Invasion of Biblical Proportions to Come?

Just a couple of days ago, I got an email from the local garden club (we're armchair members) with the following information: "Up til now there have just been reports of members finding 2 or 3 locusts on their property, that they have been diligently killing.  Mostly by just whacking them, but some have also successfully used regular bug spray".

Then, this morning, as Twyla and I were traversing Central Park in downtown Corozal, I chanced upon this 'little' critter waltzing across the tiles.

 Such a Cutie

Naturally, I stopped and snapped a picture. He's only about five and a half inches long... ONLY!

Then, after I got back from walkies,  another message from the gardening folks with the following dire headline:

"TODAY I AM SEEING ABOUT

A HUNDRED FLYING IN

OVER THE WATER FROM CERROS!!!!

They are flying in quite high just 3 or 4 at a time, but they are continuing to arrive, so you should all be ready to do battle before they do serious damage".

Looks like the invasion has started. Good timing too, in a literary sense, I'm deep into reading The Gathering Storm, by Winston Churchill, all about the preparations and events in the time before World War II. There are some eery parallels, I must say.

The garden club also provided the following information about the invaders and their uniforms:

"The locusts look like a gigantic grass hopper about 4 or 5 inches long.  They are a greeny-brown color when they are sitting with their wings closed.  When they fly you can see the bright orange color of their very large wings. When they fly, they look the size of a small bird, but they fly very slowly at a steady pace.  Not darting about like a large butterfly or dragonfly".

My advice right now, is if you venture out, either carry a big stick to whack 'em, or a can of Begone (Baygon), a local insecticide, or both. They're too damn big to argue with.

I remember, as a wee lad in the 50's, we were living in Tripoli, Libya (my dad was in the US Air Force). Several times while we were there, we had locusts flying over and landing. They ate everything in sight. Clouds of them flying were thick enough, that we could throw rocks from our school playground and be sure of hitting 4 or 5 of the critters with each volley.

I hope our diligence and preparedness now prevents a similar situation. Be on guard!