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Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

theguardian.com

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Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#21

Post by fian »

daemin wrote: post #17
hourislate wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is the Dingo, which interesting enough was introduced a few thousand years ago and is not native to Australia. Then some time in the 1800's they introduced 24 rabbits because they thought it would be fun to hunt and that didn't turn out to well. And if that wasn't enough they introduced Camels which now number in the millions. I am wondering what's next?

You forgot cane toads, foxes, cats, wild pigs/boar, water buffalo, and horses. All are non-native and cause damage to the native animals and environment. People have introduced a lot of animals for their own purposes which are not native to the continent and are now pests in some way.

Deer, donkeys, dogs (domestic distinct from Dingoes), goats, plus multiple bird and fish species, insects and plants:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasive_species_in_Australia

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#22

Post by Nerada »

joncrane wrote: post #2

When I read that article, all I could think of was this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Pyu-Cj0gg (In case you're sensitive, it's farmers using pitchforks to turn soil in a fallow or recently harvested field that is ridden with rats, which flushes the rats. There are a handful of ratting dogs milling about which immediately chase and kill the rats. The way they do it is the dog grabs the rat in it's mouth an…

That was an incredibly interesting watch, I had no idea this was a thing.

Is there something special about where they're digging for it to be plagued with such a large amount of rats? It looks like it would take weeks to cover all of their land with this digging + dog method.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#23

Post by QuarterReptile »

syntaxing wrote: post #3

Honestly thought it was an exaggerated title but reading the article says otherwise. That’s a lot of mouse. Is it because the habitat is missing the right predators due to climate change?

Can't speak to that particular environment, but the explosion of lyme disease in Northeastern US over the past few decades or so. Lyme disease is passed by deer ticks which largely live off of mice, which have had decades of under-predation and good fortune as suburbanization creates miniature grasslands that are too disjointed to support the predators that should be eating them.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#24

Post by sk5t »

seunosewa wrote: post #8

As an African, my first thought on seeing the pictures was that it’s a shame that the dead mice (that were caught in traps or by dogs) aren’t being used to make pet food or to feed zoo animals after cooking them thoroughly in large pots.

Is stew a normal thing to feed to zoo animals?

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#25

Post by bradrn »

stareatgoats wrote: post #5

This seems to be a recurring occurrence in Australia. China is the other country to experience this with some regularity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouse_plagues_in_Australia Interestingly, Australia was home to another, similar explosion of small mammals with high reproductive rates and no or few natural enemies: The rabbit plagues. This seems however largely to have been contained with the release of several vi…

I’m not sure ‘contained’ is quite the right word to use here. Perhaps populations might be less than what they used to be, but where I live in Sydney, you can barely walk across the road without seeing at least a couple of rabbits. We certainly see more of them than we do of wallabies, possums or any other of the stereotypical Australian animals.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#26

Post by clairity »

joncrane wrote: post #2

When I read that article, all I could think of was this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Pyu-Cj0gg (In case you're sensitive, it's farmers using pitchforks to turn soil in a fallow or recently harvested field that is ridden with rats, which flushes the rats. There are a handful of ratting dogs milling about which immediately chase and kill the rats. The way they do it is the dog grabs the rat in it's mouth an…

> "The way they do it is the dog grabs the rat in it's mouth and shakes its head wildly."

my dog is a terrier/spitz mix and shows this behavior in play (from the terrier side, the spitz side just makes her pretty =). she'll grab a stick or other small item and shake it wildly while bucking about. most people think it's hilarious until i tell them why she does it. =D

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#27

Post by tmp538394722 »

aaron695 wrote: post #20

"He said the company's six qualified pilots usually worked in pairs on mice baiting jobs but he had baited 184 hectares with a single drone during one night's operation. “If you need to drive over it to spread mouse bait, you lose $35 of grain per hectare with wheels running over it,” https://www.facebook.com/donecommander/

“Bait” means poison, right?

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#28

Post by strken »

syntaxing wrote: post #3

Honestly thought it was an exaggerated title but reading the article says otherwise. That’s a lot of mouse. Is it because the habitat is missing the right predators due to climate change?

A mouse population spike happens every summer/autumn in the wheat belt during and after the harvest. I don't think this year's numbers have anything to do with predator populations, it's probably just warm weather and a good harvest.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#30

Post by joncrane »

Nerada wrote: post #22
joncrane wrote: post #2

When I read that article, all I could think of was this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2Pyu-Cj0gg (In case you're sensitive, it's farmers using pitchforks to turn soil in a fallow or recently harvested field that is ridden with rats, which flushes the rats. There are a handful of ratting dogs milling about which immediately chase and kill the rats. The way they do it is the dog grabs the rat in it's mouth an…

That was an incredibly interesting watch, I had no idea this was a thing. Is there something special about where they're digging for it to be plagued with such a large amount of rats? It looks like it would take weeks to cover all of their land with this digging + dog method.

My guess is that it's a field that was harvested in the past weeks. Harvesting crops makes a lot of edible material fall to the ground. I believe the "leftovers" from the harvest attracts the rats.
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