General News
12 December, 2025
Recovery takes time
BARRY'S CORNER: The regeneration of some of the bushland that had been burnt in the past few years is encouraging and a delight to observe.
Once the fire is stopped the new life starts all over again.
One species that is an early starter is the ants. A flame tears everything growing above the ground and passes by there will be a colony of ants sheltering in secure tunnels and as soon as the ground cools the ants seem to bounce out and are soon spreading all over the area seeking food.
Larger animals such as wallabies and kangaroos can be caught up in the confusion and be killed.
Because they move by hopping they can bounce straight into a stump hole full of coals.
Serious burns can result and the animal will be disabled.
Often, they can recover but it might take a few days.
If they can see a danger as such an agile animal they will avoid any risk but a kangaroo does not have much purchase with narrow and small feet.
If the roo escapes the fire it will move to a better site to feed but if it is wounded the ants will cause it grief.
This is a natural event from most fires.
Ants are cleaners of the bush serve as seed dispersal units and help clean up carcases.
A lot of birds cannot escape and the smoke can bring them down.
The survivor’s will get to work and the ravens and crows soon make short work of a dead animal.
A raging fire can make a visual mess but as soon as it is cool a flurry of activity is starting to take place and although the bush is destroyed it will not grow back as it was before and it could take some regions decades to be returned as vaguely similar.
On a human scale the bush seems to be hardly moving at all but the recovery is taking place before our eyes.
For a few weeks there will be plenty of food to store and the ants take an advantage of this.
Kangaroos eventually find more food somewhere and can return to some fast mating.
Soon there will be joeys everywhere.
Big fires disturb the former balance of the biodiversity and it takes a long time to recover because there is not a reservoir of animals ready to recolonise.