The hard work of hunting 'flying shrimp' in the hot sun

These days, localities in the province are entering the harvest season. In the fields, people who hunt "flying shrimp" by motorbike are still actively working. In the photo: People of Quynh Trang commune (Hoang Mai town) hunt locusts in the rice fields in Minh Son commune (Do Luong). Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Ho Trong Thanh (41 years old), residing in Quynh Trang commune (Hoang Mai town) shared: Currently, in his commune, there are dozens of people who hunt locusts, including meat locusts (used as snacks) and green grasshoppers (used as bird food). His main job is a plasterer, but when the meat locust season comes, he changes jobs for a few months to earn more income. This year's meat locust season, people in his hometown have started hunting for locusts for nearly a month now. Photo: Huy Thu

The means and tools for catching grasshoppers are motorbikes, tied behind two large nets sewn from parachute fabric or tulle. These nets can be opened and closed as desired. The faster the motorbike runs, the stronger the wind blows, the more grasshoppers will pour into the nets. Only sophisticated and brave motorbike riders dare to do the job, because riding at high speed on bumpy rice fields is not simple. Photo: Huy Thu

According to the experience of people in the profession, big rackets are easy to hunt grasshoppers, but have great resistance, are difficult to drive and tear easily. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Ngo Quang Vinh (39 years old), residing in Quynh Trang commune (Hoang Mai town) said: The winter-spring rice crop being harvested has fewer locusts than the summer-autumn crop, so each day of hunting, each person only catches 5 - 10 kg of locusts. Photo: Huy Thu

Mr. Ho Trong Thanh said that every day, locust hunters have to travel a distance of at least several hundred kilometers, sometimes not hunting in a specific district but through 2-3, even 4-5 districts. If hunting in Ky Anh district (Ha Tinh), they have to wake up, leave home at 2-3 am, travel nearly 200 km to get to the hunting spot. Hunting locusts far away, the workers often have trouble sleeping. Going out at night also has many potential risks, especially traffic accidents. In addition, driving on the undulating rice fields can easily lead to falls and injuries. Photo: Huy Thu

When hunting locusts in the fields, motorbikes usually run in 2nd or 3rd gear, which is quite expensive, requiring 3-6 tanks of gas per day depending on the distance. Hunting locusts in the province requires 1 tank every 4 days, and going out of town requires 1 tank every 2 days. A mid-range motorbike used for locust hunting only lasts for 3 years before it breaks down... As for the locust hunting net, it breaks and tears frequently. If it tears, stop the motorbike and fix it immediately. Photo: Huy Thu

Hunting locusts in the middle of the summer harvest season is quite hard. If you go to work too early, the locusts won't have emerged yet, and if you go too late, the sun will be shining, making driving very tiring. On extremely hot days like the past few days, many people only work in the morning, and end up going home at noon because they are too tired. While driving, if the workers don't watch the amount of gas, their vehicles can run out of gas in the middle of the field, which is very difficult. Photo: Huy Thu

If the vehicle breaks down in the middle of the field, such as the engine stalling, the chain breaking, the tire puncture... the worker has to figure out how to fix it himself or has to stop working and take the vehicle to a repair shop, or sometimes has to go back. Although workers often take great care in buying a vehicle with few problems, vehicle breakdowns still happen frequently. In the photo: A "flying shrimp" hunter from Hoang Mai town has his vehicle broken down in the middle of a field in Thanh Chuong district. Photo: Huy Thu

Hunting "flying shrimp" is quite hard work, but in return, selling them is quite easy. The traders will buy all the locusts that people hunt. Currently, the price of imported grasshopper meat is 170,000 VND/kg, and grasshopper nuggets is 200,000 VND/kg. Locust hunting is a spontaneous side job, but it brings the main income to the people who follow the job. Every day going to the fields, working hard, each person can earn 500,000 - 700,000 VND, even millions. Photo: Huy Thu