Worst mouse plague in decades as hospital patients attacked and mountains of poo cover shop floors in Oz
AUSTRALIA has been hit by its worst mouse plague “in decades” following a bumper grain harvest.
Patients in hospital have been bitten and shop floors covered in poo as authorities battle to contain the swarm of rodents in the New South Wales region.
Horrifying footage captured on a farm in Gilgandra – a five-hour drive northwest of Sydney – shows thousands of rodents scurrying from under pipes and over machinery.
Farmers who made hay bales for the winter expect to lose many to the fast-reproducing rodents.
Local media reported that just one pair of mice can produce on average up to 500 offspring in a season.
Farmer Ron Mckay told channel ABC: “At night… the ground is just moving with thousands and thousands of mice just running around.”
And shop owners have said they are spending six hours a day cleaning up excrement left by the mice.
‘SHOP STINKS’
One grocer in the town of Gulargambone said: “The shop stinks because they’re dying inside, so people are going elsewhere to get their groceries.”
The New South Wales Health department said that three people had been bitten by mice while being treated in hospital in the areas of Gulargambone, Tottenham and Walgett.
A spokesperson said: “Reports of residents or patients receiving minor bites have been made … and appropriate treatment has been provided.”
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According to experts, the plague is linked to unusually heavy summer remains in the region following years of drought.
NSW Farmers president James Jackson told AFP: “This mice situation is only getting worse.
“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.”