Dangers come in many forms. In today's article we're going to look at danger, in all of the many forms it can take, and determine if camel crickets are, indeed, dangerous. If they are, we may have to make danger their middle name. That's right, Camel "Danger" Crickets. If not, we'll just keep calling them what we've been calling them for years.
- Many creatures are considered dangerous because they bite, but while having a biting insect living in your home is no fun at all, that doesn't necessarily make it dangerous. It is only when a bite produces a medical issue that they are considered dangerous. Fortunately, camel crickets don't bite humans. That means you won't have to worry about them having venom that causes necrosis or flu-like symptoms, and you won't have to worry about having an allergic reaction to their saliva. Bites are also the primary way diseases like Lyme disease (spread by deer ticks) and West Nile virus (spread by mosquitoes) are transmitted.
- Many creatures that enter your home will leave their feces everywhere they go; and since feces are another way diseases are spread, this can be very dangerous. While we can't say that camel crickets won't leave their feces in your home, they will usually do it in places that shouldn't cause an issue of illness such as in the basement or out in the garage. You're not likely to find camel crickets frequenting your kitchen and pantry like cockroaches will.
- Many creatures eat dirty things and then go into your food storage areas. Again, camel crickets are not likely to go into your cabinets, but they are known to eat some dirty things like dog feces. So, if you have food stored in your basement, some contamination could occur. But it is so rare we really can't say that this makes them dangerous.
- Mental trauma is another form of danger. There are some pests that can be dangerous just because they creep us out like bed bugs or drive us to the edge of insanity like field crickets; but unlike field crickets, camel crickets don't chirp. So they won't have you up all night, or cause you to be behind the wheel of your car half asleep on the way to work which, as you can imagine, is quite dangerous. They could, however, cause some mental trauma by the way they look like spiders, but leap off of basement walls directly at you.
Okay. So camel crickets aren't dangerous. They won't poison you, give you diseases, or leave you mentally scarred, but there is one more danger we didn't address. When camel crickets get into a home, they can be a danger to fabrics and plants. If you want to protect your blankets, clothes, draperies, carpets, plants, and other items from being chewed full of holes--well then, you'll definitely want to keep this pest out.