Mouse plague terrorises Australian farms
Mouse plague terrorises Australian farms
Ben FarmerSun, May 31, 2026 at 1:58 PM UTC
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Mice scurrying around stored grain on an Australian farm - Rick Rycroft/AP Photo
A plague of mice is devastating fields and invading homes in parts of rural Australia.
Farmers are reporting infestation levels as high as 3,000 to 4,000 mice per acre, as they scramble to lay down poison to save their grain crops.
The plague sweeping across parts of western and southern Australia is costing farmers large sums of money as they replant crops that have been eaten, and lay down bait to kill the vermin, the BBC reported.
The infestation is the second in five years and has been triggered by a record harvest last year, as well as wet weather.
Belinda Eastough, 59, who has a 14,000-acre farm 50 miles north-east of Geraldton, said: “Last year, we had a record-breaking harvest, so that gives the mice a lot of food.”
Ms Eastough explained that summer rain then spurred the growth of young, green shoots.
“So instead of just steak, they got steak and salad,” she said. “Basically, the mice were in absolute mouse heaven.”
Officials define a mouse plague as 320 mice per acre, and Ms Eastough estimates her fields currently have more than 10 times as many.
She said: “Sometimes we’ve had mouse plagues, and the numbers will crash once they run out of food, but this year, they haven’t. I’m living the nightmare.”
Officials define a mouse plague as 320 mice per acre - farmer Belinda Eastough estimated that her fields currently have more than 10 times as many
With plentiful food and moisture, a mouse population can quickly explode, and Australian farmers are used to occasional plagues.
Mice can start breeding at just six weeks old, and have six to 10 babies every 19 to 21 days.
Good conditions mean large litters and lots of baby mice surviving to maturity.
A previous plague in 2021 was so bad that a prison in New South Wales was forced to relocate hundreds of inmates to carry out cleaning and renovations after rodents caused extensive damage to internal wiring and ceiling panels.
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Many farmers believe this year’s plague is worse.
Steve Henry, a mouse pest expert at Australia’s national science agency, said farms were reporting seeing “thousands and thousands of mice per hectare”.
He told the BBC: “That’s a monumental problem as this is a really important time for farmers.”
An Australian farmer surveys his fields during a mouse infestation - Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images
There is also a psychological cost alongside the economic one, Mr Henry added.
“If you’re dealing with a drought, you can go inside and close the door and turn on the air conditioner and get some level of respite,” he said.
“But if you’re dealing with mice, you go inside, close the door, go to your cupboard, and the mice are in the cupboard. You go to sleep at night, and the mice are running across your bed.”
The swarms are caused by the common house mouse, Mus musculus, which was imported by European settlers, rather than one of Australia’s native rodent species.
Elsewhere, another of Australia’s invasive mammal species is also said to be booming, as rabbit numbers rebound from years of successful biological control measures.
Mice swarm the wheel of a farmer’s tractor
Since the 1950s, scientists have released deadly viruses to rein in exploding numbers of bunnies, which have been a leading cause of environmental damage and agricultural losses.
However, rabbits have since become immune to myxomatosis and two strains of calicivirus and their numbers are taking off again before scientists have come up with an alternative.
A history of invasive species has contributed to Australia developing tough national biosecurity laws.
In 2015, Johnny Depp, the actor, and his then-wife, Amber Heard, nearly caused an international incident by bringing their Yorkshire terriers into Australia in breach of quarantine laws.
The agriculture minister gave Mr Depp 50 hours to remove Pistol and Boo, or said they would be euthanised.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
