Aussies warned over invasive threat 'chewing' through backyard lawn mowers
The ants pose a catastrophic risk to the environment, and the 'super pests' happily find refuge in gardening devices covered in organic material. This means a long list of tools, such as lawn mowers, whipper snippers, and other outdoor appliances can potentially host a new colony.
This was the case last week for a resident in Queensland's Scenic Rim region, when their mower was discovered to be crawling with fire ants. Authorities have since urged residents to be vigilant of the risk, warning them to do their bit to avoid the spread of the invasive critter.
"Fire ants are great stowaways, and they love to get into organic material in particular... So, grass clippings are an excellent place for fire ants to make a home and then potentially be transported to other locations," Reece Pianta from the Invasive Species Council (ISC) told Yahoo News on Wednesday.
Fire ants 'eat almost anything' including electrical wires
Fire ants are notorious eaters, and not only do they have the ability to spread rapidly, but they also make the most of food sources once they are established at new sites.
"They will have a go to eat almost anything, and that includes coatings on electrical wires, joints, rubber connectors," Pianta explained.
"Any mechanical or electrical device, particularly if it's used outside in a garden context, and this extends to motor vehicles as well."
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Reece is urging all who live in and around the fire ant areas to conduct regular inspections of their garden appliances, as well as their car wheels, to detect any fire ants. Ensuring no organic clippings are left inside devices will help minimise the spread.
"Empty out the catcher of your mower," he urged. "Don't leave the clippings in there, and clean it down. It's also good advice to clean things that are being moved from place to place."
This advice was echoed by the National Fire Ant Eradication Program, which urged residents to empty grass clippings from their garden appliances, clean them afterwards and frequently check their property for any fire ant sightings.
Fire ant 'explosion' will hinder backyard enjoyment, says shadow agricultural minister
David Littleproud, the Leader of the Nationals and Shadow Minister for Agriculture, warned on Thursday the fire ant situation has sadly been allowed to get out of hand.
"This is something that I think every Australian should be worried about," he told ABC Radio National, arguing it will prevent homeowners and residents from enjoying their backyards.
"These things will render your backyard useless. You won't be able to go out into it until you've treated it," he said.
"We actually, tragically had this contained to a very tight geographical area in southeast Queensland" he lamented, but Littleproud argued decisions by the previous state government around housing developments and the movement of dirt allowed the species to spread.
"They allowed dirt to be moved from one part of southeast Queensland to the other, and it just exploded," he said.
Littleproud is now calling on a federal government commitment of $200 million a year for the next four years to try to eradicate the fire ant populations.
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