# Using crickets as thermometers **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 11, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601 "2013-09-11T20:44:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/1 "2013-09-11T20:44:28Z")
Count cricket chirps for X seconds and and Y to get the temperature. How did somebody first come up with this stuff? Who had the time to sit around and figure out the formula? Didn’t our forefathers have more pressing things to do? ---
**Author:** ![aNewLeaf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@aNewLeaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aNewLeaf)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/2 "2013-09-11T21:18:50Z")
It’s a warm summer evening, long before electricity. You are sitting outside with a belly full of roasted meat, your mate sitting beside you. You can look at stars, count cricket chirps, or make small talk. Choose wisely. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/3 "2013-09-11T21:54:43Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Who had the time to sit around and figure out the formula? Didn’t our forefathers have more pressing things to do? What? Watch YouTube videos and update their Facebook status? No, they didn’t have anything better to do. StG ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/4 "2013-09-11T22:54:10Z")
it’s not hard to have adjacent nights where you have a 10F or more difference in evening temperature and notice a chirp difference. once the idea is had you measure and document it. stare at the data for a while then you find a pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/5 "2013-09-12T00:30:19Z")
My boyfriend’s dad told me that you count six weeks out from the first night you hear crickets chirping to see when the first frost will be. By his logic, our first frost here (NE Indiana) should be September 24th. It was 95 yesterday, 92 today, we’ll see if he’s right. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/6 "2013-09-12T03:09:02Z")
I highly doubt the crickets know when the first frost will be. Their chirping is affected by the current temperature though. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/7 "2013-09-12T03:39:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Using crickets as thermometers - note - not to be inserted rectally ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/8 "2013-09-12T03:46:54Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > - note - not to be inserted rectally Dammit. NOW you tell me! :o ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/9 "2013-09-12T14:53:22Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > Count cricket chirps for X seconds and and Y to get the temperature. How did somebody first come up with this stuff? Who had the time to sit around and figure out the formula? Didn’t our forefathers have more pressing things to do? The answer to the last question is, Not always. There was a lot of down time in the Olden Days. As for your first question, it seems to me that this ranks pretty low on the “How did they ever figure that out?” amazement scale. It’s a pretty logical progression: 1. Notice that crickets seem to chirp more rapidly on warmer nights. 2. Wonder if there’s a precise correlation, with a law or formula describing the relationship. 3. Collect some data: on a bunch of different occasions, record the temperature and the number of cricket chirps per minute. 4. List the data, and possibly plot it on a graph. 5. Come up with a linear equation that fits the data. No one of these steps is much of a leap from the previous one, to a sciencey-minded person. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/using-crickets-as-thermometers/668601/10 "2013-09-12T15:31:12Z")
How do you keep them under your tongue?