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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The sound of crickets chirping through the walls of her apartment building is quite literally driving Violet Viskye's kids mad, she says.

A cricket, similar to those used as food for reptiles. Tenants in Ptarmigan and Shaganappi Apartments have been complaining that they have been hearing crickets chirping at all hours. - Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

All day and night the insects - not at all native to the Northwest Territories - can be heard rubbing their wings together, which creates the sound that Viskye and her kids find so annoying.

"For me when I walk into the hallway, it's like I'm near a pond," said Viskye, who lives in Shaganappy along with her two adult children and niece.

A senior property manager with NPR Limited Partnership confirmed this week there are crickets in both Shaganappy and Ptarmigan Apartments after Yellowknifer received reports of people seeing and hearing the insects.

"This was inherited from when we took over the properties two years ago," said Anne Marie Clement.

She said a pest-control expert will be brought in on March 19 to fumigate. For Viskye, the news is welcome, though she was under the impression the insects would be taken care of this week.

"I'm happy to hear that, but I thought it was going to be this week, when I called them last week, they told me it was going to be (March 12 or 13)," said Viskye. "There are crickets in my building and it sounds like they're on top of the ceilings in the hallways in the building ... I mean, it has to be a lot of crickets, you can hear it. You see it too. My daughter kind of freaked out a couple of nights ago, and my son saw one in the apartment yesterday."

Viskye said last Friday that she had first heard about the crickets from her kids and other tenants, but only noticed them recently.

"Last weekend, as I was doing laundry, as I was going up the stairs I had seen one jump around and then one went into a hole under the stairs," she said. "So far, I think I've seen three at one time going up the stairway ... I see them closest to the engineering room, and I can hear them."

She said it doesn't seem to matter what time of day it is for the bugs to be heard. She said she was surprised to find crickets in Yellowknife, and speculates somebody may have initially purchased them as food for a pet lizard but then they escaped. Crickets aren't the only bug problem this year, at least for one of the two buildings - Ptarmigan Apartments. Resident Mike Leblanc has had his unit fumigated twice for bedbugs since he reported the problem, and is expecting to have his room treated again sometime this week.

He said the problem is more or less taken care of.

"It's nice to be able to relax again without having to worry about being bitten," said Leblanc.

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