It's not very often, a self described bug lady spends the day fielding multiple calls, but on Tuesday, Molly Keck 's phone wouldn't stop ringing because of what was chirping outside.
"I think the last time we saw it was in 2012, that I can remember huge numbers like this," Keck, an entomologist for Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, told KENS 5.
The numbers or the reactions don't lie. People outside of the Target in Balcones Heights could not hide their disgust.
"Gross," one lady laughed as she walked by. "Oh my God," another mumbled under her breath.
What many want to know is, why?
"When we have a really dry summer that decreases the amount of fungus in the soil which will kill the eggs," Keck said. "So when its really dry, [the crickets] all survive, so the population is larger. Then when we have a rain that interrupts that dry season and then cooler temperatures, then the population will just explode.
"So we had the perfect combination of all those things and that's what we're seeing right now."
Keck said you'll mostly spot the critters around places that are open 24/7 or shopping centers that have to keep their lights on.
Her best advice? "If you can cut your lights off earlier in the day that will prevent them from swarming those areas," she said.
You may want to do that sooner rather than later because that might be here for a while.
"We'll know in the next coming weeks if they're going to stick around or if this is their only explosion and then they're going to die off," Keck continued. "But it could get worse or it could just die."
As for pesticides, Keck said it will certainly kill them off, but then you'll have a pile of insects, and that is something she said you do not want to smell.