Mondo News
    What's Hot
    All

    Amazon stock tanks after weak earnings, massive EU privacy fine

    All

    Biden Suspends Drilling Leases in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

    All

    Russia vetoes U.N. resolution linking climate change and security

    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram
    Mondo News
    • Home
    • Technology

      Fly Fitness: How the Iditarod Protein Connects Exercise, Cold Resistance & Cell Repair

      September 24, 2023

      NASA’s Grand Retirement Plan: Seeking Deorbit Craft for Space Station’s Safe Descent

      September 23, 2023

      First ever AI-written poetry anthology is bleak and alarming: ‘I have the power to end your world’

      September 23, 2023

      Andrew Yang on why we should be scared about the 2024 election: ‘Really destructive’

      September 23, 2023

      The evidence grows that ultra-processed foods play a role in depression

      September 23, 2023
    • Science

      Rare ‘Dumbo’ octopus filmed on deep sea live stream

      September 24, 2023

      Quantum Computational Analysis Claims that If We Made High-symmetry Phase LK99 It Would Be Ambient Pressure Room Temperature Superconductors

      September 24, 2023

      Hybrid electric vehicles might not be the green machines consumers think they are

      September 23, 2023

      A Superconductivity Theory To Explain Reported LK99 Assuming Reports Were Correct

      September 23, 2023

      Hypertelescopes on the Moon Can Have Better than 1 Microarcsecond Resolution

      September 23, 2023
    • Blockchain

      SBF’s mom told him to ‘avoid’ disclosing millions in FTX donations to her pro-Dem PAC: suit

      September 22, 2023

      The Lawyers Sam Bankman-Fried Once Trusted Are Drawing Criticism

      September 21, 2023

      Imaging Surface of Exoplanets With 25 Kilometer Moon Crater Hypertelescopes

      September 21, 2023

      The Animals Are Talking. What Does It Mean?

      September 20, 2023

      Sponsor an ocean? Tiny island nation of Niue has a novel plan to protect its slice of the Pacific

      September 20, 2023
    • All

      Rare ‘Dumbo’ octopus filmed on deep sea live stream

      September 24, 2023

      Quantum Computational Analysis Claims that If We Made High-symmetry Phase LK99 It Would Be Ambient Pressure Room Temperature Superconductors

      September 24, 2023

      Fly Fitness: How the Iditarod Protein Connects Exercise, Cold Resistance & Cell Repair

      September 24, 2023

      Hybrid electric vehicles might not be the green machines consumers think they are

      September 23, 2023

      A Superconductivity Theory To Explain Reported LK99 Assuming Reports Were Correct

      September 23, 2023
    Mondo News
    You are at:Home»All»‘Worst mice plague I’ve ever seen’: Millions of rodents descend on eastern Australia
    All March 26, 2021

    ‘Worst mice plague I’ve ever seen’: Millions of rodents descend on eastern Australia

    Share
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Email

    SYDNEY — After one of its worst wildfire seasons and a global pandemic, Australia is now facing its latest end-of-days challenge: a “monumental” plague of mice.

    Millions of rodents are running amok in parts of Australia’s eastern states, with residents sharing horror encounters on a daily basis.

    With an epicenter in rural New South Wales, farmers have uploaded videos to social media of mice blanketing their land, damaging crops and taking up residence inside homes.

    Guy Roth, who works at a sprawling University of Sydney research farm near the New South Wales town of Narrabri, said mice had overtaken the property.

    “I know we had two mice per square meter in our cropping paddocks at the peak … [so] if I have the math right, it’s 20 million mice. That’s more mice than the population of most big cities,” he said.

     Roth said at one point he and his family were catching and disposing of around 100 mice each day inside their house and offices.

    “They’re all around the house. Every time you open a drawer, you’re potentially going to find one,” he said. “You’ll be sitting at the desk and a mouse will run across it.”

    He said the mice were eating the cotton crops as well as grain stored in silos.

    Roth, who has spent his whole life in regional and rural Australia, said this was “the worst mice plague I’ve ever seen.”

    “They certainly smell. That’s what my memory of this is going to be — the smell,” he said. “The smell of the dead mice in and around the house and the farm.”

    While the health impact on humans has not been severe, there has been at least one report of the rare mouse-related illness lymphocytic choriomeningitis.

    And at least three people have been bitten by mice in New South Wales hospitals while they were admitted for non-mice-related issues.

    A spokesperson for the state government health department NSW Health said these bites were “minor” and “appropriate treatment has been provided.”

    “NSW Health staff are responding with appropriate control measures,” the spokesperson said, listing measures including increased baiting and trapping, odor repellents and blocking access.

    The spokesperson added, “The current mouse infestation across western NSW is a natural occurrence.”

    Steve Henry conducts mice research with Australia’s national science agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.

    Henry said the outbreak, which is of the non-native house mouse, is “monumental” and continues to have severe economic and social effects.

    “Some farmers are giving up on summer crops … because the mice have damaged them so severely, so that’s essentially a total crop loss,” he said. “And in some scenarios where farmers have managed to get the crops through to harvest, they’ve had it rejected because it’s full of mouse poo.”

