Less than a year after grasshoppers annihilated precious grass in isolated areas between Muttaburra, Winton, Julia Creek and Hughenden, a fresh hatching is making life a misery in parts of western Queensland.
This time there are reports of chair legs being chewed and books in bookcases being demolished.
Lee Wheeler, who is managing Lorraine Station 60km south of Winton with her husband Jim, said she had not seen anything like it in their 20 year plus of living on stations.
"They've been here since February 29 - we went to town and when we got back, they'd just moved in," she said. "The smell of them is rank - give me gidyea bugs and stink beetles any day."
Ms Wheeler said they had eaten everything in the prize-winning garden except for the neem trees and eucalypts, and had made short work of the lawn, curtains, tea towels, clothes on the line, books in bookcases, and chair legs.
As well as that, the herbage that came through at the end of January after 200mm of rain is being lost.
"We didn't have a lot of grass to start with - we're certainly losing valuable feed," she said.
The couple are managing the property for the Henwood family of New South Wales and stopped feeding stock when it rained at the end of January.
Now they fear they'll be feeding again before the end of winter.
Australian Plague Locust Commission director Chris Adriaansen had little advice to console those suffering, other than to say it would most likely be a transient problem.
Unless current conditions lasted through to spring and next summer, the generations wouldn't be able to build up, he said.
The last time that happened was in 2009-10 when there had been eight months of consistent rainfall.
Mr Adriaansen said the commission's field-based officer-in-charge at Longreach had seen lots of mixed species of grasshoppers on a drive to Winton recently.
However, there was an absence of a significant number of locusts, which is what would bring about control action from the commission.
According to the commission, population levels of plague locusts remained very low in areas of New South Wales, South Australia and southern Queensland that were able to be surveyed during February.
Populations were expected to have remained low in the parts of Queensland that received heavy rainfall but flooding restricted access for surveyors.
"Fledging of nymphs during March and April could result in a moderate increase in adult population from the current very low levels," the APLC bulletin said.
In the meantime, there is no reassurance that freshly grown pasture will be safe from hungry grasshoppers.
"If there are hatches, it will be fairly localised," Mr Adriaansen said. "They don't move to any great extent."
In addition, various pasture beetles and moths were enjoying the freshly grown grass.
Land managers could undertake spot spraying but would then have to consider how soon after that they put livestock back on the pasture.
"It's best to let nature take its course," Mr Adriaansen said.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
