NEWBERRY, S.C. — Sheriff Lee Foster in Newberry County says they have had calls of noise complaints over the last few days, with people in the area mistaking the sound of cicadas for large machinery.
"Some people think it might be some kind of industrial machine running. Some people think it's a siren, well, we just we just sell them as nature. It doesn't fall on the noise ordinance," Sheriff Foster said with a smile.
This year, trillions of the insects are expected to make the United States their home for the summer, and the Midlands will become one of their many stays.
According to the University of Connecticut, this year is special because a 13-year-old generation and a 17-year-old generation, also called 'broods' of cicadas will emerge together causing more of an influx of the bugs everywhere.
Especially in the forests of Lynch's Woods Park directly behind the Newberry Sheriff's Office.
Father-son-duo, Julian, and Peter Cameron were out hunting cicadas together so 11-year-old Julian could learn more about them.
"They're cool. They're fun little bugs. They're nice. They're harmless, completely harmless. They're cute. I mean, come on," Julian said as three cicadas crawled on his hands.
The pair hope that people in Newberry will grow to understand cicadas and their song a little bit more as the summer continues.
"People need to get out and explore, you'll find out it's not really that scary," Peter said.
The cicadas will likely end their song at the end of June or early July with most of those cicadas dying off then. The next time two generations of these bugs will emerge together will be in 2037.