Australia, mice problem

[Summersnake]

Been reading about this ,and just wondering,..do they not have any natural predators? ..the photos are horrendous,there are just to many to deal with ,I know Australia has birds that nest on the ground ,so this is why no cats I expect..
Must be so awful to be in the middle of this ,.I read that the mice will end the plague themselves by ripping each other’s heads off ..
What conditions lead to this situation,is it a regular cycle and it’s just v bad this year ..would love to know more ,or hear from anyone in the thick of it ,and how they are coping ,I simply can’t imagine how awful it must be

There are cats in Australia (they are another problem, same as in the UK they kill birds and native mammals). In the mice ridden areas though, there are just so many mice the cats have given up chasing them apparently (I guess they are bored and full) and there a few just too many anyway.

It is cyclical to some extent - mouse plagues have occurred about every ten years since they were introduced. But this is one of the worst ever. Good rains (after years of drought) have lead to more crops for them to eat, and a mild winter means they haven't died off or stopped breeding due to cold.

It's horrendous though, isn't it. The smell is just horrible apparently. Even driving down the road is like driving on bubble wrap - pop pop pop pop as you drive over mice.

I live in NSW but not in an affected area.

Did the recent fires not kill many of them off

What have past governments done ,if it re occurrs every 10 years ,how have they tackled it in the past

Interestingly only Australia and China have mouse plagues. It's just one of those 'perfect storm' things where the breeding season and the harvest align and population explodes.

Really only Australia and China ,why is that

Google for really interesting reading!

It's basically harvest plus breeding cycles.

I don’t think I’d be able to cope - I’m utterly rodent-phobic after mice got in the loft of our student house 30 years ago.

I read they are going to use bromide ,that may kill of kites and snakes ,so mean another plague next year ..it’s really hard to know what else they could do though

Cats are mostly kept inside in Australia. They need to ship all our extra cats out there. Pronto.

Ugh. Is this on the news? Horrible about driving over them

They are literally having the run of the place ,I was looking at how fast they breed ,they give birth to ten babies ,then get pregnant straight away .babies can be pregnant from 6 weeks

My absolute worse nightmare. Can’t bear any kind of mice/rodent. Makes my skin crawl thinking about it.

@FlyNow

It's horrendous though, isn't it. The smell is just horrible apparently. Even driving down the road is like driving on bubble wrap - pop pop pop pop as you drive over mice.

I live in NSW but not in an affected area.

Oh that is disgusting 🤢🤢

It usually takes a hard frost to kill them off but it's been really mild. A friend whose parents have a rice farm in the Murrumbidgee goes through this every few years (or locusts!). He remembers his Mum opening the cornflakes box one morning and a dozen mice jumping out. Mind you, they're used to these kind of plague things - I have memories of his Dad and I chatting at a barbecue - a fly flew into his Dad's mouth and he just swallowed it and carried on chatting, reckoned it was a common occurrence!

There's plenty of feral cats in Australia.

There are 74 and a half cats in my garden alone, shitting and loitering and eyeing up the fledglings, half being and old decrepit white thing that looks like a cat.

I'm happy to round them up and send then to OZ, like, right now.

@Summersnake

Did the recent fires not kill many of them off

The fires were in Jan 2020 and the mice have come about a year later.

It must be awful for the farmers ,their crops being ruined ,the government needs to act before they spread further

@FlyNow

It's horrendous though, isn't it. The smell is just horrible apparently. Even driving down the road is like driving on bubble wrap - pop pop pop pop as you drive over mice.

I live in NSW but not in an affected area.

I can just imagine this shudder

@Summersnake

What have past governments done ,if it re occurrs every 10 years ,how have they tackled it in the past

There is no great solution unfortunately. Government has offered rebates to farmers for buying traps and baits, as you said they may approve new poisons. Basically though, the plague will end when climate conditions (winter) kill off the mice. It's winter now though.

I haven't seen anything about this. Is is all over?

Sometimes it's just not possible to get rid of introduced species once they get a grip. Australia has a big problem with these - also see cane toads.

I would have to move or kill myself, it’s my worst nightmare!!

So mice are not native ...came on ships ,no many predators then ,not enough kites ect to eat them .