I camped up on the plateau last night. First time camping in maybe 8 years and haven’t camped up there in closer to 40. It was weird though. No crickets. No tree frogs. That iconic wall of noise at night. Gone.
The only sounds were intermittent motorcycles, trucks, trains, barges and planes. Everything you don’t want to hear and none of the things you do.
It was depressing. It’s been bothering me all day and we had them last year. Is it just my area or is this the new norm?
Don’t despair there are small and real things you can do to get insects back in your own yard. Last year I had fireflies in my urban yard. We haven’t sprayed any herbicides, fertilizer or pesticides in a few years. We have planted a few natives and put clover in our lawn. The insects were quick to come to us. So much so our neighbors commented and planted some wildflowers in their hell strip. We got a grant to plant more this year (198 2" seedlings). So you can do something.
There’s more lawn than national parks by surface area in the USA and they have the largest resource use. Be the change
No clover. Too shady, but I did look into it. Had to go with a shade/drought tolerant grass. I planted shade wildflowers and they just germinated. If the deer don’t eat them, I might just plant them these here two bags of cereal rye in return.
Actually, our house stands apart on our street for the very reasons you describe. We’re those weirdos too. Lotta stone. Lotta stumps. Lotta plant life. Lotta natural. No pesticides. Nice to meet you. Grats on your grant. That would be pretty cool.