That talk with a retired farmer outside the co-op stuck with me

He pointed at his field and said, "I've seen 50 springs here, and this one is different - the bugs are showing up three weeks early." Has anyone else noticed shifts like that in your own yard or neighborhood?

2 comments

2 Comments

samthompson21d ago

Nature's calendar getting scrambled is a good way to put it. Though it's probably more accurate to say the bugs are hatching three weeks earlier rather than moving through faster, since the birds might actually find them if they show up at the same time.

max_ramirez4821d ago

That retired farmer knows his land better than any scientist with a clipboard. The bug timing is a big deal because it messes up the whole food chain. Birds show up looking for their usual bug snacks but the bugs are already gone or done reproducing. I've got a patch of milkweed in my backyard and I swear last year the monarchs came through a full two weeks earlier than any year before. It throws everything off when nature's calendar gets scrambled like that.