Now I know, I don’t get into Politics too much on this blog, considering it is a wildlife blog and all, but I did want to take a second to offer my deepest condolences to the Layton family. The passing of Jack Layton, an honest, inspiring and courageous politician as well as human being, has definitely left a large hole in the hearts of all Canadians. Regardless of your political views, it is difficult to criticize this man for his integrity, passion and desire to shape a better country for all of us. I only wish more politicians were built from the same mould as Mr. Jack Layton. You will be truly missed. No doubt he would want the country to continue moving forward and so we will.

With that said, let’s get into today’s Wild Fact. With winter fast approaching, I figured we should take a look at an insect or two before they all head for their annual winter sleep. I am sure we are all familiar with today’s animal, the infamous Grasshopper. There are two main types of Grasshoppers. We have the Long-Horned and the Short-Horned Grasshoppers. As you can imagine, the Long-Horned Grasshopper has antennae roughly the same size as their body. Their Short-Horned counterparts have antennae that are about half their body size. In today’s Wild Fact, we will mostly be looking at Grasshoppers in general.

Farmers in the Western United States are probably quite familiar with a special Long-Horned Grasshopper called the Mormon Cricket, which makes a living stealing feed from their grazing lands. I know it is called a Cricket, but trust me when I tell you that it is actually a Grasshopper. Before you go and start thinking that Short-Horned Grasshoppers are better since they don’t steal from farmers, you need to realize that it is the Short-Horned Grasshopper that will turn into Locusts when their populations get overcrowded. Believe me when I tell you that once these innocent Grasshoppers hit Locust stage, nothing is safe.

So sure, some of the Grasshopper species can become pests but for the most part they are actually quite harmless. This is a good thing too since these insects can be found pretty much anywhere, with the exception of the North and South poles. Naturally these two areas are just too cold for our cold blooded insect to survive. The cold even impacts the Grasshopper on a day to day basis. If you watch one of these jumpy insects for an entire day, you will notice that they remain relatively still during the morning. Although, once the sun is high in the sky, the Grasshopper will go on a jumping spree. They just need to warm up a little before doing their daily exercises. Actually, it is always a good idea to warm up before participating in any strenuous activity.

Grasshopper Fast Fact – Once they get warmed up, the Grasshopper is capable of jumping 20 times their own length. Some species of Grasshopper can reach 50 mm (2″) in length. So if we do the math that means that particular Grasshopper is able to jump about 100 cm or 3.3 feet.

Thanks for tuning into Wild Facts on this wonderful Wednesday. I am going to close out today’s Wild Fact with some very wise words that the entire world should live by.

“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.” – Jack Layton