Grasshopper plague of Biblical proportions

By Greg Goodsell
3/29/2010
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

U.S. Midwest hit bad by insect infestation

Grasshoppers have descended hard on the American Midwest and western states, creating a plague of Biblical proportions. The states of South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska and Idaho are facing costly insect infestations this summer.

The growing number of migratory grasshoppers, who can fly up to 60 miles daily, has been growing.

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LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Ranchers and farmers pray that the recent wet weather will curb the young grasshoppers when they hatch in May or June. In the meantime, the insects have descended on crop land and left many areas barren.

Millions of dollars have been allocated in order to fight the plague with aerial insecticide.

"They're grass eaters,They'll eat the leaves and leave the stem. And they will eat the stems finally," Tom Wright, a rancher near Newcastle in northeast Wyoming says. "When they're really thick, people say they'll eat T-shirts on a line."

Grasshoppers are common throughout the United States, but they are especially prevalent in the nation's Midwest and plains states. According to their species, grasshoppers can be anywhere from one to three inches in length. Grasshoppers serve as a source of food for many animals, such as skunks. They are viewed primarily as a destructive pest, and can eat up to six times their body weight in a day.

More alarming still is the growing number of migratory grasshoppers, who can fly up to 60 miles daily.

"In some states, we may see some of the most severe grasshopper outbreaks that we've seen in nearly 30 years," Charles Brown, the national grasshopper suppression program manager at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service says.

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Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

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1 - 1 of 1 Comments

Anzlyne
3 years ago
Grasshoppers threatened South Eastern South Dakota
a Eucharistic procession and prayers and crosses planted around the parish borders saved St Peter's Parish in Jefferson while other areas were attacked by the pests
"In the 1870's pioneers faced a fierce attack of grasshoppers. The insects covered every inch of ground and ate all the vegetation within their path. On a Sunday in May 1876, Father Boucher appealed to a higher source for relief from the grasshoppers for his parishioners. The priest led his congregation on an all-day, eleven mile pilgrimage, placing three crosses in different locations. Though the grasshopper came again in later years, the area within the crosses was never touched. This cross is adjacent to St. Peter's Catholic Church in Jefferson, South Dakota. Another one of the crosses can be seen at the Morin farmstead 4 miles northwest of Jefferson on County Road 1B, and the third cross is on County Road 23 on the Dale Chicoine farm. (Highway 105, Jefferson, SD) http://www.acsnet.com/~jkjar/county_tour_2.htm

here's an article in a secular magazine
http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/editors_notebook.php?p=995

http://www.southdakotamagazine.com/editors_notebook.php?p=995

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