Swarms of Locusts decend on Israel (photos)

[2nd Timothy]

How bizzare is this?  The second article says worst plague since the 1950's



A cloud of locusts smothered the city of Eilat on Sunday
as millions of the ravenous plant-eating insects continued to swarm
across the border from Egypt and into Israel.


The Agriculture Ministry dispatched a team on Monday
morning to locate locust swarms in the south of the country and spray them with insecticide.

Thus far, farmland has suffered only minimal damage, an
agricultural expert said in an interview with Israel Radio Monday.




Although first reports of locust sightings in Jerusalem and Tel-
Aviv were reported late Sunday night, he noted that the increasingly chilly
weather should block the insects from
moving any further north, as they cannot survive freezing
temperatures.

The locusts came in two waves, first in the morning and then
a huge swarm that swept over the city during in the early
afternoon and headed north into the Negev desert. By
nightfall the insects were sighted landing in the hotel areas of
Ein Bokek and Nevah Zohar and in large numbers near Hazeva
about 40 kilometers south of the Dead Sea.



Click here to read entire article :

Worst Plague since 1950's here

More Photos.












Not that I think anything in particular to this event, but it is bizzare.  

Grace and Peace!

[2nd Timothy]

Cold Wave Saving Israel From Locusts
17:28 Nov 22, '04 / 9 Kislev 5765
 

"And He sent a blast of cold air, and the locusts plague receded" - a suggested Biblical description of Israel's victory over the locusts that have invaded for the first time in more than 50 years.


Although the ravaging insects were spotted as far north as Jerusalem and Tel Aviv Sunday night, a sudden and severe cold wave has stopped the plague in its path. Agricultural experts are banking on the frigid air to send the millions of plant-eating creatures to warmer climates.

"Residents in the center of the country can relax," said Agricultural Ministry spokesman Eldad Lands. "Only a few locusts, and not swarms, have reached Tel Aviv. In this cold weather, locusts are not active. We are expecting strong winds and hope they will not be northerly."

Residents in Eilat and the western Negev still were nervous, and several farmers reported light damage to some crops Monday morning. Farmers and government workers joined forces to spray from the ground and the air during the pre-dawn hours, according to Dr. Tzvi Klein, an Agricultural Ministry expert.
 

Truly interesting and bizzare story.

[Shammu]

Nov. 24, 2004 0:05
New swarm of locusts found near Eilat
By TALYA HALKIN
http://forums.christiansunite.com/index.php?board=4;action=post;threadid=5942;title=Post%2Breply;start=0

A new swarm of locusts was discovered Tuesday afternoon in Nahal Shlomo, approximately eight kilometers south of Eilat. It is to be sprayed from the air early Wednesday morning.

Agriculture Ministry representatives monitoring Eilat and the southern Arava received notice of a small number of locusts in the vicinity of the Eilat Port.

"We continued south and found a swarm numbering tens of thousands of locusts, which had settled into the northern fork of the Nahal Shlomo streambed," said Yossi Chen, one of the area's two monitors. "They covered every plant, rock, and patch of earth over an area of approximately 400 square meters."

Contrary to news reports yesterday evening, Chen and his colleague, Rami Sadeh, do not believe the swarm is a new arrival.

"They seem to be part of a larger swarm that arrived earlier in the week and stayed behind on the ground because of the cold," Chen said.
"The weather is in our favor," he added. "Still, we are asking people to continue reporting sightings of locusts to our hot line."

The discovery of a previously undetected swarm came toward the end of a relatively quiet day in Eilat and its environs. Still, as temperatures climbed in the late morning, thousands of locusts rose into the air, swarming above Kibbutz Eilot's vineyards, melon fields, and mango orchards. They seem to have returned across the Jordanian border, after leaving Eilat and flying east earlier this week.

Chen and Sadeh set out at dawn to follow-up on the effects of Monday's extermination efforts.

Hundreds of thousands of dead locusts covered the ground in areas surrounding the city. So far, damage to local agriculture has been minimized by crop spraying, which continued yesterday.

In addition, Agriculture Ministry monitors cited the changing color of sample specimens, which has been gradually fading from coral pink to a yellowish brown.

The change is an indication of sexual maturing, which will become dangerous if the locusts survive long enough to reach the stage of mating and laying eggs.

