Cricket invasion turns disgusting

EUREKA — When Nick Castleton took his morning run Thursday, he suffered a nasty spill on the slick surface beneath his feet.

"It was like running on grease," Castleton said.

Except the slippery stuff under his jogging shoes was insect innards — tell-tale remnants of the ongoing battle against hordes of Mormon crickets.

The crickets, which are actually grasshopperlike bugs called katydids, have reached plague-like levels around the West due to this year's warm winter, an early spring and years of drought. The widespread infestation is particularly plaguing Utah, Nevada and Idaho.

Experts in the three states say this year's infestation could be the worst in decades.

An estimated 5 million acres are infested in Nevada. Officials in southwestern Idaho say the infestation there is the worst since World War II.

And Utah agriculture officials estimate 6 million acres — more than double last year's plague — will be infested before the crickets die off.

"It's pretty much everything from central Utah on down," said Loyal Clark, a spokeswoman for the Uinta National Forest. "All down through Richfield and Fillmore — that geographic area is what is being hit the most."

In Eureka, Juab County, the critters dot the highway and swarm in droves on local homes. Gooey leftovers leave a brown juice and permeating stench in the town of 800.

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