Crickets are insects that are very easy to recognize based on how they look, but you probably hear them way before you notice them with your eyes. Saying that they’re loud would be a bit of an understatement, and many people find them to be annoying.
Depending on where you live, there might be many crickets in your area. Sometimes at night, you’re going to hear hundreds of them communicating and making loud noises.
Some people find the sound of crickets chirping to be soothing, but others will find it to be maddening. Which side of the fence you fall on really depends, but it’s not unusual to wish that they would just be quiet.
Why are crickets so loud and is there anything you can do to stop them? Keep reading to learn more about them as well as some ways to quiet things down when you just want to rest peacefully.
Crickets Communicate Through Chirping
The loud chirping noises that you hear crickets make is how they communicate with each other. In fact, chirping crickets might actually be trying to attract mates.
Male crickets make high-pitched sounds in an effort to attract females that they can mate with. These noises are mostly made during the night, and this might be why some people find them to be so annoying.
The reason why they chirp throughout the night is that this is when predators are least active. Crickets will stop chirping when someone gets near them because they can sense people coming.
Crickets don’t possess ears like humans or other animals do. They don’t hear things like normal, but they’re incredible when it comes to sensing vibrations.
They can sense someone coming and it will stop chirping to try to throw potential predators off. Going quiet can make it more difficult for people or predators to find them.
Are Crickets Beneficial to Your Yard?
Some people get so annoyed by crickets that they want to think of ways to get rid of them. While this is understandable, it’s also important to know that they might be beneficial to your yard.
There are actually many things that they do that will be good for your yard and your garden areas. For example, they eat many insects that are harmful to plants such as aphids and scale insects.
It’s true that crickets might eat leaves in vegetable gardens, but they don’t often damage leaves badly. Plants recover from the things that crickets do, and the fact that they eat more harmful insects makes them good for your garden overall.
You’ll even find that they do a good job of breaking down dead leaves and plant debris into beneficial organic matter. This organic matter that they help to produce is good for the soil and makes it much better for plants overall.
Also, they are part of the food chain in your local ecosystem. Other creatures in the area feast on them, and taking them away would likely be somewhat harmful to other animals and insects.
Ways to Silence Crickets
You might be thinking of whether you will be able to silence the crickets in your yard. Well, there are some options that you can consider, but it’s likely that none of them will completely work.
One good idea is to try to reduce the cricket population in your yard by eliminating certain things. Crickets might live under wood piles in your yard and other types of debris.
This means that getting rid of wood piles, random stacks of leaves, and other such yard debris will give them fewer places to hide. They might wind up going to some other property where they will be able to thrive better.
It’s also going to be in your best interest to mow the lawn regularly. Crickets will be more likely to hang out on your property when they can hide in tall grass, and mowing the grass short will keep crickets from being as much of an issue.
You’re also going to want to pull weeds in your gardens since they can provide nice hiding spots for them. If you do all of this stuff, you’ll make your yard a lot less appealing to the local cricket population.
Of course, getting rid of all of the crickets this way isn’t going to be very likely. It still might be worth trying to reduce the numbers so long as you keep your expectations in check.
Try to Keep Crickets Out of Your House
One of the problems that people have with crickets is that they will sometimes get into the house. When one gets inside the house, its chirping is going to be that much more bothersome.
You can keep them out of your house by taking certain precautions. You’ll want to seal your house to make it so that they won’t be able to enter.
Look for any cracks or holes in your house that might allow insects or other pests to get in. Sometimes you might need to fill holes in your walls or foundation that you didn’t know were there.
Using caulk on cracks near windows and other areas of your house will also be a good idea. These simple steps will make it less likely that you’ll have to deal with finding them in your house.
If one does get into your home, you should do your best to find it. You can likely use the chirps of the cricket to pinpoint the general location, but it might get tougher once you get too close.
When a cricket suddenly goes silent, it might be a sign that you’ve gotten close. As noted earlier, they stop chirping when predators get near, and they go silent when humans get close to them, generally speaking.
You can make a cricket shut up by lowering the temperature in your home as well. If you just want to go to sleep and aren’t that worried about catching it, you can crank your air conditioner up to cool things down.
Crickets won’t chirp when things get too cold, and you’ll be able to rest to your heart’s content. Truly, the best thing to do is to try to keep them out of your home, but if one does get inside it won’t be the end of the world.
