For anyone who doesn't like bugs, you should probably look away now...
Even for those who aren't intimidated by creepy crawlies, being invaded by giant crickets might even be a bit much, as one unlucky woman found out.
Colette and Mike Reynolds woke up to a living nightmare on June 11, as their home, along with the entire city of Elko, Nevada, was invaded by an army of creepy crickets.
As reported by the New York Post, the Reynolds family was aware that Mormon crickets migrated to the area each year, but this year was particularly bad.
The situation was so severe that even exterminators were at a loss for solutions. Colette, one of the city's top realtors, shared her harrowing experience, stating: "They are foul, vile, stinky, disgusting carnivorous, cannibalistic crickets - huge ones."
Colette described the extent of the damage, exclaiming: "It’s been bad and they devour everything. We have three acres. We have 200 trees, we have bushes and rose bushes and they love that stuff. They’ve got an acre of lawn that they can devour."
Despite the cricket invasion, Colette and Mike have no intentions of selling their family home but have revealed that the recent events have taken a toll on their mental well-being.
"This is apocalyptic. There isn’t just a stream of them going through my yard. This is taking over my entire home," Colette continued.
Mike attempted to deal with the problem himself by hosing down the crickets, but this just resulted in the ones that survived feasting on the bodies of those that succumbed to the water.
"It’s disgusting. We’d killed maybe like 5,000 of them. And the next day it was 10 times worse," Colette continued. "This has hit me on another level. I never expected what this would do to me emotionally or mentally. And my husband, who is the most cool, calm collected guy in the world, even he’s like, this is hitting me hard. I feel weird."
Despite their best efforts, around 35 crickets found their way into the home and it has had a profound impact on the families day to day life.
"I get anxiety and depression. The first two nights I didn’t sleep at all," Colette confessed. "I haven’t really been able to eat - I lost 3 pounds in five days."
Due to undergoing recent surgery and battling other health conditions, Colette has effectively been a prisoner in her own home since the crickets arrived, as she's scared to step out of her front door as they've coated the ceiling of her porch and "drop" without warning at times.
Even the family dogs are feeling the impact, as in previous years they would chase the crickets around, but due to the sheer volume of critters this year, the canines just look out of the window and cry.
Despite being harmless, the bugs that usually stick around for around five days appear to have extended their stay this year.
This could have an impact on next year too, as Colette explained: "They will lay eggs … into the ground that sit dormant for a year, and they shoot out thousands of eggs, and then they will hatch the next year. So I’m really freaking out."
With the crickets come the birds who like to eat them - and they are having a great time at the all-you-can-eat buffet.
Colette has remained positive through it all, stating that not being able to eat has gotten her "ready for Bikini season".
