Holy bejeezus

[OregonAmy]

I opened the garage door this morning to get my trimmers only to be startled by a couple of these guys. I've never seen them before so I ran inside to get my camera. (it's perched on the side of a lawn refuse bag.)

Turns out they're harmless - camel crickets!

 

[Antarctican]

Yikes! Looks freaky. I love the shadow you captured.

How big are these crickets?

 

[OregonAmy]

Just the body itself (head to butt ) was about 1.25". I'm not sure what its "tail" is (an ovipositor maybe?) but it's creepy.

Apparently in just a tiny bit of reading about them, they can jump extremely high and far. Thankfully this little guy/gal stood still while I took my pictures; I think I'd have peed my pants had it jumped at me.

 

[TrickyRic]

I normally love crickets, but that thing looks gross!

 

[Markw]

We get theme something terrible in my shed. They get quite large Id say.

Mark