A cricket has been living on our balcony for the past two weeks. 

Austin typically has an abundance of crickets around now, but this year we are experiencing a little cricket plague due to a warm winter followed by a warm spring. As locals all know, crickets especially like to hang out by grocery store entrances after dark.
But this particular one has chosen our balcony as his home. 

This is pretty amazing since we live on the 20th floor, although I’ve heard that crickets have even been seen on the 36th floor penthouse balconies. One evening Bill and I watched as a cricket climbed up the side of our brick building, completing one floor in less than a minute. So 36 floors might not take too long for a very determined, in-shape cricket.

I’m also amazed that our little friend has lived so long. Somehow he has managed to avoid being eaten by the bat colony living under the Congress Avenue Bridge. He hasn’t starved to death either. I hear him out there at various times during the day so he doesn’t seem to be traveling down to the ground to get food. But I don’t really know how he spends his free time.