Kudzu
Coverage of Kudzu in the Nexus archive.
- Crews use drone to rescue bull from ravine
Crews in Iredell County used a drone to rescue a bull that fell into a kudzu-covered ravine. The bull had escaped from a trailer near Statesville and was nudged out of the vines by drone operators before being taken to a vet for injury assessment.
- The ‘vine that ate the South’ meets its match in the sky
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife is testing herbicide-spraying drones to combat invasive kudzu vines in hard-to-reach areas. A year-long project treated 93 acres across eight sites, reducing dense kudzu growth and enabling native plants and wildlife to return.
- How kudzu became the ‘vine that ate the South’
Kudzu, an invasive vine native to Asia, was introduced to the U.S. in 1876 and later used for soil erosion control during the 1930s Dust Bowl. It now threatens ecosystems by smothering native plants and accelerating habitat loss, exacerbated by climate change. Conservationists like Ben Nanny and Sam Adams highlight its rapid growth and challenges in eradicating its deep-rooted tubers.