Poor Grasshopper

I have been noticing huge amounts of what appear to be grasshoppers on the shoulder of The Foothills Parkway, the main road I have been riding. Some are run over, some are challenging life, I try and weave my way though the masses and not do any damage to these poor little creatures. I feel them hitting my calves on occasion, is it because I just hit one and it flew up? Or is it just doing what a hopper does, hopping? As I reached the top of my 12 mile climb today, pulled over and grabbed a drink at Casa Lowe, I took a sip only to notice that one such hopper did not make it. At the mercy...