Try This Awesome ‘Cricket Trick’ This Fall in the Hudson Valley

As the fall season begins in the Hudson Valley, there's a fun trick all residents can try that involves one of our most popular native insects.

There are two types of crickets in New York: those that chirp, and those that don't. While the creepy-looking cave crickets (also known as camel crickets) are silent (and look like nightmare fuel, below), fall field crickets not only look less scary, but they have the telltale chirp that's needed for nature's best party trick.

Determine the Temperature Based on Cricket Chirps

As the temperature drops, many Hudson Valley residents will be reaching for their phones to pull up their favorite weather app. You can figure out the exact temperature without asking Siri, however, if there's a chirping cricket nearby. As far-fetched as it sounds, it's possible to determine the air temperature based of the sound of chirping crickets.

Why Can Crickets Help Tell the Temperature?

This "trick" works because crickets are cold blooded, and their activity can be directly linked to the ambient temperature of their habitat. Put simply, colder weather makes crickets chirp more slowly, while warmer weather allows them to chirp more enthusiastically. Here's the formula:

How to Use Hudson Valley Crickets to Tell the Temperature

The idea is simple: count the amount of chirps made by one cricket in a 14-second time span. Then, add 40 to the number. That final sum should equal the current air temperature in Fahrenheit (example: if a cricket chirps 25 times in 14 seconds, it is roughly 65 degrees outside (25+40=65)).

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So the next time you hear crickets this fall, make a friendly wager with your company. All you need is 14 seconds to figure out the temperature without ever looking at your phone.