Jiminy Cricket, the name I've given a cricket that's taken up residence in our cellar, chirps throughout the day. But maybe Jiminy is bewildered, because only male crickets chirp, and their nighttime serenading is how female crickets find male crickets during the mating season. As far as I know, though, Jiminy is alone.

So maybe he isn't confused. Perhaps he's just lonely.

Harmless to humans, crickets are mostly nocturnal, omnivorous feeders, and although their diet includes plants, the damage crickets do to plants is insignificant. So Jiminy is a welcome house guest. He's entertaining because, besides being a good singer, he likes to play hide-and-seek.

Jiminy hides and gives me the silent treatment whenever I get too close to him, or when I make too much noise. A stealthy approach, then, is necessary to catch Jiminy, or any cricket, in the act of chirping.

Which reminds me: Crickets also make good sentries.

Recently, some crickets suddenly stopped chirping when the neighbor's cat tried to sneak up on me. Thankfully, it was just a cat, not a tiger. Still, the warning was welcome.

In any case, the fact that crickets make such good sentries is one reason why crickets are held in such high esteem and are believed as a sign of impending good luck in certain cultures.

Dolbear's Law

Crickets assume the temperature of their surroundings, and there's a mathematical relationship — Dolbear's Law — between a cricket's temperature and its chirps per minute.

According to Dolbear's Law, then, to precisely calculate a cricket's temperature simply add 40 degrees Fahrenheit to the number of chirps a cricket makes in 14 seconds.

But don't throw away your thermometers just yet.

Unfortunately, crickets are quieter and chirp less frequently during chilly weather.

In the meantime, I've been wondering if Jiminy was possibly chirping at me instead of at other crickets. After all, he was Pinocchio's conscience. So perhaps he's reminding me to be conscientious with pesticides.

I wouldn't want a dead cricket on my conscience, or my nose to start growing.

This week in the garden

Predictably pleasant weather, as well as soil that isn't too wet or too cold, makes this a terrific time of year to prepare beds for spring planting.