Going through a little pet withdrawal these days as we come to an end of our stint in pet-free military housing… so, to fill the void, we took a little cricket in. We saved it from Dad. (Usually he is saving spiders FROM Mom).
These buggers of the baseboards make a loud racket – driving my husband to extremes in the middle of the night. Last week I caught him stuffing bits of toilet paper in the cracks of the door jam…ok…
A more humane approach, in my daughter’s opinion, is to keep a few in her room. She says they make her feel relaxed in the dark.
We hope it’s a male because females don’t sing.
CRICKET HOUSE: The container has holes all around the sides and the top for air and 1-2 inches of chemical-free potting soil on the bottom. An upside down peat pot with a cutout door gives it a place to chill out. Fake greenery keeps it quaint and unpretentious.
FOOD: A cricket’s gotta eat so we presented it with a little bottle cap drinking hole and a mat where we plop down tiny bits of food like banana, bread, string beans and leaves. Yesterday the cricket dragged a piece of bread over next to the door of his hut. NO AVOCADO or white potatoes!
CLIMATE: They like it warm but obviously survive in cold temps. Crickets live about 2-3 months. We’ve gone so far as to put a heating pad (non electric) under the container at night because they like it best in the mid 80’s. Just in case it’s a girl, we’ll install a damp cardboard “birthing center” so so she can lay her eggs.
In ancient and modern China, raising crickets to fight is a popular pastime and business. Some diehards apply wax to parts of the cricket to make their singing louder! Hollowed out gourds lined with mortar are sometimes used to amplify their voices. In Thailand they are a crunchy, fried snack!