You Could Kill Crickets with Insecticides
Using insecticides will make it easy to kill the crickets in your yard, but you might not wish to do this. It’s true that crickets are annoying in some ways, but you might not want to eliminate them completely.
Remember that crickets are a part of the local ecosystem and that they’re a link in the food chain of your area. Eliminating them will be harmful to more species than just the crickets.
If you’re going through with this, you can easily kill them with various insecticides on the market. You can just buy insecticides and then treat your lawn and garden areas.
This should eliminate them and you likely won’t hear as much chirping any longer. There could still be crickets at your neighbor’s homes, and this means that entirely getting rid of cricket noises in the area is likely an impossibility.
Some people will treat their homes with pesticides or insecticides. If you’re having a difficult time keeping crickets out of your home, this might be a good idea.
If you’re going to be using stuff like this in your house, just try to focus on treating the most likely areas that you will see crickets at. This should get you the best results.
It’s Likely Better to Ignore the Crickets
It’s likely going to be better to ignore the crickets unless they have invaded your home. It’s definitely smart to get them out of your house, but trying to eliminate them outside is usually a fruitless endeavor.
If cricket noises bother you enough that you can’t concentrate on things or if they make it so that you can’t sleep, you can try to cope using certain methods. There are ways that you can make ignoring the them a lot easier, and some of them are a lot more practical than trying to eliminate them.
Consider Buying a White Noise Generator
Those who can’t sleep because of crickets will want to look into purchasing a white noise generator. This is a device that will generate sounds that won’t annoy you, but it will drown out other noises.
Many people use white noise generators to make it easier to sleep living in noisy environments. If you live in a city, having a white noise generator will make it so that you won’t hear traffic so much or other potential noises.
This works very well to keep you from hearing crickets, too, and it’s not going to be expensive to get one of these. You can find white noise generators at many department stores, and ordering one online will also be simple.
Just run the noise generator whenever you’re going to bed for the night. You won’t hear the crickets any longer and you’ll be able to get a good night’s rest.
Running a Fan Might Work Too
If you don’t have a white noise generator and you don’t wish to spend money, running a fan might work. Fans make noise when they run, and most people don’t mind the noise that they make.
This means that running one could help to drown out other noises in a similar fashion. You could run your fan at night to make it easier to drift off to sleep.
Many people sleep with a fan on at night because they find it soothing. Depending on how loud yours, it might even completely drown out the noise that comes from the crickets outside.
Noise-Canceling Headphones
Have you considered putting on a pair of noise-canceling headphones? These really come in handy when you’re trying to relax and tune out distracting noises.
Professionals use noise-canceling headphones quite often when they’re trying to focus on getting work done in the office, and you can use them to just relax as well. It isn’t uncommon for people to take these on airplanes, and they do such a good job of keeping things quiet.
You won’t be able to hear crickets chirping at all if you decide to utilize noise-canceling headphones. This might be the solution that will allow you to enjoy yourself during the evenings and nights when they’re at their loudest.
Soundproofing
Another option that would take a lot of effort is to soundproof your home. Some people will want to do this if they live in a noisy area anyway, but you could try to make it so that you won’t hear as much noise coming from the outside.
Some types of insulation will have a very good soundproofing effect that will reduce noise from the outside. You can also use various types of soundproofing materials in your walls and in the ceiling to try to keep noises from creeping inside.
Musicians and sound engineers will often want to soundproof their homes or parts of their homes. It might be expensive to do this, and it isn’t likely practical when you’re just being bothered by crickets.
If you need to upgrade your windows sometime soon, that can help to provide a bit of soundproofing or sound-dampening. Double-glazed and triple-glazed windows make your home a lot less noisy.
When you have more modern windows, it’s going to be less likely that you’ll hear the crickets as loudly as before. Making this upgrade could save you money on your energy bills, too, and this could make it a worthwhile choice to make.
Make the Best Choice for Your Situation
Make the best choice for your situation when you’re trying to solve a cricket problem. Some of the ideas above are very practical, but others are a bit more extreme.
Don’t let them get to you too much, though. Even if you simply try to ignore them, they aren’t going to stay around forever since they’ll die off during the cold months.
Ben has a bachelor’s degree in construction engineering. When not constructing or remodeling X-Ray Rooms, Cardiovascular Labs, and Pharmacies, you can find him at home with wife and two daughters. Outside of family, He loves grilling and barbequing on his Big Green Egg and Blackstone Griddle, as well as working on projects around the house.
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