The cicadas are back.
But have no fear.
These red-eyed bumbling insects aren’t dangerous to people, pets or crops.
In fact, they’re tasty to wildlife and fish, who feast on their crunchy exoskeletons by the millions.
And they’re part of a natural cycle that’s been going on for millennia.
Last year brought 13-year Brood XIX cicadas Valley-wide.
2025 brings a larger, more widespread emergence of 17-year Brood XIV to the northern parts of the Tennessee Valley Authority’s seven-state service area from May to June.
Tennessee Valley Authority
Photo: TVA
Ed. note: So far, I’ve not noticed cicadas on the plateau where I live or in Sequatchie Valley. But when I drive up the mountainside on I-24, I can hear them going full blast. BB