WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — Cicada season is back in Central Georgia, and they seem to be louder than ever.
For your furry friends, they seem to love to catch and eat them, but there have been some concerns about dogs getting a hold of cicadas and eating them.
So, are cicadas good for animals to eat?
Say you take your dog on a walk and they eat a cicada.
They might be okay that one time, but you should watch them closely after that.
According to Taylor Syr, a veterinarian at Town and Country Animal Clinic in Warner Robins, since the bug's shell is hard to digest, it may upset your pet's stomach.
Your pets could also risk choking and developing digestion issues if they eat too many cicadas.
Syr says if it gets to this stage, take them to your local vet to treat the symptoms.
"I wouldn't let them eat a whole lot of them because it can cause some upset tummy, and we don't want that," Syr said. "With all of the bugs coming out of the ground recently, dogs are going to want to kind of chew on them. They're fun, they're like a new toy, they make cool noises. They're not toxic, I wouldn't be too worried about that but if they do eat a lot, that exoskeleton that they have can cause some gastrointestinal upset like some vomiting, diarrhea just to make them not really eat a whole lot."
Renee Dickman is a dog mom to 3-year-old Liza, and says Liza finds the cicadas like a nice crunchy snack.
"They hear the buzzing and you see that nose go straight to that little buzz that they hear and usually they're trying to catch it, paw at it, catch it in their mouths," Dickman said.
Dickman says the dogs get used to the bugs here, but she has had to do extra research to make sure Liza doesn't eat anything toxic.
"They would have like an upset stomach, maybe some diarrhea, maybe some vomiting but usually you don't want them to eat too many of any kind of bug so one or two's okay but usually if you start seeing some gastrointestinal upsets I would consult your veterinarian," Dickman said.
According to the American Kennel Club, preventing your dog from eating cicadas is the safest choice.
You can teach them the "leave it" command, or watch them close if they enjoy eating bugs a bit too much.