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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

#31

Post by 34679 »

inglor_cz wrote: post #7
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…

I am weird enough to see an optimalization problem in the video. How many dogs are too many? Obviously, two are better than one, but fifty isn't better than twenty. Just saying. Also, the comment saying "that is why dogs like squeaking toys" is spot on, though the idea is probably uncomfortable to regular dog owners.

Optimization.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#32

Post by subungual »

underseacables wrote: post #29

This is going to sound silly but I’m absolutely serious: where are the cats?

It sounds like the numbers they're dealing with may be well beyond what could be controlled by cats. Additionally, they may be wary, as Australia is already a case study in what can happen as a result of introducing one species to control another's population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#33

Post by underseacables »

subungual wrote: post #32
underseacables wrote: post #29

This is going to sound silly but I’m absolutely serious: where are the cats?

It sounds like the numbers they're dealing with may be well beyond what could be controlled by cats. Additionally, they may be wary, as Australia is already a case study in what can happen as a result of introducing one species to control another's population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia

I once had a cat that lived in a work shed. Almost every day he brought me something dead. I hear you but it was just the logical thought to come to mind that I wondered why individuals didn’t have cats, or what the cats were doing. Granted now I’ve got a cat that can’t be bothered to even chase something, she just ..looks at it.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#34

Post by djrogers »

coldcode wrote: post #4
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…

I wonder how many cats every house needs to rid it of mice. Given the volume, I doubt there are enough cats in Australia to even make a dent.

Cats are incredibly efficient hunters. I’d venture that 1-2 per household would quickly make a huge difference in the population, although a good number of those would have to be outdoor / barn / feral cats to have along term effect.

Disneyland has roughly 400 cats that keep the park largely rodent free, which is a minor miracle given the amount of food there is there.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#35

Post by subungual »

underseacables wrote: post #33
subungual wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds like the numbers they're dealing with may be well beyond what could be controlled by cats. Additionally, they may be wary, as Australia is already a case study in what can happen as a result of introducing one species to control another's population: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads_in_Australia

I once had a cat that lived in a work shed. Almost every day he brought me something dead. I hear you but it was just the logical thought to come to mind that I wondered why individuals didn’t have cats, or what the cats were doing. Granted now I’ve got a cat that can’t be bothered to even chase something, she just ..looks at it.

Haha, yeah, fair. I imagine the cats that do live there are probably enjoying themselves through this but have had their capacity overwhelmed.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#38

Post by preommr »

This happens every 10 years or so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWVw-j8eYSk

There's videos from the last one where there's just entire seas of mice, crawling around everywhere. It's not in this video, but I remember problems like mice straight up eating away at live pigs stuck in their pens.

Re: Mouse plague grows to biblical proportions across eastern Australia

#39

Post by 1-more »

34679 wrote: post #31
inglor_cz wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am weird enough to see an optimalization problem in the video. How many dogs are too many? Obviously, two are better than one, but fifty isn't better than twenty. Just saying. Also, the comment saying "that is why dogs like squeaking toys" is spot on, though the idea is probably uncomfortable to regular dog owners.

Optimization.

Here's an example of a dog optimizing a simple calculus problem! https://web.williams.edu/Mathematics/sjmiller/public_html/10...
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