A strange job that only carries a racket to wade through the wilderness but lives well in the middle of the storm season

Watch clips:

Following in the footsteps of the moor

Red sunset on the horizon. Mr. Nguyen Huu Phuoc (45 years old, Hoc Mon district, HCMC) stopped his car in a wild weedy field in Binh Chanh district, HCMC.

Sitting on the side of the road, he looked out over the green grasslands, calculating where he would drop off his locusts. He has worked as a locust racket selling to birders for the past 13 years and has made a fortune from this strange-sounding profession.

Mr. Phuoc sat and waited for the sunset to go down to the grassy fields with a racquet.

Seeing that it was not the right time to “hunt”, he sat down to enjoy the wind, talking about the days of tracking the wastelands of locusts and collecting millions of dollars every day. He said: “The locusts are always sought after by the aquarists”.

“Compared with industrial feed, fresh locust meat helps precious birds to be healthy, have smooth feathers, be prolific, and sing better. In the past, it was normal for people like us to earn more than 1 million VND/day from racquets,” he added.

The tool for this job is just a large racket and a container for locusts.

Now, rice fields and moors are increasingly shrinking. The locusts are very rare. Wing “racquet players” often have to roam the wild fields in the provinces of Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Long An …

At this time, the weather is hot, the grass is dry and the locusts are even more scarce. Meanwhile, the price of gasoline increased, forcing people like Mr. Phuoc to make calculations. He only dared to hang around in the grasslands of Binh Chanh, Hoc Mon and Cu Chi districts.

Mr. Phuoc shared: “This month, locusts are rare, every day, I go racquet twice in the morning and in the evening. In the morning, I go early, when the sun rises, I come back to eat. In the afternoon, I usually go racquet from 6pm to 10pm before returning to rest and eat.”

It was windy and cool, so he decided to take his racket down to the wild grass to hunt locusts.

Waiting for the last sun to disappear behind the horizon, Mr. Phuoc began to remove the large racket made from bamboo sticks, steel frame and thin cloth from the car, wading into the wild grasslands. Here, he swings a large racket over the grass, catching all kinds of flying insects.

After a few minutes, he wrapped his net, carried his racquet ashore, and poured what he caught into a square box covered with a small stainless steel mesh. At this time, there were locusts, baby crickets flying and landing on the branch he had placed in front of the box.

Stay healthy during the storm season

This steady income job is simply swinging a racket, catching all kinds of flying insects.

Pointing to a locust that has not yet grown enough wings on its back, Mr. Phuoc said: “It is the young, large-sized locusts that are valuable. Old and sick locusts will not be up to standards, so the price is very cheap. Also, this time the racket mixed in with too many other insects. Tonight will be very selective.”

As it turns out, the pole of this profession lies in the fact that after the racquet is scratched, the hunter has to stay up all night sorting and choosing his “trophy” one by one. Locusts are classified by sellers into many types such as: young locusts (large-sized locusts), medium-sized locusts, roof locusts, old locusts …

These locusts are priced differently because they are intended for different types of birds. Old locusts, children are for ornamental birds that do not belong to the rare and expensive line such as magpie, starling, barracuda, etc., so the price is cheaper.

Young, large-sized locusts are always sought after by precious bird players, so they have a high selling price.

Meanwhile, young locusts, medium-sized locusts … are reserved for precious birds and fighting birds such as: nightingale, warbler, mutant birds… have high value, so the price is higher. After selecting and classifying, the racquetballers measure the locusts into each small bag, each bag has 10-15 fish depending on the size.

Mr. Phuoc shared: “We do not sell locusts by kg, but by string units. A string is a pack of about 10-15 locusts. If you remove termites, then 2,000-3000 VND/string. Termites sell back to bird owners about 5,000 VND/string.

“With the current price, each session of racquetball, after giving up termites, I earn about 300,000 VND. On average, I go racquet twice a day, I have 600,000 VND/day. Compared to many other jobs, in a stormy time like now, locusts are still leisurely and bring good and stable income,” he added.

Today, he could not racket many locusts. In the tank there are many different types of insects.

The income from this job helps Mr. Phuoc to feed his 2 children and take care of his own life. According to him, with the above income, the diligent, racquetball players every day of the week “live well”.

There are even many people who become the granary to buy locusts, have a stable and affluent life.

However, the locust racket looks leisurely and easy, but not everyone can do it. Because in addition to having to be persistent, people who do this job also need to have experience and identify areas with many locusts.

He tried to change the racket location…

Racquet players revealed that after “detecting” this area with many types of insects, they should “just hold the racket”. That is, after the first racket, you have to wait 10-15 days before continuing to harvest.

Especially, if it is hot and sunny for a long time and then it rains, then wait 2 weeks to go to the racket. At this time, locusts are both young and numerous. Experienced locusts know the best time to hunt for this insect during specific months of the year.

Although this season locusts are rarer, he still ensures an income of 500,000 – 600,000 VND/day from racquets.

In February and March, they often go to the beach or riverside to racket. In May and June, it rains a lot, locusts are afraid of water and moisture, and they will go to high, open land. At this time, the racket will go to the mounds of wasteland to find locusts…

“In addition, the time and position of the racquet also determine whether the trip is successful or not. I usually go racquet in the early morning and evening. In the morning, locusts come out to find food. And when it’s dark, the locusts won’t see the way, so it’s easier to racket”, Mr. Phuoc added.

Articles, photos, clips: Ha Nguyen