Mount Isa is getting to be as well-known as the home of Warren Burke’s car as are the mines there!
The mines have been in the Isa for just two years short of a century, while Warren’s vehicle has been there for just four years.
Townsville-born Warren – known to many family members as Wally – moved to the Mount five years ago before buying his pride-and-joy, an Australian XY Ford, a year later.
“I saw the car sitting in someone’s front yard, and couldn’t drive any further without seeing if it was for sale,” he said.
It’s a busy work and ‘play’ life for Central Queensland couple Jeff and Bec Smith, who conduct J&B Pest Control in Mackay.
The Smiths, with Josh Crang from Gympie as their driver, race an FG Falcon in the modified sedans class on a dirt speedway oval, campaigning mostly in southern Queensland, with hopes of travelling to Victoria in 2022 for the Australian title.
North Queensland pest control professional Aaron Bonney, like most industry members, has come across some hair-raising situations in his time in business.
Recently, however, one such instance threatened to blow up in his face – literally!
Aaron, who conducts POD’s Pest Control, headquartered in the Townsville suburb of Garbutt, had thought he had seen it all.
“But all of a sudden I realised I just about hadn’t seen anything!” he said.
POD’s not only almost blew up staff members, but a Government building to boot!
When he isn’t catching pests, Gold Coast-based Shane Gartner is catching fish!
Nothing so special about that, you might say.
There is, though, when the fish have been caught with lures Shane invented, made, patented and sell!
Shane, who with his wife Sue conducts Gartner Pest Control near Southport, is the man behind Pig Lures, known well to anglers, and the ‘go-to’ lures for catching all species of fish.
The Queensland Pest Management Act 2001 has been incorporated into the Medicines and Poisons Act 2019.
There will also be a ‘Departmental Standard,’ listing the qualifications required to apply for a licence or endorsement to undertake various pest management activities.
The Act has been passed into legislation and will commence on September 27 2021; the Act is difficult to navigate to find all the sections affecting Pest Management because they are scattered throughout the document.
Those pest controllers who have opened their own businesses know just how tough it is to come up with just the right name…it often isn’t as easy as “Joe’s Pest Control”.
Spare a thought then for those tasked with finding suitable mascots for sporting teams and the like.
When the list of names of local native animals and icons, birds, cats, colours, dogs and horses has been exhausted, what can you call a team?
New Zealand has there species of native termites – the two wet wood species – Stolotermes ruficeps and S. inopinus – and the drywood termite – Kalotermes brouni.
None of them form large colonies and are generally considered non-destructive so buildings in New Zealand have not been built to resist termite attack.
Unfortunately, not all termites got the memo!
If you find a specimen / damage that you think is related to termites, as with any pests, Garrards professional trained staff are happy to help and potentially guide you through any potential government requirements
Go to pages 26 and 27 of Vol 27 No 1 to read the entire article
Mosquito larviciding in many countries around the globe is generally based on short-residual biorational products using one of two active ingredients: Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis or (S)-methoprene. These larvicides can provide cost-effective solutions for control of single-brood floodwater mosquitoes. However, each of these active ingredients delivers optimal activity against different mosquito larval stages. As a result, multiple products are often used to manage changing scenarios
Valent BioSciences’ experience in developing value-added products with combinations of active ingredients via its proprietary BioFuse™ technology led to the industry’s most flexible mosquito larval control solution for single-brood mosquitoes: VectoPrime
VectoPrime™ offers abatement professionals superior operational flexibility with a wider application window across all instars and pre-flood. The ability to apply VectoPrime™ prior to flooding means you can plan ahead instead of having to react to changing environmental conditions, saving time and freeing up resources that would have been required for additional field surveillance and additional treatments. In addition, working with a single solution that kills all larval instars also allows you to streamline inventories and simplify replenishment.
In other words, you can start and end your week with the same solution.
Go to pages 4 and 5 of Pest Review 2020 Vol 26 No 1 to read the entire article
Yellow crazy ants (Anoplolepis gracilipes) are one of the world’s 100 worst invasive species and are a direct threat to our World Heritage rainforest and tropical lifestyle.
Yellow crazy ants were first detected in the Wet Tropics south of Cairns in 2001. Through the Yellow Crazy Ant Eradication Program, the Wet Tropics Management Authority and its partners are working to eradicate these invasive pests from the Wet Tropics region.
Find out how on page 20 of Pest Review 2020 Vol 26 No 2.
