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The dog looks up at me quizzically, as if to ask, "Why are you waving your arms about like a mad person?". Then he starts snapping at them himself, rattled by their persistent attempts to land on his eyes and ears.
After a long absence, the bush flies have returned and I find myself involuntarily performing the Aussie salute. We encounter another walker, who is also being tormented.
"Bloody flies are back. They're awful," she complains. We get talking. Perhaps the flies have been kept at bay by three years of La Nina. And maybe we've grown soft because flies - the bigger blowies and these voracious little bushies, which stick to the corners of your eyes and try to get in your mouth - used to be markers of the Australian summer.
As maddening as they are, perhaps their return is a good thing.
Four years ago, researchers warned that Australia's insect population faced a catastrophic collapse, thanks to a combination of climate change, intensive agriculture and the widespread use of insecticides. "Because insects constitute the world's most abundant animal group and provide critical services within ecosystems, such an event cannot be ignored and should prompt decisive action to avert a catastrophic collapse of nature's ecosystems," their report said.
That alarm was sounded in February 2019. By November of that year, large tracts of the eastern seaboard were ablaze.
An estimated three billion animals perished in the Black Summer fires. The number of insects incinerated will never be known but they had definitely gone.
Visiting a scorched fireground in December of that year, the first thing photographer Sylvia Liber and I noticed was the deathly silence. The background soundtrack of insects so intrinsic to the Australian bush was absent. There were no birds. There were no insects. Just the rattle of dead leaves and scorched branches tickled by a hot breeze.
Thinking back over the years, insect populations do seem to have taken a tumble. The Christmas beetles that arrived in vast numbers in December - launching kamikaze raids against insect screens and windows and getting tangled in your hair if they made it inside - have been largely absent. Same with the moths. The bogong moth was even listed as endangered but thankfully appears to be making a comeback in the high country, thanks to the run of wet summers.
As a child, road trips always involved stops at servos along the way, not just to refuel but to clean the spattered insects off the windscreen and headlights. You could tell a country car by the insect screen which kept the grasshoppers off the glass. And you always took Max Walker's advice to remember the Aeroguard and have a good weekend.
I'll never forget the American housemate's girlfriend, who'd arrived from the US that morning and spent the afternoon spraying the backyard with Baygon because there were "so many goddamn bugs". They split up a few weeks later and she returned to America, no doubt encouraged off the Australian continent by its insects.
So, as irritating as those flies are, I'll grudgingly welcome their return as a sign the bush is recovering from drought, fire and flood. They'll never have the fondness reserved for the huntsman spiders, which occasionally hang out in the bathroom and are given names like Harry, Oscar and Lucinda. But I'll do my best, when cursing the flies, to remember the important role they play in nature. And I might even resort to wearing a cork hat.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you noticed a decline in insect numbers over the years? Are you concerned by it? Do you coexist with spiders like the huntsman or insist they're removed from the house? Do you reach for the insecticide when flies annoy you or use a flyswat? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Twenty-one days after a potentially deadly, radioactive capsule was lost in Western Australia, scientists warn it could remain radioactive for 300 years. The tiny capsule was last seen on January 10 at a mine site in Newman, in the Pilbara in the state's central north.
- Actress Cindy Williams, who played Shirley opposite Penny Marshall's Laverne on the popular US sitcom Laverne & Shirley, has died. Williams died in Los Angeles last week aged 75 after a brief illness, her children Zak and Emily Hudson said in a statement released on Monday through family spokeswoman Liza Cranis.
- Consumers pulled back on purchases in the lead-up to Christmas as cost-of-living pressures and concerns about the outlook weighed on spending. Retail sales shrank by 3.9 per cent in December, the first decline in 12 months, dragging annual growth in turnover down to 7.5 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
THEY SAID IT: "If we were to wipe out insects alone on this planet, the rest of life and humanity with it would mostly disappear from the land. Within a few months." - Edward Oswald Wilson, biologist
YOU SAID IT: Eye-watering airfares and Qantas profits add to the bad inflation numbers and passenger frustration.
Scott says: "Qantas has certainly gone down in my list of airline choices. I am travelling to the UK later this year and will fly anyone but Qantas. They may make huge profits but I hope they pay tax and repay some of the massive government financial assistance they received during COVID."
Maggie adds to the list of grievances against the flying kangaroo: "Its ongoing failure to effectively manage its 'system' for using or refunding credits for flights cancelled during lockdown. Attempts to pay for a new fare online using a credit pass fail. Multiple lengthy phone calls requesting refunds, each time providing all the details again, result in assurances amounts owing will be paid. Still no result - nearly 12 months since the initial request."
Samantha says: "I really hate how prices go up and down with demand. It makes it so unaffordable for so many people to have even the simplest of holidays. I don't understand why they are not cost based with first-in, first-served, giving everyone the chance to go somewhere. Aren't airlines just price gouging?"
Howard's airline loyalty has been squandered: "We always preferred Qantas before Alan Joyce's heavy-handed tactics and the way travellers stranded in Bali weren't even given vouchers for food or accommodation. We recently booked a relatively affordable return flight with Virgin. I didn't bother to look at the Qantas flights, although one Flight Network option was flying Perth-Gold Coast with Virgin, returning with Qantas. The Qantas leg was far too early in the morning. I consider Qantas' brand to be tarnished beyond repair."
Ian says: "One of the attractions of moving from Melbourne to Port Stephens before the pandemic was the close proximity to Newcastle airport and the ability to get a reasonably priced airfare for travel outside peak periods to see family down south. Unfortunately the low airfares have gone, but NorthConnex now makes it easier to drive around Sydney. The gruelling 11 hour drive is just a bit easier and much cheaper than flying, plus there is no chance of cancellation, no excess baggage charges, no need to hire a car in Melbourne, no need to endure the congestion at Tullamarine and no more 'This is JetStar, thank you for your patience'. We'll fly again when the price is right."
Paul agrees: "I used to be a frequent flyer when I was working. Now I hate airports. I flew interstate recently as a regular customer. Awful experience, one I'm keen to avoid if at all possible. I would much prefer to drive. No getting to the airport at ridiculously early times, no long queues for security, reasonable prices for coffees etc, no limits on baggage, no fighting the crowds at both ends. Until prices normalise, I'll only fly if there's no alternative."
Another Maggie says: "A trip from Tamworth to Sydney last week would have cost $700 by Qantaslink - boosted by the country music festival. I opted for the train which cost around $70. Smooth and comfortable, with space for working on a laptop while the battery lasted. I'm hoping that a future iteration of long-distance trains will have charging points."