RV Podcast #336: Cicadas, the Canadian border and Rootless Living

We have a lot for you in this report: We talk about the coming cicada invasion, the Canadian border, and Rootless Living.
After being closed for more than a year, disturbing new reports are surfacing that have many wondering when will the U.S. Canada border reopen for RVers. 

That's one of many topics we explore in Episode 336 of the RV Podcast.

We also have a fascinating report about a coming invasion of billions - yes, you read right, billions - of bugs that will soon be evident to RVers who travel through 15 Mideastern States. After 17 years of dormancy, Cicada Brood X is about to reemerge and fill the air with noisy buzzing as they perch in trees, on utility poles, shrubs, or any other structure they can find. 

And we meet Demian Ross, whose Rootless Living podcast and magazine chronicle life on the road for the millions of RV nomads who taken to the RV Lifestyle.

Plus, we answer your RV questions, hear another off-the-beaten-path report from our friends the Burketts and we look at the RV calendar of coming events.

You can listen to the entire RV Podcast in the player below or via your favorite podcast app. Scroll down for notes and links and more resources.

When will the Canadian border reopen?

That is the question as Canada's Prime Minister said late last week that he could see the border with the U.S. remaining closed until September or later if necessary.

His comments were in response to some U.S. politicians in states that border Canada pushing the Biden Administration to open the border as soon as Memorial Day.

Justin Trudeau said he would not open the border until the number of new daily COVID cases in the U.S. drops even more. The current number of new COVID cases in the U.S. is about 50,000, while in Canada, it is about 3,000. The U.S. population is about 328.2 million, Canada's is about 37.6 million.

The border with Canada has been closed to non-essential travel (like RVing and camping) for over a year. The current closure is set to expire on March 21, but everyone expects it to be extended longer.
The Invasion of the Cicadas
For 17 years, they have been underground in the nymph stage, munching unseen on tree roots. But sometime soon - when the soil warms to 64 degrees - billions will emerge at the exact same time across 15 U.S. states and cover trees, shrubs, utility poles, flowers, and any structure they can find, hatching into ugly red-eyed bugs that many mistake for grasshoppers or locusts.

But these periodical cicadas are not grasshoppers. And they are mostly harmless, except for tender shoots on shrubs and flowers. They don't bite. But they are extremely noisy, making their buzzing mating calls for a few weeks at most before they die off.

They are one of the most fascinating mysteries of nature. Watch this short YouTube video done by the BBC:

Expect the periodical cicadas to emerge from mid-May through June. The cicadas, about 2 1/2 inches long with a 3-inch wingspan, will emerge in Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, as well as Washington, D.C.

Unlike the common green cicadas you see every year, this 17-year cycle Brood X as it is called, has bright red eyes and black bodies. Birds, frogs, snakes, raccoons, opossums, and all sorts of other creatures will gorge on them.

It's the males who make all the noise, trying to attract females. After they mate and the female lays eggs, they die off. And when the eggs hatch the nymphs all burrow beneath the surface, to stay there for another 17 years.

So don't worry about the invasion. They make a lot of noise but they aren't drawn indoors. Other than the racket they make and the piles of their bodies after they die off, they are at most a nuisance.

Marvel at them instead. The periodic cicadas are one of the great wonders of nature.
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