Chapter 896 Eat?

African locusts are huge, with a body length of seven to eight centimeters, more than half the length of a hand.

They fell like raindrops, landing on the thick animal hide, and even made a slightly dull sound.

Just listening to the continuous sound made the audience in front of the screen feel a little depressed.

It's hard to imagine what Bi Fang said, the serious locust plague that was really like black clouds, what a terrifying sight it was.

Bi Fang gently lifted a corner of the fur.

Morning light shines through the gap between the animal hide and the ground, interweaving light and dark, truly revealing the ferocious corner of the outside world.

At this time, the audience discovered that it was just one or two locusts, and it had already become a film.

The outer circle of the animal hide was densely packed with palm-sized brown locusts. A few tried to get into the gaps, but were shot away by Bifang with a flick of his finger.

Just the first sight of it can give you goosebumps all over your body.

If I felt a little depressed just now, now I feel completely breathless.

Too dense, too big, too numb.

The terrible thing about the locust plague is that it is overwhelming.

The visual impact is comparable to a doomsday blockbuster.

And wherever he went, not a blade of grass grew.

[I can’t do it anymore, I’m afraid of committing a crime]

[Please give me a pair of clean eyes]

【Disgusting】

[This damn thing is too big, right?]

[Do you really not know how to eat people?]

Harley's body was completely curled up. Every time a locust landed on the skin and caused a slight tremor, it would tremble and lean closer to Bifang next to it, making the space under the skin become more crowded.

As a cheetah, it was the first time in its life that it saw such a terrifying scene, and its eyes widened and shone with a dark light.

Jerry in his arms was also shivering, and his uneasiness could be felt through his clothes.

Bi Fang grabbed the cheetah's head with his big hands, pushed it to the ground, then stretched out his hand to drag the mouse, and finally couldn't help sneezing.

Harley kept leaning here, and the long hair on his ears poked into his nostrils, and it was really uncomfortable.

"After a locust plague occurs, it must be controlled. In the past, people used to control locust plagues in a stupid way. The locusts laid their eggs in the soil, so they plowed the land, and the flightless nymphs gathered on the ground, so they set fire to it. Later, chemical pesticides were introduced , and if we have airplanes, we will use airplanes to spread pesticides in the sky.”

"This method is still commonly used, but the cost is very high. The locust plague has been severe in recent years, which may have something to do with the lack of airplanes in Kenya."

"Coupled with the fact that the global climate has been getting warmer in the past two years, and the El Niño event occurred last year, the number of locusts here has skyrocketed."

Bi Fang sorted out some weather phenomena in the past two years.

El Niño, which means El Niño in Spanish, refers specifically to the large-scale, abnormally warm sea water that occurs in the eastern and central equatorial Pacific.

Last year's El Niño event lasted until the end of the year.

Africa is already arid, and locusts lay huge eggs. Under conditions of warming and heavy rainfall, vegetation grows wildly, providing perfect conditions for the growth of nymphs.

Locusts need a dry environment to lay eggs, but after laying eggs, they secrete a gelatinous substance, which makes the eggs extremely waterproof and will not reduce the hatchability even during rainy periods.

Because of this, usually, when there is heavy rainfall after a severe drought and before locusts hatch, there is a high probability that a locust plague will occur.

There are not enough treatment methods, and the more locusts there are, the more eggs they will lay, and the more eggs they will lay, the more locusts will be. It snowballs, and it has completely become a stubborn disease.

The only thing that can limit them is probably the large-scale reduction of vegetation, and the lack of food causes the locusts to starve to death.

"As I said before, desert locusts will spread and cover most of the earth."

"In fact, if we didn't have the Himalayas, which block most of the eastbound locust swarms, plus the prevailing northeasterly winds in Southeast Asia in winter, and the movement of desert locusts mainly depends on the Indian Ocean monsoon, we would also be threatened by them."

In winter, the monsoon will go north from the east coast of India, but then it will turn around and blow back, and the locusts will be carried back.

But in summer, the wind stops blowing and blows directly downward, making it even harder for locusts to get through.

"The African locusts wanted to come to our country, but they were blocked by headwinds and mountains, so they survived."

There was a rare hint of joy in Bi Fang's tone.

【terrible】

【What a blessing】

【It’s amazing】

[By the way, can locusts be eaten? There are so many, so you don’t have to worry about food, right? 】

[Let you see what a real foodie is]

[Indeed, raising more chickens and ducks should also have a certain effect]

[Silly man, you don’t know that locusts are poisonous when they swarm? 】

[Who said you can’t eat it if it’s poisonous? Do you understand or not? 】

【? ? ? 】

"Ahem, don't be so aggressive."

Netizens can really argue at any time. Bi Fang cursed in his heart and explained calmly: "Actually, both sides are right. You can eat locusts in a locust plague, but you can't eat them."

"What I just mentioned about chickens and ducks does have a certain use, but most of the locusts eaten by chickens and ducks are in the nymph stage, and they prefer to eat scattered locusts. If it is before a disaster, it is indeed a good method, but it will not work after the disaster. ”

"This involves a self-protection mechanism of locusts. The locusts themselves know that becoming gregarious will make it easier for natural enemies to hunt, so they will release the odor signal phenylacetonitrile, and natural enemies will be less interested in eating them after smelling it."

"Under the protection of phenylacetonitrile, if natural enemies still attack locusts, phenylacetonitrile will be converted into hydrogen cyanide."

"Hydrogen cyanide, as everyone should know from the name cyanide, this stuff is poisonous, quite toxic."

[Then wouldn’t people be able to eat it? 】

"Don't be anxious, everyone. Let me tell you the conclusion first. It is true that chickens and ducks cannot be eaten, but humans can. This is based on facts."

"When we were already suffering from the locust plague, the local residents enjoyed eating the locusts. They could catch a lot of locusts with a gauze net and fry them directly in the oil pan until they were golden. The kid next door coughed. This was the situation."

"It's not because we are immune to cyanide, nor is it a matter of toxicity and dosage. One locust in a high-density area may cause mild poisoning symptoms."

"The fundamental reason is that hydrocyanic acid at high temperatures will volatilize and burn very quickly. Animals will not eat cooked food, but humans will. The toxicity can be eliminated through cooking techniques. It is not completely inedible, but it is very difficult to eat. It’s just a risk, there’s no guarantee of survival.”

"So even if you want to eat locusts, it's best to capture them specifically before they change color. After all, the color characteristics are still easy to distinguish, and they should be fried and roasted to minimize the hydrocyanic acid content."

"Besides, you can't finish it. Eating is a drop in the bucket."

"I have talked about the density of locusts before. After a locust disaster occurs, there can be 3 million locusts in one acre of land, with a total weight of six tons. This is a yield of 12,000 kilograms per mu. Rice now does not have a yield of 1,000 kilograms per mu. It’s a gap of ten times, how can one eat it all?”

Most humans live in fixed places, but locusts have completely free space for movement.

After catching locusts for several days, all the crops were gone and the locusts quickly flew away.

This is the end result.

Eating locusts can only solve the short-term food crisis.

The audience all sighed after hearing this.

Unexpectedly, human beings have developed to the current level, but they still can't deal with this mere locust.

Just like that, Bifang and Harley lay on the ground, waiting quietly for the locusts to pass by.

It wasn't until the sun was high that the buzzing sound in the sky completely dissipated, and the ears became clear and the eyesight clear.

It was as if the dark clouds hanging over my head suddenly dissipated.