too cool for words! I forgot how aggravated I was earlier and began playing back the recordings so Cricket wouldn't feel so alone. He/she chirped back to the recordings for close to ten minutes, edging closer to the desk all the while. When I stopped the recordings, Cricket continued singing his/her own song.

Something in the song made me feel sad for this little thing, lost in this house all by itself (no other crickets to commune with, that is), trapped with this grouchy old woman who earlier in the evening had contemplated committing cricketcide just to shut it up.

So I gently scooped Cricket into my hands and tossed his chirpy little butt out the back door. I really do like cricket song, and I happily share my space - okay, my basement space - with them; just not tonight, all right!

Thanks to Michelle (see comments) for this pointer to Dancing with Daisy's post about cricket song! Please go listen to the video Daisy has posted there. Truly beautiful sound. Thank you, Daisy and Michelle, for the pointer.