Tips and Tricks for Getting Rid of Dead Cicadas in Middle Tennessee

As temperatures begin to rise in Middle Tennessee and summer approaches, some residents may notice a foul odor hanging around the trees.

Murfreesboro resident Robert Cairns said he recently noticed the smell in his neighborhood.

“It made me think of the song ‘That Smell’ by Lynyrd Skynyrd,” Cairns said. “Whoa, that smell, can’t you smell that smell? Whoa, that smell, the smell of death is all around you.”

Cairns had originally believed there might be a dead animal near his home following recent rainfall, he said.

“My neighbor and I checked the drainage ditch before we noticed the smell was stronger around the trees,” he said, noting that they eventually traced the “smell of death” to piles of dead Brood XIX cicadas accumulating under the trees and scattered throughout their yards.