This Nevada Town Is Hopping

The small town of Searchlight, Nevada, has witnessed an unusual population explosion. Thousands of grasshoppers are swarming the streets and taking over businesses. The insects hop around downtown and are the only things living at the local cemetery.

Residents are comparing the onslaught of jumping creatures to filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock's thriller The Birds, in which a dark cloud of menacing birds settles on a small, unprepared town.

This type of grasshopper is the pallid band wing, which are always a springtime visitor to this area of the West. This year, El Nino's wet weather caused many more plants to grow and all that extra food is making the grasshopper population jump.
And while they usually hop around in the deserts and grasslands, grasshoppers are popping up everywhere in Gene Damerell's backyard.

"They're just continuous. They'll be here 'til it gets cold," said Damerell.

The brown-colored grasshoppers are about two inches long, they don't bite, and so far they haven't attacked any crops. They've even been found on the streets of Los Angeles where entomologists are scooping them up for study.

"The problem for people is they are attracted to light. Anywhere there is light there are in increased number. Of course, people get a little upset when things are flying in their hair," said entomologist Art Evans.

As annoying as this is, experts are more worried about what will happen this summer when the red-legged grasshopper and the cricket are expected to target the El Nino-soaked vineyards and asparagus fields of California. The damage from that attack could leave consumers hopping mad.

For Sandra Hughes' full report, click above.