How to catch a cricket in Animal Crossing: New Horizons

If this is still your first week in Animal Crossing: New Horizons on Switch, then you might’ve heard a cricket chirp as you run around the various islands in the game.

Every so often, you’ll hear the buzz, but the bug is nowhere to be seen. You can run around all you like looking for the source, but you won’t find this elusive bug without a little work.

What you’ve been hearing is the mole cricket, a loud and hidden bug. If the noise they make annoys you and you’re looking for relief, in this guide, we’ll show you how to catch the mole cricket in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

How to catch a cricket

The mole cricket is annoying bug that hides within any grassy area you can dig up. As long as you have some patience and you follow your ears, you can capture these bugs and silence them.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

The mole cricket will chirp when it’s active from November to May. They can appear at any time of day, so you’ll come across them at any point that isn’t between June and October.

To catch a mole cricket …

1. Stop walking the second you hear their telltale chirping.
2. Then, pay attention to the direction in which their sound is coming from. Try holding your Switch up to your face, using headphones, or listening closely on your TV.
3. After you’ve figured out which direction the noise is coming from, take a few steps in that direction. As long as you’re headed in the right direction, the sound will get louder.
4. When the sound is at its loudest, take out your Shovel and start digging. You may not guess right the first time, but keep listening and digging holes until the brown mole cricket pops out of the ground.It’ll still be chirping and start to run away.
5. Follow it with your Net, and grab it — but be careful. As Blathers will tell you, not only can they fly away, but they might even escape to the water to chirp another day.

Image: Nintendo EPD/Nintendo via Polygon

There are no amazing awards for capturing them — they only sell for 500 Bells — but digging each one up might deliver a much-needed sense of calm and quiet as you explore your island.

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