Jiminy Cricket!

A few months ago, my class went on a field trip. While on the bus, I noticed an odd, chirping sound. It sounded familiar but, I couldn’t place the sound. Then, the students started chanting “Gwa! Gwa!” I asked my co-teacher what the kids were saying. She said they were saying “cricket.” That’s when I realized what the chirping sound was – the bus driver had a small jar, mounted on the dashboard, with a cricket inside of it.

My husband, Luiz, also saw a man with a cricket. They were in the bank and a big cricket jumped out of the man’s pocket and scampered away. Luiz said the man chased after it and put the cricket back into his pocket.

Crickets have been kept as pets in China for a very long time. No one really knows exactly when it started. A cricket home was discovered in a tomb from around 960 AD. However, it’s thought that cricket keeping started well before this. During various periods, crickets have also been kept as pets in Japan and parts of Europe.

Crickets are kept as pets for a few reasons. Some people like chirping sound and put them in special cricket homes designed to amplify the sound. Others like to race or fight the crickets. There are even special cricket breeders.

It seems like crickets as pets is something for middle aged and older men. The bus driver fit this description. So did the man Luiz saw. Other types of people probably have crickets too but, I’ve just never seen them.

I don’t think I would have a cricket as a pet. I don’t like insects and I’m sure my cat would kill it. But, to each his own. 

A cricket in a cage.

__________

The only cricket I would keep as a pet. 

__________

Cricket in Cage Photo: http://mariespastiche.blogspot.jp/2013/03/pet-crickets.html

Jiminy Cricket Photo: http://www.disneyclips.com/imagesnewb/pinocchio_jiminy.html