My dad owned a Sears catalog store in my little hometown as a kid. There was a streetlight on the loading dock & the crickets would congregate there by the 100s if not 1000s. For whatever reason, they would generally die on the loading dock & I would have to vacuum them up with a shop vac. That thing reeked to high heaven, so I'm with you on that smell! I can still smell it just thinking about it.I vividly remember the stank of a cage of live crickets in a local bait shop. Must be experienced to be believed.
I heard a story about a hockey player who was knocked out and didn't remember who he was when he came to. The coach said, "Tell him he's Wayne Gretzky and put him back in!"