Kudzu, the nightmare weed that gobbled the South, is disappearing.

Slowly, inexorably, the scientists, foresters, farmers, goats and sheep are gaining the upper hand on the slinky, creepy green vine that makes abandoned homes and utility poles disappear seemingly overnight.

“It’s in retreat,” said Jim Miller, a somewhat retired research ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service in Auburn, Ala., nicknamed Dr. Kudzu.

Yet kudzu's decline is difficult for a Southerner to grasp. The "mile-a-minute vine" has inspired poets, musicians, playwrights and science-fiction enthusiasts.

Read more about the vine that didn't eat the South here.

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The Centennial Yards site is shown. A construction worker recently fell from the 19th floor of a building and died at the site.

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CIA Director John Ratcliffe, joined at center by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, testifies as the Senate Intelligence Committee holds its worldwide threats hearing, on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 25, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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