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Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumHorrible Drought, Record Fires, Massive Floods: Now Playing In Australia - A Mouse Plague
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Australia, right now, feels a little biblical. There was a terrible drought, then the worst bush fires ever recorded. A flood came next. Now its the turn of the mice. The scale of the mouse plague is hard to comprehend. In the western districts of New South Wales (NSW), the countrys most populous state, millions of mice are now on the march. There are also serious infestations in southern Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
On social media, farmers post videos showing the swarm in action, while farming organizations say the cost is already in the millions. When presenting reports of the mouse plague on Sydney radio, I issue a warning about material that may disturb some listeners. The details are disgusting. Consider yourself warned.
Bradley Wilshire, a farmer near Dubbo, captured more than 500 in one night and then shared details of how to build the bucket trap in which he caught them. According to the Country Womens Association, farmers have been bitten in their beds, with some protecting themselves from incursions by placing each leg of their bed or childs cot in a bucket of sand or water.
In three towns, the mice even managed to invade the local hospital, biting patients. Then, a month ago, there was a second flood, which some thought might drown the mice in their burrows. The impact varied. In some places, the rain stabilized mouse numbers, but in other places the populations continued to boom. Worse, the flooding drove the mice indoors, with some eating through doors and the silicon around windows to gain entry.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/04/29/australia-mice-plague-animals/
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Horrible Drought, Record Fires, Massive Floods: Now Playing In Australia - A Mouse Plague (Original Post)
hatrack
May 2021
OP
msongs
(67,193 posts)1. in the immortal words of charlton heston, let my peeple go nt
Laffy Kat
(16,354 posts)2. Where there's that many mice, human illness will be a given.
I wonder if they have hantavirus there? If not, it will be something else.
2naSalit
(86,054 posts)3. Holy cow!
I think that would cause considerable brain damage for a lot of people, it sure would for me.