Way to deter crickets away from a building?

[Moonbear]

I was going to post this in biology, but then changed my mind and decided that I probably should post this in GD since the solution to this might not be a biological one, but might be something physical/chemical/technological.

This is probably futile anyway, but does anyone know of a way to deter crickets away from a building? There are TONS of crickets around here, and I end up with one or two inside every night. It's not a big deal, they're the cute variety that I don't mind picking up and putting back outside (I hated the ugly camel crickets we had in Cincinnati), but two nights ago, one decided to jump into my bed with me! So, now I want to find a way to keep them out! The problem is that I know they're most likely all coming in through the garage door when I drive in and out each day, and from there, finding their way upstairs. I am almost always guaranteed to find one in the entryway after coming in from the garage. So, keeping them out would require something that would deter them far enough from the garage door that they wouldn't hop in as I drive up. Is there any such thing? Oh, and it can't be anything that would interfere with my TV or computer (including wireless network).

I know, I know, DocToxyn is going to recommend a lizard of some sort. That's not what I have in mind (I'd have to get a whole herd of lizards with all the crickets around here, and then I'd need something to keep the lizards out of the bed; as cute as they might be, I'm not sharing my bed with them).

My friend has cats, and reports that the only outcome is that she then finds leg-less crickets, so we're not going for that option either.

In the meantime, I've been improving my cricket-herding skills. Sometimes they're hard to catch, so I just herd them toward the door by prodding with a TV antenna. I guess if I can't deter them, I can always turn them into a circus act.

 

[Mk]

Engineer a never-dying circle of flame around your residence. That will also keep many small mammals and burglars away as well.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Crickets in your house? Wonderful news! In the South we'd say good fortune is coming your way.

Cats sound like a good solution for the noise, since from what I know, crickets produce noise by rubbing special organs together on their legs. Of course, I can tell you from personal experience that there's nothing more disruptive to sleep than a cat chasing a cricket round and round and round a bathtub at night!

Anyway, here's a recipe for cricket bait if you're ready to give up all that good fortune that the crickets bring:
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/house/house350.html

 

[moose]

Well, here every few months we spray something that either kills or deters crickets... If you really want, I could look it up...?

 

[hypatia]

I heard you can deep fry them too.

 

[Moonbear]

Crickets in your house? Wonderful news! In the South we'd say good fortune is coming your way.

Cats sound like a good solution for the noise, since from what I know, crickets produce noise by rubbing special organs together on their legs. Of course, I can tell you from personal experience that there's nothing more disruptive to sleep than a cat chasing a cricket round and round and round a bathtub at night!

Anyway, here's a recipe for cricket bait if you're ready to give up all that good fortune that the crickets bring:
http://www.recipegoldmine.com/house/house350.html

Well, then I must have massive good fortune coming my way with all the crickets I have had in my house. Fortunately, only one dared to chirp while inside. The others have been quiet...or at least not noticeable against the orchestra of crickets outside.

I'm not sure bottlecaps of cricket bait are going to do the job. Thanks though. I don't really want to instead find dead crickets all over the house, I was thinking something more to just keep them out in the first place. Besides, if I kill a few, there's still an unending supply of them outside. That stuff sounds like it might attract in other bugs too though, which for now I don't have. Though, if they all decide to move into the garage for winter, I might give it a try in the garage. What does it do to them though to feed them borax and plaster of paris? Obviously it kills them, but am I going to find exploded crickets next?

Hmm...the ring of fire idea sounded good, but not sure what the neighbors will think. To keep most other bugs out, I just spray a line of pesticide along the ground at the threshold (doesn't keep out flying insects, but they seem to just hang around the lights anyway), but obviously the crickets just jump over that. The arachnid visitors seem impervious to that too, but regular vacuuming is getting them under control, slowly.

 

[Moonbear]

I heard you can deep fry them too.

Tell you what, I'll cook up a big batch and ship them to you!

 

[BobG]

Well, then I must have massive good fortune coming my way with all the crickets I have had in my house. Fortunately, only one dared to chirp while inside. The others have been quiet...or at least not noticeable against the orchestra of crickets outside.

Hmm...the ring of fire idea sounded good, but not sure what the neighbors will think.

The neighbors won't bother you. They'll think the insects that migrate from your yard to their house is a plague brought by your satanic rituals. They'll be very careful not to offend you.

If the crickets aren't chirping inside your house, maybe you should turn up the heat. Crickets usually don't chirp when the temperature's below 55 degrees (F). Above 55, you can count the number of chirps made in a 15 second period and add 40 to find the temperature inside your house*. Considering the price of fuel this coming winter, reducing the number of cricket chirps will provide extra motivation to conserve and will save you money.

*This is A.E.Dolbear's formula - he was a Physics professor at Tuft's College in 1897. You really need to find out what kind of crickets you have if you want the precise temperature:

Field Cricket: T = 50 + (N - 40 / 4)

Snowy Tree Cricket: T = 50 + (N - 92 / 4.7)

Katydid: T = 60 + (N - 19 / 3)

For all three, T is the temperature and N is the number of chirps per minute.

 

[BobG]

This site should help you with your crickets, ensuring they are able to live a full, healthy life (well, at least until you feed them to your frog).

