Loud Cicada Noises Prompt Confusion in South Carolina
Residents of Newberry County, South Carolina, are experiencing an unusual phenomenon: deafening noises coming from emerging cicadas. The male cicadas are producing their distinctive whine to attract mates after spending over a decade underground. The collective sound is so loud that residents have been calling the sheriff’s office, mistaking the noise for sirens or other alarming events.
The sheriff’s office has issued a statement acknowledging the cicada activity and explaining that the insects pose no danger to humans or pets. The sound, while annoying to some, is a natural occurrence. Trillions of red-eyed periodical cicadas are expected to emerge this month in the eastern United States as part of their 13 or 17 year life cycles. Scientists who study these insects often wear earmuffs to protect their hearing during field observations due to the deafening volume of their mating calls.
