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Aster's avatar

What are these annoying, chirping insects that are not crickets that wake me up?

Asked by Aster (20028points) May 26th, 2012

I am pretty sure they’re not birds because they only start in chirping at sundown and continue until sunup. I sprayed the flowerbed with Raid, which made me feel awful, and that one night they stopped. But then they seemed to resurrect and they’re waking me up again through the night. They sound nothing like crickets; they sound like loud, baby birds. What are they and what can I do to stop this?

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18 Answers

Pied_Pfeffer's avatar

Is it possible that it is a frog or toad instead of an insect? The timing mentioned is typical for these critters.

Here is a short list of the hundreds of different types of frogs out there. Listen to the recording of the American Toad. Could your noise-maker be this one? Frog and Toad Calls

cazzie's avatar

Crickets and grasshoppers chirp. Where do you live?

Frogs sound awesome. Do you live near a river or some body of water?

Buy earplugs.

Aster's avatar

@Pied_Pfeffer how incredibly thoughtful of you. Thank you. I listened to all of them . This is a high pitched sound exactly like birds so no; they’re not frogs. I recall a Jelly telling me months ago the name of the insect but I don’t remember what it was.
@cazzie yes; we live near a large lake in Texas. I’ve never worn earplugs because I have always worried they’d touch my eardrum! LOL They actually scare me.

chyna's avatar

Is it cicadas.
Here is the noise they make.

Charles's avatar

that are not crickets

How do you know they aren’t crickets?

Charles's avatar

they only start in chirping at sundown and continue until sunup.

Is it cicadas.

Are you sure?

“Cicadas like heat and do their most spirited singing during the hotter hours of a summer day, in a roughly 24 hour cycle.”

from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada

Aster's avatar

@Charles I know they aren’t crickets because I know how those sound and these sound like birds. Almost like they’re singing. Besides; I’ve not seen one cricket all spring.
ok; I listened to a link of cicadas and no; they don’t sound like birds at all. Thank you!

Coloma's avatar

It’s spring, love is in the air, maybe just get some ear plugs until the insect romance winds down.:-)

cazzie's avatar

I’m still betting it is frogs. I googled Texas frog sounds and got quite few results. Here is a YouTube video and if you go to 2:22 there is a tree frog that sounds a lot like a bird.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6e5Xcu3GPMc&feature=related

There is a frog called a Spring Peeper? found in East Texas..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=zbqxdtXfXxs

bewailknot's avatar

@cazzie wow, that spring peeper sound – I never would have thought it was a frog!

Aster's avatar

It does sound similar to a bird but what I’m hearing is intermittent like bird singing. And what I’m hearing sounds almost exactly like a bird. It’s close but too constant.

jca's avatar

Remember if you spray pesticides out there, you’re not only affecting the insects that annoy you, but also the “good” insects, the birds, the soil, and any animals that may walk through the flower bed, like raccoons, frogs, cats, etc.

Aster's avatar

@jca How well I know that. We do have a lot of birds, too. But no cats or raccoons. I do worry about harming frogs. Oh, dear. Who needs to sleep?

bewailknot's avatar

@Aster Have you tried white noise? They sell machines just for that, but you could experiment with a radio turned to low volume between stations (to straight static).

Berserker's avatar

Maybe a type of black field cricket? I know you said you’re positive it isn’t crickets, but this type here doesn’t sound quite like average crickets, and you’ll never see them, or rarely, unless you really go looking for them. While they can be active during the day, some types are nocturnal. This is what they sound like.

FutureMemory's avatar

@bewailknot Radios emit a ton of ‘white noise’ :P

Aster's avatar

I use a fan on “High” but it doesn’t faze the noise. I went outside last night at 9pm and it sounded like birds in the tree, rain gutter and flowerbed. I am going to try my “noisemaker” thing that has many different nature sounds tonight. I forgot about it.

bewailknot's avatar

@FutureMemory The only radio I use is in my car, and it is more “white noise” than anything else.

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