"Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets," the sheriff wrote. "Unfortunately, it is the sounds of nature."
Emerging cicadas are so loud in one South Carolina county that residents are calling the sheriff's office asking why they can hear a "noise in the air that sounds like a siren, or a whine, or a roar."
The Newberry County Sheriff's Office sent out a message on Facebook on Tuesday letting people know that the whining sound is just the male cicadas singing to attract mates after more than a decade of being dormant.
Some people have even flagged down deputies to ask what the noise is all about, Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.
The nosiest cicadas were moving around the county of about 38,000 people, about 40 miles northwest of Columbia, prompting calls from different locations as Tuesday wore on, Foster said.
Their collective songs can be as loud as jet engines and scientists who study them often wear earmuffs to protect their hearing.
After Tuesday, Foster understands why.
"Although to some, the noise is annoying, they pose no danger to humans or pets," Foster wrote in his statement to county residents. "Unfortunately, it is the sounds of nature."
That recent incident with the acorn suggests that cops will start blasting because of unexpected sounds of nature. They shot the car not the tree, we're the ones that need to be afraid here!
Imagine waiting underground for years just finally emerge to find your mate and turns out you have some fungus that makes you into a sexual monster and then ...
Once the cicadas emerge from the ground, they molt into adults, and within a week to 10 days, the fungus causes the backside of their abdomens open up. A chalky, white plug erupts out, taking over their bodies and making their genitals fall off.
Last year (or the year before?) there was a major cicada emergence in Indiana. You couldn't hear a thing in our neighborhood, but if you drove a mile down the road, it was deafening. I think it probably depends on what sort of trees you have and how many.
Funny enough if you’re in Illinois there’s supposed to be a co-emerging this year. I was going to check it out but sadly they don’t overlap enough for it to be noticeably louder.