Horror mouse plague expected to hit Sydney in just weeks
Sydneysiders have been urged to begin rodent-proofing their homes with the horror NSW mouse plague predicted to hit the city in a matter of weeks.
Country towns have been struggling since last year with an infestation that has ruined crops, damaged tonnes of stored hay and grain, infiltrated homes and caused millions of dollars of damage.
The NSW government said on Thursday it had secured 5000 litres of anti-coagulant bromadiolone - enough to treat about 95 tonnes of grain - and would provide it to farmers for free once federal authorities approved its use.
Experts have warned those living in Sydney to batten down the hatches as mice are expected to begin hitching rides into the city on trucks in search of warmer areas with more food.
The city's prolonged warm temperatures could see it become overrun with mice once winter hits, Dr Leigh Davidson, CEO of Your Vet Online, told Sunrise on 7.
"We’re having really good warm temperatures, there’s an abundance of food and we’re not getting those frosts that we’d normally get," Dr Davidson said.
Up 120 pups can birth from a single mouse, which can begin reproducing at just six weeks, making them a huge threat in uncontrolled volumes.
"If we don’t have that frost then they’re actually going to keep multiplying. Winter is the usual time when those numbers come down but we don’t have the frost so they’re not going to die naturally," she said.
It has literally been raining #mice in parts rural NSW and QLD for a few months now. Will these cold frosty nights help thin out the plague?
Full story > https://t.co/1YVI1BdC90
📷 Photo by @juzcroake/IG pic.twitter.com/RFpbUGKpGx— Weatherzone (@weatherzone) May 18, 2021
GP Dr Ginni Mansberg urged people to be hyper mindful of the increased presence of poisonous baits, as they could make both them and their pets "sick for a while".
She also noted an increase in bacterial infections among the community since the beginning of the mice plague.
“They do bear diseases, all sorts of horrible infectious diseases ... We’re seeing a bit of an uptick in leptospirosis which is a bacterial infection carried by mice," she said.
Bromadiolone is able to kill mice within 24 hours of its consumption, but some concerns have been raised over the threat it could pose to native birds and other wildlife who eat the mice.
The chemical solution forms part of a $50 million government package announced last week to help farmers and regional towns suppress mice numbers.
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian on Thursday said the government was working closely with experts in the area to deal with the mice as safely and quickly as possible.
"It's a dire situation and we're trying to source the best way of dealing with the plague, supporting farmers and communities," she said.
With AAP
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