"So far, they haven't stopped surprising us," Chen said.

Sorry 2T I was on when the story was released.
Bob

[2nd Timothy]

Sorry 2T I was on when the story was released

No need for appologies Brother..lol   All this stuff is neat to read about!

Grace and Peace!

[Shammu]

24/11/2004 21:04
Officials: Egypt responsible for locust attack on Israel    
By Amiram Cohen and Nir Hasson, Haaretz Correspondents

Egypt does not take proper action against locusts in its territories and as a result they continue to invade Israel, the head of the Plant Protection and Inspection Services, Dr. Eldad Landes said on Wednesday. Landes cannot predict when the locusts will stop coming to Israel but he says the rain and cold weather which are expected in the next few days will stop the pests, at least temporarily.

A large swarm of locusts landed in the Ein Gedi reservation near the Dead Sea and began to feed on the vegetation in the fields of nearby kibbutz Ein Gedi, but no significant damage was caused.

The swarm had advanced north from the Sinai peninsula, through the Arava desert and Be'er Sheva. Two new swarms of locusts also arrived in Eilat and the western Negev near kibbutz Urim.

Plant Protection and Inspection Services officials are working to find the locusts, because they intend to dust nearby fields with insecticides in the early morning.

The locusts originated in Libya and migrated through Egypt. They can now be found along the entire Egyptian coastline.

Farmers fear attack on mango orchards

The swarms that hit Ein Gedi flew in from the south at around 2 p.m.. Members of the kibbutz rushed to seal hothouses where they grow spices, and took to the fields carrying handheld devices to spray insecticides.

Throughout the afternoon farmers and local authority officials sprayed the fields against locusts, some close to the shores of the Dead Sea, while others were scattered in the kibbutz and in the nearby orchards.

During the evening, most of the locusts landed near the beach.

"It is difficult to spray in the kibbutz due to the proximity to the residents' homes." said David Kadosh, chairman of the agricultural committee in the local authority.

He says that unlike other swarms which have hit the area, these locusts need a significant amount of food, and thus there are greater fears of damage which may be caused to crops, particularly underdeveloped mango trees, which may die in the case of a locust attack.

In addition to the fears of damage to the crops, officials are worried about possible damage to the nature reserve and the kibbutz's botanical garden.

Officials at the Israel Nature and Natural Parks Protection Authority also fear that the insecticides used to ward off the swarms will harm small animals who feed on the bodies of the poisoned locusts.

"We have contacted the Agriculture Ministry and they are making every effort to use substances that we have approved to limit the damage to the nature reserve," said Raviv Shapira, head of the southern district at the authority.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/505819.html

This just came in, the news is about 20 minutes old.

[2nd Timothy]

Egypt responsible for locust attack on Israel    

 

[Shammu]

Egypt responsible for locust attack on Israel    

 

I know, thats what I said. That is Israels stance on the locust attack. This could be the break away from peace with Egypt. If thats the case,....... the Lord is starting to set things, rolling faster.

Lookin' up!
Bob

[2nd Timothy]

LOL....if it gets any faster, that should solve the meese issues I've been enduring    

[Shammu]

LOL....if it gets any faster, that should solve the meese issues I've been enduring    

ROFL!!
Yes it would solve that meese's issue.

On the other hand.... Thats the only thing I can think of, is Egypt, and Israel have to break the peace between them. This just may, break that peace.

Lookin' up!
Bob

[2nd Timothy]

Egypt, and Israel have to break the peace between them.

This is true!   Some others are going absolutely bonkers over the Locusts story on other boards, and it may indeed have some unforseen concequences, who knows?   I'm not too sure about that for the moment, but you never know.   I guess its important to remain open minded to all posibilities and not become too dogmatic concerning how God will bring these things about.

Sure is interesting watching all this though!  <--(edit to change the word fun to a more appropriate word)

Grace and Peace!

[Shammu]

THE JERUSALEM POST

Egypt, rid us of these locusts!
Stuart Winer,
Nov. 24, 2004

As a small swarm of locusts reached as far north as Abu Dis, near Jerusalem, on Thursday, Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz sent a letter to his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed el-Leithy, seeking to reverse the two peoples' biblical roles: The Israeli minister asked Leithy to wipe out the locust swarms inside Egypt's borders. If Egypt was not prepared to take action to destroy the pests there, Katz added, it should allow Israel to do so.

