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Voices from the Community

The impact of the Fire Ant Eradication efforts and the Toxic Fire Ant Program has been deeply felt by our community. Here, residents share their personal stories, experiences, and thoughts on the use of Fire Ant Poison. These testimonials highlight the importance of treating fire ants safely and responsibly, and why we must stand together to protect our homes and environment.

I immediately had a funny taste, sneezing, burning face, head pains, axial glands activated, tickling and spasmodic cough, mucus expectoration next day which lasted a number of days. My dog was unwell the next day with trembling and lost appetite.

Highvale Resident

Tawny frog mouth owls which we have seen every night for a year on our property, suddenly are no longer there

Samford Resident

My property wasn't directly treated however the atmosphere on the 24th May (when the helicopter was nearby) smelt like a flea collar (the chemical they are apparently using). I ended up with a bad headache. And then on the 30th May when the helicopter was nearby I had a burning sensation in the back of my throat when I went outside.

Upper Caboolture Resident

The helicopter flew back and forth over my property for at least 30 passes. Very low and over my house roof shed roof and tanks and dam. It left a burning sensation and strange taste in mouth

Narangba Resident

My property hasn’t been treated but we are very close to the treatment area and where waterways leading straight to the creek, it also rained shortly after treatment . Myself and my child have been itchy. He has had a loss of appetite and vomiting which may or may not be related. My beautiful steer yearling was found dead near the dam. No idea on cause. Another of my steers had no appetite for days and lost a lot of weight.

Yugar Resident

I had a persistent cough for a few weeks straight after they treated the front of our property (without our permission) & the aerial treatments were happening in Bonogin. I went out to take photos and inspect what they had treated on our front lawn and it was just normal ant nests. Dry cough that kept me awake all night for 5-6 nights. Could not stop coughing and nothing worked to stop it

Bonogin Resident

Yes, our dog has become extremely ill since they started treatment in the area. A cancer showed up and took her life in 2 months. That being said, our dog was DNA tested and completely clear to any genetic disease and a very healthy 3yo dog until then.

Bonogin Resident

We have a large veggie garden & 21 fruit trees, with a food forest & flowers, yet all our bees have disappeared. We also see & hear less birds than normal, as it usually sounds like we live in an aviry. We never had fire ants on the property, but now we don’t have any ants at all. And my cat has recently undergone emergency surgery for an infected uterus.

Bonogin Resident

The helicopters were over our property which backs on to bush land, over our CREEK. My children have all had a dry, intense cough for weeks since the helicopter. Yes. Native birds have vanished. One of our chickens yesterday became paralyzed and can no longer walk.

Bonogin Resident

My neighbour from the adjacent street reported seeing helicopters in the days leading up to finding the dead bird. Baiting had been done (and continues to be done) in the area. I found a dead crow after the baiting had started in my area. Its eyes were open and wings were partly open.

Whiteside Resident

After the treatment one of my cats died and another one was severely sick. Dogs vomiting for no reason.

Currumbin Resident

Two cats have passed away since they visited our property. Organ failure. Cats have lived happily on our property for 12+ years prior to this.

Currumbin Resident

My 4 year old healthy blue heeler died on 17th June. He had just been for his annual vet checkup and vaccination on the previous Tuesday and was given a good clean bill of health. Billy walked every morning on either the dog beach or locally around Bienvenue area…and again every afternoon. He was a very active, healthy dog at 32kg. Background: Billy vomited on Friday after a big walk on the beach at Fingal, but was otherwise happy. He was off his food on Sunday, but we had no reason to be overly concerned as he was happy and acting normally. I woke at midnight to hear a bang outside and found him delirious and really wobbly on his feet. We took him to the emergency vet at Varsity lakes at midnight who worked on him through the night….he was then transferred to the Pet ICU in Brisbane at 6am…..and died at 7pm after a series of convulsions and blood in his urine and mouth foam. His liver, pancreas and kidneys shut down. He died very suddenly and cruelly and the many tests could only tell as he had ingested a toxin - we have a safe fenced yard. He was so young and healthy ….it cost us $8500 for less than 24 hours of emergency vet care, only to lose him ….we are shattered! I can provide the laboratory results from ICU

Currumbin Resident

Yes..council reserve that borders my property in Mcdowalls Rd Yugar, dropping bait before rain...it rained that evening. I had no prior notice to cover tanks which border the council treatment area, non perennial creek at bottom of the gully baited which runs into our dam. I watched as the helicopter dropped bait from my driveway. I was in shock that no prior notice was given. That evening I ran a bath, jumped in, and my skin began prickling..I was then covered in huge hives. This is not something I have had for decades. These settled once I got out of the bath but were very uncomfortable for a few hours afterwards. I have no idea if this was related to the chemical drop, if my tank water was compromised or if the skin exposure was causal as I watched the bait being dropped. I had no prior hives before getting in the bath water Apparently at the Steiner School which was recently baited, the creek is full of dead toadsI have noticed a lot of dead toads and a couple of dead birds.

