I couldn't believe it. This evening we cooked outdoor in our little homemade grill. We never use charcoal briquetts or gas when we grill. We always make a big fire with wood and let it burn down to hot coals and cook over it. We always pile up tree limbs by this certain tree to use for our fire wood whenever we do cook out. Well this evening I went over to the tree and started picking up some tree limbs and noticed something moving. "WHAT.....IT CAN'T BE" sure enough it was, grasshoppers jumping around on the ground. Here it is the middle of Febuary, 60 something degrees out and we have grasshoppers jumping around on the lawn. I measured one to be about 3/4 of an inch.

Another thing I don't understand is that last summer I had up close to 70 free ranging chickens running around everywhere. Anything that moved or didn't move got eatened. So how did a grasshopper manage to lay eggs in our yard?

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), February 16, 2002

Answers

Here in Texas, it's an all year around problem, altho worse in the summer, and the number one reason I have the flock of chooks. I've been told we need 3 consecutive nights of the temperature to be below freezing to do a complete kill-off. That doesn't happen! There's a variety of breeds of the hoppers here, some up to 4 inches long! (This IS Texas!)

-- ~Rogo (rogo2222@hotmail.com), February 16, 2002.

I am reminded of the quote "Life Will Find A Way", Ian Malcolm, Jurassic Park. Silly but true I guess. LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 17, 2002.

where are those chickens now thats protien in them there criters. Up norht here we have trouble with flyes and lady buys spring and fall town foke get there yards sparyed. Me I keep about 25free range duckes thats eggs meat pest controll and lawn care all in one neat an't it ...Jimbo

-- Jim L (MI U.P.) (jtbutcher30@hotmail.com), February 23, 2002.

HELP! I release ladybugs for aphids, nematodes for a zillion problems, use stale beer to trap slugs around my hostas, but I'm still losing the battle. Today, to my horror, tiny black grasshoppers appeared in one of my flower beds (these will be HUGE), and as I did a mifted U- turn in my yard, my foot began to sink and you guessed it, MOLES or VOLES...ADVICE MUCH WELCOMED!! Dooj

-- Dooj Jacobs (jakejudyjacobs@att.net), May 03, 2002.