A small Australian city hit by "hairy panic" may have finally come up with a solution to the problem, after houses and buildings were pictured engulfed by masses of the wispy tumbleweed.
Clogging up pipes and entrances, frustrated residents in Wangaratta have been left to clear the invasive weed themselves, after weather conditions allowed the dry grass to stack up.
But now, the council has said it is considering sending out street sweepers in order to vacuum the hairy menace.
A resident staring into the abyss of hairy panic
Paddock panic as the tumbleweeds devastate large areas
With every breath of wind, more of the nuisance swept into residents homes, and because it doesn't pose a fire hazard, they were left to clear it away on their own.
But after the phenomena became a global news story, Wangaratta Council emergency management co-ordinator Jamie McCaffrey spoke out.
He told the Australia's ABC that residents may be provided with bins, as hairy panic made an excellent composting material.
He also said that street sweepers would be considered to suck up the mess, and commented on the growing fame of the natural menace.
"People are coming down like with the Christmas lights - they want to have a look at the bad hairy panic," McCaffrey said.
The tumbleweed buries residents' gardens
Hairy panic has rendered this set of chairs useless
The grass, which is found in every Australian state, is suspected to have come from an overgrown paddock.
It grows rapidly and can form tumbleweeds with seeds inside, deadly for dispersion.
It is called 'hairy' because no other of its Panicum species have long hairs along the edges of their leaves.