Kauai’s most extensive infestation of fire ants poses a health risk to Hawaii’s residents and tourists, officials say.
Fire ants are “raining down” on people and stinging people in their sleep, per SFGATE.
Welts caused by fire ants stings can “last for weeks,” according to the Kauai Invasive Species Committee.
The discovery of millions of fire ants in Kauai, Hawaii, marks the island’s most extensive infestation since the invasive species was first detected there in 1999, the news website SFGATE reported.
The infestation poses a risk to pets, the agriculture industry, and residents and tourists visiting Hawaii’s fourth-largest island, according to SFGATE.
“They’re changing the way of life for our residents here in Hawaii,” said Heather Forester, who works for Hawaii Ant Lab, per the news website. “You used to be able to go out hiking and go to the beach. They can rain down on people and sting them.”
Forester told SFGATE that the ants could invade people’s homes in heavily infested areas. “We have a lot of reports of them stinging people while they sleep in their beds,” she said.
Fire ant stings can cause red, swollen welts that burn and itch. They can also, on occasion, cause painful pus-filled lesions, according to WebMD.
Welts caused by the stings can “last for weeks,” the Kauai Invasive Species Committee said, per SFGATE.
The Kauai Invasive Species Committee has launched a significant media campaign to alert residents of the free-at-home test kits available to help them detect the presence of the invasive species, SFGATE reported.
The committee hopes to contain the spread of millions of fire ants, which it says originated on private property in Kauai, Hawaii’s fourth largest island. The infestation spread over a cliffside into a valley near the Wailua River, the committee’s general outreach specialist Haylin Chock said, per SFGATE.
Hawaii, Maui, and Oahu, also have “a varying degree of infestation,” according to Forester, per SFGATE.
It’s unclear if the infestation is yet to reach the water, but this would be “concerning” because it would allow the fire ants to “easily float down and create multiple colonies.”
Currently, the team is hopeful that the infestation is being halted from spreading across the island. “Our team is really good at what they do,” said Chock, SFGATE reported. “I’m going to say that we’re hopeful that it hasn’t spread that far. I’m confident that we can keep it contained.”
Defeating the fire ants involves baiting them with poisoned food which they then take back to the colony, SFGATE said.
Read the original article on Business Insider
A snake-wrangling couple got a big surprise the other day in Southwest Florida.
A mountain lion has been euthanized after it barged into a home in Sonoma County, California, and dragged out a woman's pet border collie by its neck last month.
The inland taipan is the most venomous snake in the world. Its venom contains an enzyme that makes it spread faster throughout the body when bitten.
The Prince of Wales has paid tribute to a “close friend” who was killed, alongside his son, in a plane crash in Kenya.
Scientists Down Under went to new depths to see a world never-before explored with human eyes.
Firefighters, animal control officers, horse trainers, and neighbors all helped a Montana horse owner save their four young horses from a scary cold water accident
Videos filmed by the dog's owner show the big cat hovering over Sherman in her backyard having dragged the dog out by its neck
This invasive species of termite has been gaining a foothold in the Palmetto State in recent years. Here’s what to know about it.
A massive snake — believed to be a Burmese python — has been spotted slithering through Doral this week.
“We can co-exist, but you can’t just expect to let your pets roam alone and be safe in the mountains. Don’t live up in their territory if you aren’t gonna change your lifestyle.”
Release of the draft plan Friday, Dec. 9, is the first time the public will see and get to comment on the plan.
Environmentalists want the U.S. government to list coyotes as endangered in parts of Arizona and New Mexico where the rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America is found. A coalition of groups argue in a petition submitted Thursday to U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that small statured Mexican gray wolves are often mistaken for coyotes and that protecting coyotes would in turn cut down on wolf deaths.
Reporter Alvin Kaunda was filming a segment about orphaned elephants at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust in Nairobi, Kenya, when the elephants took over.
Los Angeles’ most famous mountain lion, P-22, has been featured in National Geographic, earned a segment on 60 Minutes and even got a 6,000-some word profile in The New Yorker. But after a series of close encounters with residents and apparent attacks on two dogs wildlife officials today announced plans to capture and evaluate the […]Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Nebraska has welcomed 29 cheetah cubs since 2014, with the newest feline additions arriving on Nov. 14
Researchers also discovered a new shark species. Take a look.
This is the third delay of the season.
A dog named Bear went on quite an adventure when he escaped from his owner in New York, swam the Hudson River and finally was rescued in Edgewater.
The new plan threatens to spur another yearslong battle over wolf hunting.
STORY: These teenage walruses are feasting on gourmet mussels and clamsas the settle into their new home at the Point Defiance Zoo & AquariumLocation: Tacoma, Washington(Sheriden Ploof / Assistant curator, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium)"These are restaurant quality mussels. They're eating very well, yes. We go through about 16,000 pounds of clam a year just for walruses alone. It's a lot of clam."Six-year-old Balzak and Lakina are half-siblings born just two weeks apartInitially trained in a French-speaking province of Canadaboth walruses are bilingual when it comes to understanding and responding to commandsWalruses are considered vulnerable but not endangeredThere are only 14 walruses in human care throughout the United States(Malia Somerville / Curator of marine mammals and birds, Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium)"Their main threat is climate change. The impact that climate change has on walruses is it's reducing free flowing ice floes, which is where they would haul out to rest and which also provides habitat for their food items. So they're having to swim further to find haul out places, swim further to get to their food."Balzak and Lakina are also cared for by a veterinary teamwhich comes with a dental perk – caps for their tusks to promote good health"So right now, we're just looking inside his mouth and it looks nice and pink.// Their tusks lack enamel or have very little enamel, so that makes them prone to developing wear very easily. And because they can get wear on them, they can get an infection. And so we want to make sure we protect the ends of the tusks. And this happens with wild walrus as well. They just don't have the dentist to put on their caps."Once the walruses are old enough to breed, they may be relocated to meet suitable partners“Once they are able to reproduce, we might, they might go to meet other walruses so that they can have children of their own. We work cooperatively with the Walrus Consortium. Those are the other facilities that have walrus in the United States to decide who would make good families and good partners.”
