Anybody have a ‘hopper stopper?
There are some visitors you just don’t want. Especially when they are green, with four long legs, antennae and bulging eyes.
Before you think I’ve lost it entirely and am seeing aliens … let me assure you, I’m not.
I haven’t been hitting the bottle, I’m not smoking something funny, I don’t shoot up and I don’t snort … other than in my sleep, or if I get real tickled.
I’m talking about grasshoppers. Big, fat, juicy ones. The kind that leap off the lawn furniture, flutter their wings, then land on you and attach to your clothing. They can grasp the material so tightly that they become very difficult to remove.
They can be quite a nuisance. A plague. It says so in the Bible. I’ve read it.
When I heard and read recently that the current drought was causing these generally rural creatures to change their addresses and move into the cities, looking for food, I wasn’t all that concerned. We live far enough in, I thought, that it wouldn’t be a problem. Besides, I hadn’t seen a grasshopper at our house in, well, I couldn’t remember when.
That all changed this morning.
Around dawn, I went out onto our patio and deck to get a feel for the weather conditions as I got ready for work. It was still a bit dark, with only the slightest of light in the east, so I turned on the patio light before I walked outside.
I took three or four steps out onto the deck, then spotted something on the corner of the swing. When I got closer, I noticed the eye and the movement of the antennae. Then, the whole body turned … toward me.
I checked around, but didn’t see others. One grasshopper an army does not make. It’s not time to head to the local lawn and garden store to purchase a spray. No need to break out the flamethrower. They’re not filling the air as they assault my lawn or outdoor plants.
Not yet.
But I’m going to keep an eye on the situation. I just hope I don’t dream about grasshopper invasions.
Read more about the grasshopper situation, and about Oklahoma’s weather conditions, by going to http://knowit.newsok.com/severe-weather-oklahoma
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