A severe mouse plague in the West Australian farming town of Morawa overwhelms homes, businesses and farms, prompting urgent calls for government assistance amid growing health concerns and rising economic losses.
Locals have endured months of an endless tide of mice flowing into town, a situation president Karen Chappel described as "gravely concerning".
"We have mice in our homes, we have mice in our cars; they're in our sheds, they're in our paddocks, they're at the school, they're everywhere," she said. "I believe there will be viruses that will be spread through the hundreds of rotting mice carcasses that are around the place.
"ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris LewisMrs Chappel said residents were practising good hygiene and were doing their best to remove mice through baiting and trapping and cleaning up carcasses, but it was proving impossible. "People have had mice bite their toes, people have come home from holiday and there are mice nesting in their beds," she said. ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis"We've got kiddies out there playing in this filth.
""I think in the past week realising that this is really happening, and I'm not just whingeing, this is real. "ABC Mid West and Wheatbelt: Chris LewisIn a statement, the state government said: "The Department of Education is providing support to Morawa District High School and Morawa Agricultural College to ensure staff and students' health and safety is prioritised while the schools continue to operate.
"Schools have increased the frequency of industrial-standard cleaning, and are encouraged to remove waste, and keep gardens tidy. "Morawa Health Service remains operational and has also implemented mitigation measures, including safe baiting and enhanced cleaning. "The two shops in the town that sell groceries have been badly hit. Local IGA manager Aaron Chadwick said so far he had thrown out $20,000 of groceries that mice had chewed or nested in.
ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis"People make comments about the smell and we do our best to cover it up, we spray some air freshener and it lasts for maybe 10 minutes then it starts smelling again," he said. Up the road, Peter Thornton owns Morawa Traders. He comes to work early to check the shop for dead mice and to empty traps and then spends his spare time during the day removing mice.
ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris LewisIt is taking its toll. After months of battling mice at his home and his shop, Mr Thornton is exhausted.
"Sometimes I'm serving a customer and you'll see them crawling up the shelves behind them,""Everyone is effected, it's not just in the shops. Some of the stories I've heard are just horrendous. Robert Mitchell grows grain outside the Morawa townsite. ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris LewisFor the first time his family baited its entire property for mice and some paddocks will need more than one bait application.
"We've seeded paddocks and come back 10 days later and they've literally dug the seed out of the ground," Mr Mitchell said. Crops that have germinated are being chewed off, meaning some areas within paddocks will need to be re-seeded. It is a significant additional expense for farmers during a period of record fuel and fertiliser prices.
"It's going to cost a lot, we are working on $9 to $10 a hectare for the bait, and then whatever the application cost is," Mr Mitchell said. Damian Ryan says he has never seen the mice so bad in all his life. His sheds are crawling with mice. He empties hundreds from his bucket traps every day.
Damian Ryan holds a handful of mice caught in his traps.
"As the food source gets less, we're getting more and more coming in to find feed. "I think a lot of it could be with no more sheep anymore eating spilt grain from harvest, the food source is there and they've just built up.
"ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris LewisThe grains industry through Grain Producers Australia is lobbying the national chemical regulator, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority , toFarmers fear new shoots will be eaten away by the mouse plague. In a combined statement, the APVMA confirmed it was assessing a bait permit application from GPA.
"Since then, we have been working closely with GPA, GRDC and CSIRO to fast-track consideration of a permit for a 50 /kg ZnP mouse bait to support the management of these plague conditions," the statement said. "Before a permit can be issued, APVMA must be satisfied that the proposed use is safe for people, the environment, and trade. These assessments are currently underway.
"ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis"I'd like to come and see what we are living with, and what our farmers are going through," she said. "We don't want our farmers to not have a good crop … if we can get the mice to die in our paddocks, we'll have less mice in our town site. "ABC Midwest & Wheatbelt — local news in your inbox
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