Utah's '05 cricket infestation starts

The ground is still clear in Oak City. Glistening masses of bug-eyed, egg-producing crickets have yet to emerge from winter incubation — leaving the Millard County city safe for the next few days.

"As far as down here, nobody has even noticed or seen anything," said Karen Lovell, Oak City clerk.

But 43 miles south in Meadow and Kanosh, cricket sightings are being reported to the state Department of Agriculture.

It marks the beginning of the state's infestation season, said Larry Lewis, spokesman for the Department of Agriculture.

It may also be the beginning of the state's largest infestation of Mormon crickets ever recorded. Officials are predicting 2.8 million acres will be infested this summer, primarily in the west-central area of the state. Tooele, Juab and Millard will be hit particularly hard, according to the state's spring cricket survey.

"You know how many stars there are? Billions and billions," said Lewis, a number he hints also describes the sheer number of the voracious insects predicted to infest Utah this year.

Lovell shuddered when she heard the news. The past three years have been horrible, she said. While residents in the center of Oak City were

relatively safe, those on the outskirts endured "disgusting" experiences when they walked outside their homes.

The insects coated the ground, forming a moving wave of gnawing, chewing, plant-eating machines, she said. Residents related stories about their children, some of whom refused to go outdoors.

"You don't walk or jog up there unless you're really brave," Lovell said.

But there is hope, said Lewis.

Technology is improving and pesticides are being applied faster and more accurately with the use of GPS technology. Researchers are now working on more economical ways of killing the insects.

Utah currently has $350,000 budgeted for cricket control, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been authorized to spend about $5 million, Lewis said.

The state has also given a $100,000 grant to Utah State University to study alternative methods of killing the insects — something that doesn't involve pesticides.