"If the issue is not taken care of in Egypt, it will be extremely difficult to block the mass of locusts" from continuing to swarm into Israel, Katz told Army Radio.

Israelis called the Agriculture Ministry on Thursday, saying they had sighted the locusts in the Jerusalem area and as far north as Haifa.

The Abu Dis swarm landed in an area under Palestinian Authority control and Eldad Landes, the ministry's director of plant protection, said the ministry had provided the Palestinian Authority with chemicals to spray the swarms.

However, Landes said he doubted the insects would reach the capital in large numbers: a northerly wind is likely to blow them back toward the south, and cold and stormy weather is also expected to impede their progress.

There was no response from the Egyptians by Thursday evening as ministry experts tried to track several additional small swarms in the south of the country.

The ministry is frustrated by Egypt's failure to destroy locust swarms in the Sinai Peninsula before they cross the border into Israel.

"They are not doing anything at all," protested a ministry source, saying Israel had offered to supply spray planes, equipment and know-how.

Over the last week large locust swarms have swept across the border and into Israel. Ministry teams have used crop dusters and ground equipment to destroy them before they could cause serious damage. But two very large swarms are now moving across Libya and Egypt toward Israel, and the ministry is anxious that the insects be destroyed before they cross the border.

Landes said that while no fresh swarms crossed into Israel from Egypt on Thursday, some insects that had passed into Jordan earlier in the week were blown back across the border. In addition, the ministry searched for the remains of large swarms that reached Ein Gedi on Wednesday.

Since the swarms first arrived, the ministry has followed a policy of using insecticides that are strong enough to kill the insects but are not dangerous to wildlife or humans.

Although the ministry has stronger chemicals in its arsenal, Landes said it will refrain from using them unless necessary.

He added that the cold weather will prevent the insects from reaching sexual maturity, rendering them incapable of breeding and thus greatly reducing the threat to crops.

"To become mature they need higher temperatures, of 28 to 30 degrees," he said, but added that mature swarms could still arrive from outside the country.

The locusts originated in West Africa and have traveled through Libya and Egypt.

They began moving into Israel on Friday from Egypt's Sinai peninsula, entering Eilat and nearby areas of the Negev desert, consuming plants and trees and threatening crops.

[Shammu]

Nov. 27, 2004 21:52
Two locust swarms land in southern Dead Sea region
By STUART WINER


Agriculture Ministry insecticide teams sprayed two large swarms of locusts that arrived in Israel from Jordan over the weekend and landed near Neot Hakikar in the southern Dead Sea region.

The locusts gathered in Nahal Hakikar, which runs along the Jordanian border. The first swarm arrived on Friday and on Saturday teams from the Agriculture Ministry's Pest Control Service sprayed the insects after first coordinating with Jordanian authorities. The second swarm will be sprayed on Sunday morning.

Ministry officials say they have a good working relationship with Jordanian agriculture authorities.

"We have good contact with the Jordanians," said Agriculture Ministry Director of Pest Control Services Moshe Weiss, adding that although the locusts came from Jordan, and not from Egypt as in the past week, there is no cause for concern and that Jordanian authorities warn Israel of approaching swarms that their own spraying fails to kill.

The swarms arriving from Jordan apparently came from Saudi Arabia and were brought to Israel on Northwesterly winds.

Last week Israel offered to assist Egyptian authorities in battling swarms in the Sinai Peninsula, where ministry officials say not enough is being done to control the insects' spread into Israel.

Weiss said he was unsure of the fate of a small swarm reported in a Palestinian Authority area near Abu Dis in the Jerusalem area on Thursday. Israeli officials provided the Palestinians with insecticides to exterminate the insects and Weiss expects to be updated on events on Sunday.

However, Weiss noted that even if they were not sprayed, the insects would remain immobile during the cold and stormy weekend weather in Jerusalem.

Although the wind has blown small numbers of locusts to many locations around the country, Weiss said it is only the swarms that interest the ministry.

"A few individuals or dozens of insects is not a swarm," he said.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1101547175668

[Soldier4Christ]

Locusts return to Israel.

