Huge locust plague looms

[spud_meister]

Huge locust plague looms

Locusts have laid eggs over an area of Australia about the size of Spain, as farmers ready for a plague of record proportions.

Egg beds, in some cases kilometres long, laid during the autumn in northern Victoria, New South Wales, southern Queensland and south-east South Australia, are starting to hatch.

This is bad, if our farmers aren't suffering from droughts, floods or fire, they get locusts, and millions of them.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Don't they make efforts to eradicate them while unhatched?

We kill mosquitoes, wasps, beetles and other things - I guess the locusts aren't really killable, then, with poisons (like lure traps)?

 

[spud_meister]

Don't they make efforts to eradicate them while unhatched?

We kill mosquitoes, wasps, beetles and other things - I guess the locusts aren't really killable, then, with poisons (like lure traps)?

They have made the effort, you'll find few eggs in the farmers fields, but it's the rest of the Spain sized area that's the problem. A lot of the area is bush or semi-arid scrub.

 

[Aunt Spiker]

Yeah - I imagine it would complicate things.

If tit happened yearly or far more frequently maybe they'd attack it more headon?

 

[Middleground]

Australia will be a country that will be hit hard by climate change. The next ten years will say lots, I think.

 

[spud_meister]

Australia will be a country that will be hit hard by climate change. The next ten years will say lots, I think.

I hope not, we're just getting out of a 10 year drought.

 

[Deuce]

Further proof that God hates Australia.

 

[winston53660]

Huge locust plague looms



This is bad, if our farmers aren't suffering from droughts, floods or fire, they get locusts, and millions of them.

Repent I say...I have an online preachers license...... oh and send me all your money:mrgreen:

 

[spud_meister]

Further proof that God hates Australia.

It's not our fault he's too scared to come here.

 

[molten_dragon]

Further proof that Australia is the absolute worst place in the world. If it's not deadly jellyfish, 25-foot maneating crocodiles, or poisonous everything, it's biblical plagues. Remind me never to go there.

 

[UtahBill]

Further proof that Australia is the absolute worst place in the world. If it's not deadly jellyfish, 25-foot maneating crocodiles, or poisonous everything, it's biblical plagues. Remind me never to go there.

Things could be worse, you could have Mexico as your neighbor....you guys get bugs, we get illegal immigrants...and your bugs have no "rights"....

 

[spud_meister]

Things could be worse, you could have Mexico as your neighbor....you guys get bugs, we get illegal immigrants...and your bugs have no "rights"....

I wouldn't say that, you ever tried telling the worlds deadliest spider that it doesn't have free speech? :mrgreen:

 

[UtahBill]

I wouldn't say that, you ever tried telling the worlds deadliest spider that it doesn't have free speech? :mrgreen:

Is it a protected species? If not, step on the little bugger....and if it is, and there are no witnesses, step on it anyway.
If there ARE witnesses, make sure it looks like an accident...

 

[bowerbird]

Is it a protected species? If not, step on the little bugger....and if it is, and there are no witnesses, step on it anyway.
If there ARE witnesses, make sure it looks like an accident...

Mind you, our snakes are protected species - and I live in Taipan country - to be exact Inland Taipan country - world's deadliest land snake! Those !#!@ are so big that they could run for parliament as independents!

But it is true about Australia will be hit hard by climate change (it is already) and the forecasts for change are interesting

Australian climate variability & change - Trend maps

As you see the West will get wetter and the East drier. Problem is that area of the West that is fated to get wetter is about as fertile as a billiard ball

 

[UtahBill]

Mind you, our snakes are protected species - and I live in Taipan country - to be exact Inland Taipan country - world's deadliest land snake! Those !#!@ are so big that they could run for parliament as independents!

But it is true about Australia will be hit hard by climate change (it is already) and the forecasts for change are interesting

Australian climate variability & change - Trend maps

As you see the West will get wetter and the East drier. Problem is that area of the West that is fated to get wetter is about as fertile as a billiard ball

Try piping partially treated sewage to some of that land. Pump it out to selected spots for a week out of each year, plant the right trees and bushes, and stand back.....
BTW, tomato seeds do NOT lose fertility in most sewage processes, so you may get a bumper crop of them.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Try piping partially treated sewage to some of that land. Pump it out to selected spots for a week out of each year, plant the right trees and bushes, and stand back.....
BTW, tomato seeds do NOT lose fertility in most sewage processes, so you may get a bumper crop of them.

The only problem with that is that a lot of places have laws against using sewage in food producing agriculture.

Our county sometimes sprays sewage on peoples property and it really greens up lawns, etc.
Plus lots of surprise tomatoes plants. :lol:

 

[spud_meister]

The only problem with that is that a lot of places have laws against using sewage in food producing agriculture.

If that's the only problem with that, I'll **** a goose.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

If that's the only problem with that, I'll **** a goose.

It smells a little like **** but then so does cow manure. :lol:

For me, it's not a big deal but I used to live with a cow pasture, right in front of my house.
Going out at night and hearing the soothing sounds of cows urinating.
It's hypnotic. :2razz:

 

[Dav]

We get a locust plague in the DC area every 17 years.

They're technically cicadas, and last time everyone called them cicadas, but here the terms "locust" and "cicada" are basically interchangeable, so there you go.

Anyways, I've only witnessed it once, in 2004. The trees were black with them, no sh*t, and you could barely hear anything above their collective buzzing. It was pretty awesome overall. They'll be back in 2021.

 

[OscarB63]

Fried grasshoppers are some good eatin'. has anyone thought of "harvesting" these locusts as a food source?

 

[Coronado]

Fried grasshoppers are some good eatin'. has anyone thought of "harvesting" these locusts as a food source?

I suspect the local Chinese population is way ahead of you ...

 

[spud_meister]

Fried grasshoppers are some good eatin'. has anyone thought of "harvesting" these locusts as a food source?

Look at it this way, you have an area this big.

full of things this big.

There's no way you could eat all the little ****ers.

 

[Harry Guerrilla]

Look at it this way, you have an area this big.

full of things this big.

There's no way you could eat all the little ****ers.

You need a few of these, problem solved. :mrgreen:

 

[Coronado]

There's no way you could eat all the little ****ers.

Maybe we could export them to China. They have about 1,200,000,000 people to feed there.

 

[OscarB63]

Maybe we could export them to China. They have about 1,200,000,000 people to feed there.

catch 'em, fry 'em, put 'em in a box. sell 'em to the UN to feed all the starving kids in Africa