Warnings have been issued about fire ant infestations spreading along riverbanks south of Brisbane, with concerns that the venomous pests could spread even further. Rachel Hughes, President of Cedar Grove Landcare, says the species can cause a range of problems for people who find them in their backyards.
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TVTranscript
00:00Well, it just changes the way that you do everything.
00:06You couldn't really walk in your backyard with bare feet without potentially being bitten.
00:12Your animals and your pets can be bitten without you knowing.
00:17Your livestock can be bitten.
00:19It's just one of those things that, and you can't quite see them until you're on top of
00:22them and that's the other thing.
00:24Not like our native ants, their nests are very much different, they don't have an opening.
00:28You will find them along fence lines and in those areas where the sun is and most of those
00:34areas is where we like to spend time.
00:36So if you were going to have a picnic and you put a picnic rug down, next thing you
00:39know you might have some fire ants all over your picnic rug because you couldn't see the
00:43nest.
00:44So it's one of those things that will change our lifestyle the way we know it if we are
00:47not careful and get on the front foot and work together as a community.
00:51A lot of these landholders have very large land holdings up to beyond 2,000 acres and
00:56there's no way that they have the time or the ability to get to treat everywhere in
01:02those periods that really need to be treated.
01:04So a little bit more assistance, broad scale assistance is definitely needed for these people.