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Giant Tumbleweeds Overtake Aussie Country Town Wangaratta

It's A Hairy Panic: Tumbleweeds Engulf Aussie Country Town
Channel 7 / Facebook

It's the oft-told joke about country towns: they have main streets so quiet, all you see is tumbleweeds.

But for this Australian town, the tumbleweeds have invaded at such a rate that residents' homes are being swamped.

The tumbleweeds, known as hairy panic grass, are piling up at one street in the north-east Victorian town of Wangaratta and resident Jason Perna told ABC News it was getting out of hand.

“Walked out the front door this morning to find a good six-metre spread of tumbleweed across the front of the house -- again," he said.

“It makes it difficult to get the car out in the morning -- if you can find it.”

Cheryl Lengrand told Channel 7 it was coming in as fast as she could sweep it away.

"I spent eight hours yesterday cleaning up the tumbleweed and this is what I’ve got today," she said.

TONIGHT: It looks like the wild west but it's actually an estate at Wangaratta. Dozens of homes have been overrun with tumbleweed, forcing angry residents to spend up to 8 hours every day cleaning it up.

Posted by Prime7 News Border on Tuesday, February 16, 2016

The grass grows wild on farmland and Wangaratta Council is reportedly investigating why it has become increasingly problematic.

Hairy panic grass goes by the scientific name 'Panicum effusum' and is a perennial grass with tufted, hairy nodes that can travel on the wind.

It's a native grass and the Department of Primary Industries says it "regenerates rapidly".

You can say that again.

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