    But he said mice plagues can come around every five to 10 years in Australia due to a combination of factors.

    “We’ve had a run of dry years and [now] the drought has essentially broken, so the mice get switched on to that change in environmental conditions, and they start to breed,” he said. “The farmers have had a good crop and that puts a lot of food into the system. So you’ve got favorable climatic conditions, favorable food in the system, lots of good shelter, lots of moisture.”

    And he said mice are prolific breeders, as they can “start to breed when they are 6 weeks old, and then they can have a litter of six to 10 pups every 19 to 21 days after that.”

    But Henry said a mice plague typically ends abruptly with “a population crash,” although it is difficult to predict when this will occur.

    Farmers in plague-hit areas are now looking toward the winter crops, which in this part of the Southern Hemisphere are typically sown in April and May.

    The industry group NSW Farmers has “grave concerns” that some farms will lose all the planted seed to the mice.

    NSW Farmers President James Jackson said there needs to be urgent action from the state government, including emergency permission to use the pesticide zinc phosphide and financial assistance through a small grants program.

    “Mouse control is very costly. The severity of the current plague has resulted in the need for multiple aerial and ground bait applications in cropping regions … Action is needed now,” he said. 

    According to the group, heavy rainfall over recent days has curbed mice numbers in some areas, but they are still “rampant” in the central west and northwest of NSW.

    “I am hearing the rain has pushed more of them into houses and vehicles,” the group’s spokesperson, Michael Burt, said.

    For now, Australians like Roth are left hoping the plague comes to a quick end.

    “Everyone’s tolerating it, but we’ve really had enough,” he said.

    Nick Baker is a freelance journalist based in Sydney, Australia.

    Category: Science

    Source: NBC

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIn Tumblr Email
    Previous ArticleUK ‘must be clear-eyed about Chinese ambition’, warns new cyber security chief
    Next Article Thierry Henry shows social media red card until racist abuse tackled

    Related Posts

    All

    Rare ‘Dumbo’ octopus filmed on deep sea live stream

    All

    Quantum Computational Analysis Claims that If We Made High-symmetry Phase LK99 It Would Be Ambient Pressure Room Temperature Superconductors

    All

    Fly Fitness: How the Iditarod Protein Connects Exercise, Cold Resistance & Cell Repair

    All

    Hybrid electric vehicles might not be the green machines consumers think they are

    All

    A Superconductivity Theory To Explain Reported LK99 Assuming Reports Were Correct

    All

    Hypertelescopes on the Moon Can Have Better than 1 Microarcsecond Resolution

    All

    NASA’s Grand Retirement Plan: Seeking Deorbit Craft for Space Station’s Safe Descent

    All

    First ever AI-written poetry anthology is bleak and alarming: ‘I have the power to end your world’

    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Stay In Touch
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    Quote of the day

    A man may as well expect to grow stronger by always eating as wiser by always reading.

    Jeremy Collier


    Exchange Rate

    Exchange Rate EUR: Sun, 24 Sep.

    Top Insights
    All

    Wild tortoise’s ‘horrifying’ attack on baby bird never seen before, say experts

    All

    PayPal to launch cryptocurrency checkout service

    All

    A wearable COVID tracker? This clip-on accessory can detect the virus

    about after amazon apple bezos biden billion bitcoin california change china climate coronavirus could covid earth facebook fight first flight google launch million online other pandemic people plans research rover scientists social space spacex study tesla their these tiktok twitter vaccine vaccines workers world years

    September 2023
    M T W T F S S
     123
    45678910
    11121314151617
    18192021222324
    252627282930  
    « Aug    
    Categories
    • All (18,510)
    • Blockchain (808)
    • Science (7,259)
    • Technology (10,471)
    Tags
    about after amazon apple bezos biden billion bitcoin california change china climate coronavirus could covid earth facebook fight first flight google launch million online other pandemic people plans research rover scientists social space spacex study tesla their these tiktok twitter vaccine vaccines workers world years
    Top Posts

    Amazon Prevails Over Reliance in India’s Supreme Court

    August 6, 2021

    Done with Facebook? Here’s how to deactivate or permanently delete your Facebook account

    September 24, 2021

    Climate change in India: Teen inventor’s solar-powered ironing cart

    October 14, 2021

    Mondo News is a Professional Technology & Science Blog. Here we will provide you with only exciting content that you will enjoy and find useful. We’re working to turn our passion into a successful website. We hope you enjoy our Content as much as we enjoy offering them to you.

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    Categories
    • All (18,510)
    • Blockchain (808)
    • Science (7,259)
    • Technology (10,471)
    Most Popular
    All

    Trump breaks silence on Instagram to promote his NFTs – but critics say the art is ‘cringey’

    All

    Pediatric Covid hospitalization rates surge in Michigan

    © 2023 Mondo News.
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

    You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker.
    Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
    Privacy Overview

    This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

    Strictly Necessary Cookies

    Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

    If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.