One of the many reasons that Prince George is an interesting place to live is the wildlife right in our backyard. Sometimes, a drawback about living in this city is the wildlife in our backyard. Our house backs on to a forested greenbelt so every once in a while, we are fortunate enough to see moose, deer and the occasional bear tromping through the bush while we are safely tucked in our house. Our backyard is also host to way too many creepy crawlies for our comfort.
When we first moved into our house, my husband William and I were out on the patio having some beverages at dusk. The patio light was turned on and we were having a very lovely conversation and enjoying the early summer night. Crack. Thump. Crack. Thump. Crack, crack, crack. Thump, thump, thump. All of a sudden, we were in a war zone of massive flying insects dive-bombing us with their yuckiness while they were throwing themselves at the patio light in a suicidal rage. We ran inside like a couple of squealing tween girls and watched as these ridiculously large things cracked against the light, thumped on to the deck and then would slowly crawl away. I had never seen anything like it and I certainly didn't remember the bugs being this big when I was growing up in Prince George.
I was convinced that these large insects were an invasive species that heralded the coming of the apocalypse and that drastic measures needed to be taken. My husband wanted to move back to the city. I was so convinced that these massive, horrible things were totally unusual, that I was going to pick up one of the bugs that successfully killed itself (with tongs) to bring it to UNBC for someone to identify. However, once I got close enough to this dead bug to pick it up, it started moving slowly away. I took a photo of it instead and proudly marched to our university to have it identified.
It turns out that our insect was a completely ordinary forest cricket. Whatever it was, it was too big and I could happily never see one again. Now that I know what I'm looking for, I see them frequently and the shock of how large they are gives me the heebie jeebies every single time. Bugs should not be that large.
Ever.
We don't leave our porch light on any more.
