A severe mouse plague is overwhelming towns north-east of Perth, with residents describing roads covered in mice and infestations in homes and businesses.

Locals and farmers say current baits are ineffective and are calling for urgent approval to use stronger rodent poisons — a bureaucratic process that is dragging on.

The local MP says in the meantime, people are leaving town.

  • WalleyeWarrior@midwest.social
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    2 hours ago

    There are at least 10 million mice in a farming town of a few thousand. More mice are being born a day than you could accomplish that way. You’re completely delusional if you think that is a viable plan.

    • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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      2 hours ago

      The mice you castrate and spay will live longer than a day. They will consume resources for their entire lives and produce no offspring during that time. That’s why this works. The mice compete with each other for food and to a lesser extent shelter.

      One person doing 90 and hour for 8 hours a day would castrate in 260 days (work days in a year) 187,200 mice. 53 people could do 10 Million Mice.

      • WalleyeWarrior@midwest.social
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        1 hour ago

        Mice reach sexual maturity at 5 weeks old and can have a litter of 10 mice once a month. You literally cannot TNR your way out of this. You either kill them with poison or they consume everything that is edible in the area and then starve to death. Those are the only options, and I reiterate that you are completely delusional.

        • FiniteBanjo@feddit.online
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          1 hour ago

          If every mouse immediately fucked, gave birth, and died then that would be worrying, but the point I made 3 times already is that the mice consume finite resources which reduce dramatically via spay and neuter.