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

How are people coping with the situation,I can’t imagine life going on ,surrounded by mice

It's a shame as they had fewer natural predators due to Habitat loss and monoculture and now they will have even less due to all the poison being used.

It's like the biblical plagues all over again! Fire. Covid. Mice.

What's next?

Ive just read they could have a snake plague following!

Please promise that you will never post pictures on this thread.

@scrambledcustard

Ive just read they could have a snake plague following!

That's a hard no from me

Oh fabulous 🙄 there was a mouse in my kitchen earlier
Wetting myself now

I saw some pictures in the Guardian and really, really wish I hadn't.

As for the anticipated snake plague to follow... I literally can't imagine anything more hideous.

I can think of one thing worse

I’d have to leave pronto

It’s not just the actual mice they are chewing people’s cars, pipes, fridges, TVs, internet cables, everything

its all getting a bit Biblical! Where is St Patrick!

Australia needs a pipe player in a flamboyant coat.

I saw some videos the other day and it's horrendous.
I'd have packed up and left long ago.
Are people scared of them or are they made of sterner stuff?

@Cocolapew I think if you live in the country, on a farm in Australia you won’t be that bothered by mice, even when there are a lot of them! I mean I don’t think you’d love them, but you wouldn’t be overly freaked out.

@Cocolapew

I saw some videos the other day and it's horrendous. I'd have packed up and left long ago. Are people scared of them or are they made of sterner stuff?

IME there is only one animal Australians are even slightly frightened of. Salties. And TBF they are terrifying.

Oh and maybe taipans. But that's it. I mean they don't baulk at great white sharks so what's a billion or so nice? Pfft.

I remember being told, about scorpions, "they'll sting you but they won't kill you". Anything less than horrible death is a mere inconvenience to Aussies.

Agree @MrsTerryPratchett . We had a snake in the back garden (and we’re in Sydney so it’s not very common) and WIRES said “oh don’t worry it’s only mildly venomous” and I was like “cool, I’ll leave him then” and just thought how much I would have freaked over a “mildly venomous” snake when we lived in the U.K.

I quite like it when I find a scorpion! They’re small and interesting.

See! nutters.

Do you agree about salties though? Proper scary.

They need lots and lots of Jack Russel Dogs, they are the best mice and ratters out there. But don't show them a frog, our dearest departed JR was once scared by a frog that had got indoors - every time the frog jumped forwards, she (our JR) jumped backwards! It was so funny Lol!
She also thought nothing of trying to take on 3 fully grown German Sheperds, luckily, they and she were all on leads...

MrsTerryPratchett, I had to look up the word "saltie" to see what it is. There were two definitions, so are Australians scared of Canadian sailors, or salt water crocodiles?

so are Australians scared of Canadian sailors, or salt water crocodiles?

Duuurrrrrrrrr Canadians obvs. Flipping psychos those Canucks.

Oh yes @MrsTerryPratchett, I would never swim in a creek up north, way too scary.
And to be fair I am cautious of sharks too, especially as we kayak quite a lot, I tell the kids not to trail their hands in so they don’t look like bait but my Aus friends think I’m hilariously fraidy.
And we do swim in creeks sometimes but it’s when we’re on open water that I fear a shark just nipping off a hand or foot.

It's a rural thing, not in built up areas.

I'm not going to post any links because they're horrifying, but it's not on a scale that any amount of cats or dogs could deal with! Millions and millions of the buggers swarming around like a moving carpet.

Thanks for confirming it MrsTerryPratchett, that's what I thought 😁

I'm more scared of emus and cassowaries than sharks and salties. Although salties are flipping scary! My mate did the shark tank thing in Darwin, he said the tank was all scratched up with croc bites!