The great Australia mouse invasion of 1917

[packman]

Rats and mice are big problems in Australia, especially around the grain-growing regions in the south and in the east. Every few years, mouse population reaches gigantic proportions ravaging crops and gardens, and invading homes, hotels and restaurants. Even urban areas, such as Sydney, harbor a huge rodent population—between 500 million to a billion, according to one estimate. That’s one hundred rats for every resident at the lower end of the scale.

One of the largest infestations, or mouse plagues, occurred in 1917 when parts of Queensland and Victoria were literally overrun with mice. They damaged wheat, chewed boots, shoes, table-cloths, carpets, curtains, bed clothes and books. They bit babies in cradles, chewed through telephone and telegraph wires, nibbled at rubber stamps and parcels in railway stations. Mice leaped out every time drawers and cupboards were opened, startling the womenfolk of the house. Housewives routinely found dead mice floating in milk jugs, and even loaves of bread had to sliced warily as well-baked specimens were sometimes hidden in the interior.


Amazing video at site:

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2019/07/australias-mouse-plagues.html

[jberryhill]

1. And some genius thought "This place could use a few rabbits..."