Bakersfield Bugs
If
you’ve ever ventured through Bakersfield across the rocky peaks, north of Los
Angeles…You’ve obviously encountered an attack of the Bakersfield bugs!
Relentless critters flying everywhere especially visible down the
Interstate 5 freeway. With road’s blurred by the heat and your headlights and
windshields show devastating effects of the attacks.
Bakersfield
known for it’s agricultural sections grows more fruits and vegetables than any
other region of its’ size and ranks among the world’s best.
With its’ conservative Midwestern appeal, scorching summers, over 250
crops, lumber, nursery stock, dairy, poultry and livestock, it’s hard to miss
this flat region. The farmers here
depend heavily on the simple elements like weather, sunshine, air, soil and
water. Their livelihood depends on
it and ours as well.
Oil
was discovered here in 1865, agriculture and U.S. wine is processed here as
well. The population exceeds
200,000. Back in 1889 a fire
destroyed this old town and in 1952 an earthquake struck leaving much damage.
Oddly enough this didn’t seem to deter the bug population.
High and dry warm winds and fast rolling tumbleweeds added to this
area’s charm. Two characters come
quickly to mind as I pressed on through the blazing Bakersfield sun…
“Jose’ The Grasshopper” and “Corona The Spittlebug,” were two bugs
that caught my attention and stuck firmly in my mind.
The habitat here just seemed to welcome these two insects and they
thrived in abundance. Corona The
Spittlebug looks like a tiny frog and makes a frothy white nest, thus getting
the name Spittlebug. He is gray
colored, stocky, short and squat without a row of spines along his back legs.
Also known as a “Frog-hopper,” he would hop quickly away if
disturbed. Jose’ on the other
hand seemed to show up everywhere. He
was a popular insect in Bakersfield and all the locals knew him well.
Jose’
The Grasshopper was a direct descendent of a ten acre alfalfa farm owned by the
early settler, “Colonel Thomas Baker.”
(The town of Bakersfield was named after him.)
The Kern River flows through the valley and Jose’s ancestry was the
first to discover Bakersfield gold in the bed of that river back in 1851.
Jose’
was popular in Bakersfield and always enjoyed sharing his history with the
tourists passing through town. He
was generally a happy fellow and was able to avoid the treacherous nets of the
trappers that set out to catch him for their collection.
One night the trappers sat out in Bakers’ field and waited patiently
for Jose’ to show up. They knew
if they were able to catch Jose’ they could make him tell them where the
Bakersfield gold was hidden. Whoosh!
Down came the net and Jose’ was trapped helplessly inside.
The trappers carried him off into the night and loaded him aboard their
old pick-up truck. Locked inside
the truck was poor Jose’ as he looked with sad eyes as they drove further and
further away from home.
Just
then when everything seemed hopeless, Jose’s good friend Corona The Spittlebug
came to his rescue peeking through the truck window at Jose’. Corona hopped onto the front of the old pick-up’s
windshield and made a huge white frothy nest making it impossible for the
trappers to see the road. When the
truck pulled to the side of the road, Jose’ and Corona jumped to freedom and
quickly headed back home. They had
quite a story to tell the townspeople. They
bought ten acres of farmland naming it “Jose’s And Corona’s Farm.” The trappers went back home empty-handed never to bother
those two famous Bakersfield bugs again. The
Kern River still held all their secrets and the gold remained where they found
it. Bakers’ Field remained famous
for his alfalfa and Jose’ and Corona were the talk of the town.
Copyright 1997 by Author Patti Tricoli
