The Cricket Catcher

Grandpa Tom gave Adam a cricket catcher. It is a cylinder, cardboard container with holes down the side for an insect to breathe, but ideally not escape.

Adam has been on the hunt the last week for crickets to put in his box. A few weeks ago our yard was crawling with grasshoppers and other hopping insects. Now, we can't find a single one.  No matter the temperature or the weather he wants to hunt for crickets.

We noticed on our last visit to the track there were an extraordinary amount of grasshoppers. Adam came prepared with his container. He made a 7 year old friend to help him in his efforts. They spent the majority of the time tracking down bugs. Finally, they caught one! Adam was ecstatic! He had pure joy on his face. He was absolutely thrilled. Then, the other child's mother wanted to peek inside and see what they had found. The grasshopper, sensing it might be his only escape, leaped out directly toward the mom, to which she screamed and dropped the box. The grasshopper could not be found. While we have catch and release policy, I had told Adam he could take it home, study it, and release it into our backyard. That seemed a better idea to him than letting him go at the track.

Sadly, we went home empty handed. Adam was less than thrilled. The mom was so apologetic because she knew how long they had worked to capture their grasshopper. It wasn't her fault, grasshoppers have no interest in being little boy captives.

We got Adam home, with hopes that maybe there would be a cricket in our yard...somewhere. We searched as a family. There were none. This morning after breakfast, his hopes were crushed again, as alas, there were no grasshoppers or crickets to be found.

A week's worth of boy hunting effort was starting to wear on Adam.

Tonight, I was determined to give him some success. I went to the pet store and bought 6 large crickets.

Yes, I actually drove to the store and purchased crickets. Don't you judge me!

I dumped them on the back porch and called for Adam to hurry with his box. The crickets immediately hopped in opposite directions and hid. I was getting nervous. I mean I paid for crickets, where can I go from here?! Finally, we found one that Adam was able to contain. He was so happy as he went to bed tonight, so it was worth it.

(If you see him, you must never speak of how those crickets came to be, in a group, on the patio, in plain sight -- it was just a miracle ya'll!)