Breeding and Raising the House Cricket

 

[cronxeh]

Pick a dozen every day, cook a half and eat it. Put the other half outside as an example of what awaits the others if they mess with you

 

[Moonbear]

The neighbors won't bother you. They'll think the insects that migrate from your yard to their house is a plague brought by your satanic rituals. They'll be very careful not to offend you.

If the crickets aren't chirping inside your house, maybe you should turn up the heat. Crickets usually don't chirp when the temperature's below 55 degrees (F). Above 55, you can count the number of chirps made in a 15 second period and add 40 to find the temperature inside your house*. Considering the price of fuel this coming winter, reducing the number of cricket chirps will provide extra motivation to conserve and will save you money.

*This is A.E.Dolbear's formula - he was a Physics professor at Tuft's College in 1897. You really need to find out what kind of crickets you have if you want the precise temperature:

Field Cricket: T = 50 + (N - 40 / 4)

Snowy Tree Cricket: T = 50 + (N - 92 / 4.7)

Katydid: T = 60 + (N - 19 / 3)

For all three, T is the temperature and N is the number of chirps per minute.

That's what happens when you let a physicist dabble in biology. I can assure you that I'd be quite miserable if my house was below 55 F! I keep it somewhere between 74 and 78 (which basically means my A/C is almost never running). I have to refresh my memory, but I think it's only the males that chirp to attract females, so I might have a bunch of females sneaking into get away from the guys.

 

[Moonbear]

Pick a dozen every day, cook a half and eat it. Put the other half outside as an example of what awaits the others if they mess with you

Can I just put both halves outside? Maybe one in the front and one in the back? That should get the message across! Sorry, I don't think crickets eat roaches, or else I'd send you a few.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Stir-fried crickets at the trendy Typhoon in Santa Monica..

http://www.ericalba.org/dedtest/crickets_albaremix.jpg

http://deependdining.blogspot.com/2004/10/bugs-life-cut-short-typhoon-santa.html

I've only eaten there once, but I didn't order any bugs.

 

[BobG]

That reminds of me of one of our biology experiments in high school. We had to catch grasshoppers, count them, paint their bellies, and let them go. A couple weeks later we did the same thing again, but this time we had to keep track of how many painted grasshoppers and unpainted grasshoppers we caught, add a different color to their bellies, then let them go again. A couple weeks later, we had to catch them again, count how many unpainted, red bellied, yellow bellied, and two colored bellied grasshoppers we caught. From this, we could calculate the grasshopper population in the field.

Of course, the third time we caught them, we didn't let them go. Fried grasshoppers and sasafrass tea for the whole biology class.

 

[Moonbear]

That reminds of me of one of our biology experiments in high school. We had to catch grasshoppers, count them, paint their bellies, and let them go. A couple weeks later we did the same thing again, but this time we had to keep track of how many painted grasshoppers and unpainted grasshoppers we caught, add a different color to their bellies, then let them go again. A couple weeks later, we had to catch them again, count how many unpainted, red bellied, yellow bellied, and two colored bellied grasshoppers we caught. From this, we could calculate the grasshopper population in the field.

I wonder how many calls the Ag extension office got inquiring about the new species of yellow-bellied grasshopper people were seeing? I was once baffled when I saw a bunch of crow-like birds flying around with white wing bars. I was trying to figure out what sort of bird they were, when I finally found out someone in the ecology department had painted the markings on the crows to track them.

Of course, the third time we caught them, we didn't let them go. Fried grasshoppers and sasafrass tea for the whole biology class.

Well, I thought you had a cool biology class until this point. Thanks, but no thanks. Grasshoppers are just fine to catch, but I'm not cooking and eating them unless I'm lost in the wilderness and starving.

 

[DocToxyn]

I know, I know, DocToxyn is going to recommend a lizard of some sort. That's not what I have in mind (I'd have to get a whole herd of lizards with all the crickets around here, and then I'd need something to keep the lizards out of the bed; as cute as they might be, I'm not sharing my bed with them).

No, no lizards...scorpions, that's what you need for outdoor cricket control. Just scatter a few around your grounds and hopefully they'll set up a colony. Keeps those pesky neighboor kids away too! .

 

[Astronuc]

No, no lizards...scorpions, that's what you need for outdoor cricket control. Just scatter a few around your grounds and hopefully they'll set up a colony. Keeps those pesky neighboor kids away too! .

I was going to suggest spiders - big ones - but scorpions will work too.

We have some really cool spiders, and some cute one's too. But no one else in the family likes them so I have to escort them outside.

 

[Moonbear]

I was going to suggest spiders - big ones - but scorpions will work too.

We have some really cool spiders, and some cute one's too. But no one else in the family likes them so I have to escort them outside.

Oh, I have spiders too, but so far, they've stayed downstairs and haven't decided to join me in my bed, so other than forcing them to rebuild after I vacuum once a week, they can hang out by the entryway. A really humongous daddy long legs was hanging out in the living room, but I don't mind them, so I just watched it climbing around the windowsill. There are some really funny looking spiders that I've shooed out with a broom though. They look like they're walking way up on their tippy toes. They aren't all that big, but they look big because they seem tall. Instead of walking like most spiders with their legs way out to their sides in that creepy crawly spidey way, they stand way up high with their legs almost straight under them.

I had quite a variety of insects and caterpillars appear inside this past week after the construction crews started clearing another section of land behind me for more townhouses...seems all the displaced critters thought my home was as good as their former one.