Yugar Resident

Despite being assured that my property would not be treated (because I have chemical sensitivities, bee hives, water tanks, a dam) and despite being phoned on the morning of treatment in my vicinity to be advised there was a "buffer zone" in place around me, this did not happen. The helicopter came onto my property within around 5m of my dam and repeatedly flew close to my bee hives on my northern boundary. As I ran outside to observe with the Fire Ant Team/DAF on the phone, pleading with them to get the helicopter to back off, the helicopter loomed over a tree within around 20 metres of my house, swung around in a 180 degree turn with its tail protruding further over the tree and into my garden, sort of "kicked up" with the force of the turn so that I could see the entire underside of the helicopter, and flew off. After being outside and very close to the helicopter, I noticed a mild but definite burning sensation on my face and my eyes felt dry and gritty/sore. As the afternoon wore on, I was unable to go outside. I started coughing and wheezing and the irritation in my airways and coughing lasted a few days.I am still monitoring my beehives.

Cashmere Resident

Without warning one late morning helicopters were flying over the roof of our house. I had kids in the pool & visitors at the house. The smell was horrible, burning our eyes & throat. This continued for a couple of hours. Within days of the first aerial treatment we noticed our rainwater, which we use for drinking, was contaminated with a yellow residue. We also noticed growth of mushrooms & fungus that we’ve never seen before on our property in the decade that we have owned it. My husband & I had difficulty breathing after any yard work or cutting the grass following the aerial treatments. My daughter has been sick on & off with respiratory issues since February. I am currently recovering from pneumonia. And my cat has recently undergone emergency surgery for an infected uterus. Our family has not been sick for years, even through the “pandemic”. We have a large veggie garden & 21 fruit trees, with a food forest & flowers, yet all our bees have disappeared. We also see & hear less birds than normal, as it usually sounds like we live in an aviry. We never had fire ants on the property, but now we don’t have any ants at all. And my cat has recently undergone emergency surgery for an infected uterus

Bonogin Resident

Despite the fact that I signed a form that was handed me by the aerial team, and which said I did NOT give permission for the helicopter to come within more than 150 metres from my home, the helicopter actually came within about 20 meters of my home and executed a 180 degree turn right over a tree in my garden which is around 20 meters from my house. I was outside at the time, trying to phone Biosecurity Queensland to get them to ask the helicopter to back off. James from the Fire Ant Team had phoned me earlier on Friday morning to assure me that a "buffer zone" had been put in place, but I could see the helicopter moving very close to our bee hives on our northern boundary. I eventually got through to someone at BQ and as I was trying to explain the problem I was getting increasingly distressed by the actions of the helicopter. Then suddenly it loomed over the tree in front of me, swung around and the tail encroached further into the garde, then it sort of kicked up so that I could see all of the underneath of the helicopter and then it flew off. I was sobbing, frightened and very distressed. I think I remember shouting (because of the chopper) "It's too late now. It's too late. He's already DONE it. On Thursday afternoon, after the chopper had been around but further away, whenever I went outside, my skin felt tight and it also stung. My eyes felt dry and gritty. After I had been outside trying to make that call on Friday when the helicopter got way too close, those symptoms worsened and I developed a bit of a cough and a wheeze. On the Sunday, the cough was quite bad. It was similar to how I react when I have been exposed to cats ... wheezing with irritated airway and lungs

Cashmere Resident

My property has not been hand baited, as I have refused entry to bait. After the aerial baiting on the 27th of May 2024, my husband was outside when the helicopter began baiting, my husband developed severe diarrhea and headaches. I was out but on Wednesday the 29th of May 2024, I was home and heard the helicopter and I went out to film it. I developed a headache and diarrhea, these symptoms are not normal for me. I also develop a sporadic cough that is persistent. After the land baiting on my neighbour’s nature strip on the 1st of December 2023, we lost 2 beehives, they just died and then during the baiting in May 2024 in Bonogin, we lost another beehive. We haven’t lost a beehive since 2019, when there was a drought. After the land baiting and aerial baiting on the 27th/ 28th and 29th of May 2024, all my dogs developed diarrhea but my chemical sensitive rescue Pomeranian developed severe diarrhea and stopped eating, drinking and moving. We had to detox him from the poisoning and nurse him back to health.

Bonogin Resident