NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Technically, cicadas are only expected to be above ground for about four to six weeks, but thanks to these persistent perennial pests, that stretch of time can often feel like it's moving in slow motion.
"This is a little too much," said Luke Boonstra, who works as a landscaper. "They seem to be attracted when it’s loud noises so… lucky me."
Given his occupation, Boonstra has no choice but to swat the bugs away, and in an unfortunate situation earlier this week, swallow as well. "One flew right down my throat. It wasn’t fun, it was kind of gross," he said. "One little extra layer of Dante’s Hell."
They're annoying to seemingly everyone, that is unless you own a car wash. "I don’t mind them too much, particularly from a business perspective, they pick up the volume a little bit honestly," said Miles Johnson, who owns Miles Auto Spa.
One by one, some drivers with disgusting windshields made their way through their Hillwood Boulevard location Wednesday. "The truck that just went through has obviously gone through a cicada hell," joked Johnson.
Dead cicadas on the windshield may be scattered and splattered when they come in, but it's Alex Silva's job to make sure the surface area gets plenty of lathering. "I grab this, it’s bug sprayer," explained Silva. "It removes the bug guts and all that."
Naturally, as he scrubs off all the dead ones, he's still being swarmed by ones very much still alive. "They love me, they keep getting on me, they love me," Silva joked.
It won't be much longer until the rest of the brood breathes their last breaths, but for those of us sick of all the cicadas, time can't move fast enough. "They be getting up on me, I keep finding big ones, small ones, get in my eye," said Silva.
So how much longer can we expect our unwelcome guests? Scientists seem to think they could potentially hang around until the end of June.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
