Should You Worry If Your Pet Eats And Hacks Up A 17 Year Cicada ACROSS AMERICA — When the 17-year periodical cicadas emerge in a few weeks, the odds are good that if allowed close to them, your cats and dogs will go after the insects like they’re tuna or cheese slathered with peanut butter — and, in all likelihood, promptly hack them up.
But should you worry?
Not really.
Cicadas are edible, for humans and other mammals. Snakes snack on cicadas, too. Think about it: For 17 years, the periodical cicadas have been underground, feeding on tree roots. They’re loaded with protein and low in fat. Fido and Fluffy could do a lot worse with off-diet treats.
The biggest problem is the exoskeletons may be a tad hard for pets to digest, so they may have upset tummies, according to the Pet Poison Helpline. Or, they may simply overindulge on cicadas, Elizabeth Barnes, an exotic forest pest educator at Purdue University, told The Indianapolis Star.
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Indiana is among 15 states and the District of Columbia where billions and billions of cicadas from Brood X, known as the Great Eastern Brood, will begin pushing their way through the ground in May and June. Others are Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
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Barnes told The Indy Star that many animal species — turkeys, for example — bulk up after a cicada emergence. They’re that easy to feed on.
But back to your pet. The cicadas don’t sting or bite (in fact, they don’t have the mouthparts for biting), so that won’t be a problem.
Some pets may have an allergy to cicadas, “but as far as poisonous or sting or a bite, or just being sick from any kind of venom or anything, your pets are perfectly safe,” Dr. Vernard Hodges, a Warner Robins, Georgia, veterinarian told news station WMAZ.
If they gobble too many up at one time, the cicadas can be a choking hazard. And smaller animals may have greater problems than large ones.