15:58 Dec 05, '04 / 22 Kislev 5765

The locust plague seems far from over, as Agricultural Ministry workers sprayed against locusts that threatened to wreak havoc on a kibbutz farm yesterday.


The locusts invaded Israel for the first time in about 50 years two weeks ago, but cold winds sent them out to sea or back toward Africa - until this weekend. Kibbutz Lotan, in the Aravah area north of Eilat, reported that the insects were attacking its tomato fields and date trees. A kibbutz member told Arutz-7 last night that locusts had between spotted for the first time in a week.

Some locusts were also sighted in the southern port city of Eilat. They arrived from the north African coast by way of the Sinai Desert.

Though an expected turn from pleasant temperatures to a cold wave by Tuesday may stop the latest attack, the spraying of pesticides has ruined the organic status of some of the produce grown on Kibbutz Keturah, also in the Aravah. However, as Kibbutz members explained, that is a preferred alternative over losing the entire crop.

The locusts were sighted two weeks ago as far north as the Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and even in the Golan, but no damage was caused. Most of the harm was incurred in the Aravah region where dates are a major crop.

Kibbutz Yahel, near Lotan, reported nominal damage to its melon, onion and date crop after the first attack of the locust.



http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=73059


Even Australia hit with a plague of locusts this year.

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,11515520%255E1702,00.html

[Shammu]

Locust Plague Spreads to Europe
By Sonya Bryskine
The Epoch Times
Dec 05, 2004


CORRALEJO, SPAIN: A man stands in a large cloud of locusts, late last month in Spain's Canary Islands about 100 kilometers (60 miles) off the Moroccan coast. SAMUEL ARANDA/AFP/Getty Images
A plague of locusts has hit the Algarve region on Portugal’s southern coast, a top European tourist spot. The clouds of hungry insects have already devastated millions of acres of crops in north and west Africa and are now rapidly invading Europe. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is predicting that this could be the worst locust swarm in 15 years.

Early warnings of the plague came as early as June this year when swarms of locusts were reported in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. In October, UNFAO expert Clive Elliot said that if summer rains arrive in the breeding grounds, “By the end of 2004 [we would expect] that a full-blown plague will have developed.”

It has already happened. Only last week Spain’s Canary Islands were swarming with over 100 million locusts, just weeks before, they ruined more than 2.5 million acres of crops on Africa’s North coast in Mauritania.

This crop devastation could potentially cause widespread famine in affected countries like Mauritania where 80 percent of the people depend on the land to make a living. In the south of the country entire harvests have already been wiped out by the locusts.

Luckily, the locust plague may not cause severe damage to Portugal due to favorable weather conditions—bad weather. Experts say most of the locusts will not survive the recent cold temperatures and heavy rain that have hit the region, although some may hibernate and return in the spring.

According to the BBC, the Spanish government is not overly concerned with possible threats. Antonio Ortega, director general of the regional agriculture department, said the flying pests that are carried north by wind and rain are dying off. “They are having problems feeding, they’re tired from traveling, and many have lost legs and wings and are dying,” he said.

The last locust plagues were in the 1940s and 1950s and lasted 10 years or more and affected 65 countries. The last African locust plague, affecting 40 countries, lasted from 1986 to 1989.

Locusts, which are simply aggressive grasshoppers, begin to multiply rapidly when food becomes abundant. A heavier than usual rainy season in 2003 in the Sahel (an area ranging from the Atlantic Ocean to the horn of Africa) and northern Africa led to a population boom of the locusts.

In a single day, an average swarm can eat the same quantity of food as 2,500 people, easily destroying vegetation and crops.

Little is known about what causes groups of grasshoppers to become ravaging swarms of flying insects, but it seems that “tickling” the insects’ legs may set off an army of crop-hungry beasts. New research at Oxford University suggests that the sensitive hairs on the insects’ legs could activate swarming. Stephen Simpson, head of Oxford’s research team on the issue, says that the nervous system sends a message to the insects’ brain, which in turn triggers a chemical reaction that results in swarming.

The FAO, based in Rome, put out requests for donations to fight the locust swarms, but by mid September they only received USD $4 million. The tally of aid is now up to $15 million with pledges of a further $40 million. The FAO estimates it will need $100 million to tackle the locust plague.

http://english.epochtimes.com/news/4-12-5/24738.html