Nevada is hit by a dangerous and biblical plague of crickets

A huge number of Mormon crickets have descended on the US state of Nevada, and millions of them can be seen all over the floor and on people’s porches.

Given the sheer number of them, roads and homes in towns like Elko have been covered and they are even blocking access to hospitals.

The inhabitants of Elko have revealed to the local press that they are fed up with the presence of these insects, which are capable of destroying everything in their path, mainly crop fields.

In addition, the massive presence of the insects also began to cause problems for people trying to receive medical care.

“Just to get patients into the hospital we had people out there with leaf blowers, with brooms,” Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital’s Steve Burrows told local KSL TV.

“At one point we even had a tractor with a snowplow on it just to push the piles of crickets and move them on their way,” he said.

Why are there so many crickets in Nevada?

Jeff Knight, a Nevada wildlife entomologist, has said the presence of these insects is normal in the region, but their populations are perceived to be more extensive as human populations expand and occupy previously uninhabited areas.

“There’s a route of tolerating it and they probably will move through,” Knight told CBS.

A video shared on TikTok, with more than 14.5 million views in just one week, shows a dense swarm of Mormon crickets covering the driveway, yard and walls of a house.

The homeowner tries to disperse the insects with a leaf blower, while his wife looks terrified that the insects will jump on her from the porch roof.

What are Mormon crickets?

Mormon crickets are also called katydids, bush crickets or even long-horned grasshoppers, even though they’re not technically grasshoppers.

They don’t fly and do move around by hopping, like a grasshopper.