Most suburban homeowners regard the cicada infestation as a nuisance and can`t wait until it`s over.
Animals, wild and domesticated, however, seem to regard the plague as a gourmet banquet. Ravens and robins have been gorging themselves on the insects to the extent they are so rotund they don`t have the get-up-and-go to fly away when a human approaches. They just sit there on the grass, glassy-eyed, looking as if they are about to burp.
When a certain Homewood cat we know pounced with glee upon a cicada intruder in the house, it was sternly warned by its adoring owner, ”Lips that touch cicadas will never touch mine!” This cat couldn`t resist temptation, however, and the cicada was crunched down with gusto.
One man told of a friend`s dog who was bypassing his daily dish of Kibble, preferring to take his meals out, and dine alfresco on the cicadas instead.
A Hinsdale cat was reported to be doing the same. His owner said, ”They must be addictive. He gets up in the morning and screams at the door to be let out and I say to him, `Just say no, Morris, just say no.` ”