They scurry and dart around – and just seem to be everywhere. Australia has barely recovered from fires, drought and floods, and is already experiencing the worst mouse plague in decades. The states of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria are particularly affected. Here the rodents broke into supermarkets and caused power outages.
Norman Moeris, Bauer: “They destroyed cables, motorcycles, vehicles, pipes, tractors. Some went up in smoke after short circuits. They ruined household appliances, washing machines, dishwashers, laundry, groceries. “
Moeris says the mice have never spread over such wide areas as they do now. The rodents destroyed the crops of thousands of farmers like him. Heavy rain in recent months had resulted in a bumper harvest and released Australia from years of drought. But the millions of rodents were able to multiply even faster thanks to the abundant food.
Doug O’Connor, Farmer: “I hadn’t looked in a while, I was busy sowing on the tractor. So I dropped this thing. But they are here all the time and there is no escape. So I have to lay out more bait. I’ve never had a hay harvest so badly damaged. “
The mice devastated O’Connor’s supply of hay, which he normally feeds his 800 merino sheep. The farmer wanted to keep part of the hay for the coming drought. Now O’Connor has to burn it – the mice ate it and used it as a nest. The rodents have also made wheat, barley and rapeseed unusable. During the day the millions of rodents hide, they usually become active at night – the farmers don’t close their eyes anymore.
Kodi Brady, Farmer: “I can’t sleep anymore because I’ve become paranoid. I hear them in the walls and in the roof. My social and emotional well-being is over, I’m completely in the can. I feel pretty worn down by it today. “
Kodi Brady has rubber sealed his house and is no longer opening the windows. Every night he catches hundreds of mice in buckets of water. In the morning he spends at least an hour removing the carcasses. The smell of rotting rodents is even worse than that of mouse urine. The carcasses and excrement also polluted the drinking water.
Except for free bait, the farmers affected have not yet received any help from the state. Now they are demanding permission from the government, including the poison »Bromadiolon« to be able to use. This is currently prohibited in Australia as it can also kill domestic animals and other native species. Farmer Moeris, on the other hand, relies on the rodents themselves:
Norman Moeris, farmer: “If you leave them long enough, they will eat each other, quite simply. You take on the weakest and work your way through to the strongest. “
If the plague cannot be contained, Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall fears an economic and social crisis in parts of New South Wales. It is estimated that the mice could destroy crops worth up to 634 million euros this Australian winter. A race against time, because: A pair of mice alone has up to 500 offspring.
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