You know, I, too, like the sound of the cricket chirps at night (although some people breed non-chirpers. Genetically modified crickets, anyone??). Reminds me of nature's chorus on a mid-summer's eve. But when it gets down to smelling them, handling them, looking at the filthy way they choose to live (I feel like I am always cleaning their cages!), the way they stampede and crowd each other for a mere crumb (even though there is PLENTY of food to go around), and I outfit their dwelling with plenty of fun egg cartons, paper rolls, fall leaves, fresh fruit buffet, salad bar, "cricket food" and drink....but alas, they are hopelessly ungrateful, I tell you. Sometimes I have a mind to just leave them to wallow in their squalor, but then I remember that they are the food for my precious mantids.
