Colette and Mike Reynolds awoke Sunday morning to find a nightmarish sight of thousands of creepy crawlies infesting their home in Elko, Nevada — and the town.
Colette, known as Mormon crickets, has lived in the city her whole life, and told The Post she is used to a few of them migrating to her home every year, but she’s never seen it this bad before.
“They are foul, vile, smelly, disgusting carnivorous, cannibalistic crickets – very large,” she said.
Colette revealed that she first noticed just two crickets on her verandah on Saturday, thinking they might be arriving soon but not expecting any of their magnitude.
“When we woke up the next morning, our entire wall was covered with crickets,” she said.
The Reynolds bought their dream family home in 2015.
Composed of four bedrooms and three baths, the home is situated on nearly 3 acres and spans over 2,600 square feet.
“It’s been bad and they eat everything. We have 3 acres. We have 200 trees, we have shrubs and rose bushes and they love that stuff. They have an acre of lawn that they Can eat.
Colette, who is one of the top realtors in town, says she has no plans to move, but these bugs have definitely taken a toll on her and her husband’s mental well-being.
Reynolds called for an exterminator, but upon their arrival they said there was nothing they could do other than “wait it out”. If one dies, these crickets have no problem eating it.
“I’m like, wait, no, this is the apocalypse. There’s not just a stream of them going through my yard. It’s taking over my whole house,” Colette said.
So despite her advice, her husband started killing them – until he saw the crickets that were alive were dead.
“It’s disgusting. We probably killed like 5,000 of them. And the next day it got 10 times worse.
“It’s hit me on another level,” Colette said. “I never imagined what it would do to me emotionally or mentally. And my husband, who is the most calm, cool collected person in the world, even he says, ‘It hit me hard. I felt supernatural.'”
Colette reveals that around 35 crickets have found a way into her house despite her best efforts to keep them out.
The crickets are not only targeting their home but all of Elko, their local hospital Northeastern Nevada Regional is inundated with these creepy crawlers.
“I get anxious, depressed; The first two nights I didn’t sleep at all, ”said Colette. “I haven’t really been able to eat—I lost 3 pounds in five days.”
And due to a surgery and several health complications, he is unable to leave the house. Colette said that one wrong move could make her a quadriplegic.
“I am a prisoner in my own house.”
“Our poor dogs. Our dogs are having nightmares,” she added. “Oh my god, they’re crying at night. Last year they would follow him. But now they just look out the window and whine and cry.
Their new puppy, who is house-trained, has even urinated in the house several times out of fear of going outside.
Colette reveals that the other houses in the neighborhood have become infested with crickets, but nothing like theirs is currently happening.
“Everybody’s like, ‘It’s the apocalypse. It sounds like the Bible.’ Yes. And I have to agree,” she said.
On the plus side, these insects don’t bite and aren’t venomous—but they are disgusting.
Usually these crickets go away in about five days, but this time they seem to have stopped.
“They will lay eggs … in the ground that remains dormant for a year, and they lay thousands of eggs, and then they will hatch the next year. So I’m really freaking out.
Colette said that the worms have really taken a toll on her life, even causing her to cancel her son’s birthday.
Luckily, her two boys are grown and living away from home at the moment.
To make matters worse, the crickets attract tons of birds that look for an endless meal.
“We have hundreds of big crows and hawks and it’s a terrible feeling. It’s an invaded, hopeless feeling. You just feel frustrated. You feel violated. You feel isolated. I see these things Very tired. You can’t eat because everything you see looks like a cricket,” she said.
“I haven’t stopped crying since I started.”
She’s hoping that if they come back next year, they can dress up and go on vacation.
Colette, who has 2 million followers TIC Toc And known as the “cool TikTok auntie”, she told The Post that she is still looking on the bright side of it all.
“Crickets have me ready for bikini season—I’ve lost a few pounds.”