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Comment by Lordarminius | Hacker News Reader

I thought I was the only one to notice this.

When I was a kid there were a ton of grasshoppers around. Now kids don't even know what they are.

A related observation I have made is that ALL the frogs have disappeared leaving only toads. I recall reading somewhere that this is due to UV radiation that kills off the eggs.

Its going to be a silent planet soon

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Yeah, you're spot on. Grasshoppers and frogs were everywhere in the 80's when I was a kid. I can't remember the last time I even saw a grasshopper.

Not sure if it's related, but I rarely see dew any more either.

Where in the world are you? There's deer all over the damn place here, despite that it's a city where you wouldn't really expect off the top of your head to find them. And the last time I went wandering deer trails - which was last week, actually - I saw plenty of grasshoppers, including a couple the size of my thumb, along with a half dozen or so deer, one rather suspicious fox, a Cooper's hawk soaring overhead, several small furry things which might've made the hawk a good supper, and more midges, gnats, noseeums, and general tiny flies-up-your-nose things than I could guess within two orders of magnitude. Oh, and one large bush that I'm pretty sure contained a beehive, although I wasn't about to approach any closer once I noticed it was humming!

Most amphibians (frogs, toads, newts, salamanders, etc.) are getting wiped out by a skin infection that has spread around the world. The toads in your area might be resistant. The less-aquatic behavior might help.

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