Could Tassie see a NSW-level mouse plague?
Tenants who keep a messy house could be held responsible if the property becomes infested with rodents — as the pests are on the move as winter approaches. SEE THE RISKS >>
Tasmania
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Tenants who keep a messy house could be held responsible if the property becomes infested with unwanted guests.
Principal Solicitor of the Tenants Union Benedict Bartl said it depends on the circumstance, but renters could be forced to shell out if their behaviour has caused an infestation.
“A tenant may be responsible for a mouse infestation if food is left out or the garden is overgrown,” Mr Bartl said.
“If a tenant is responsible for the infestation, the damage caused will have to be paid for by the tenant.”
He said damage can be paid for out of the bond but if the cost exceeds the bond, landlords can take the tenant to court to have them pay the remainder.
If tenants believe the infestation was out of their control, they can dispute it.
“They should either seek verification from a pest controller or ask the Residential Tenancy Commissioner to intervene.
“They will not be responsible for the removal of a beehive where the queen bee has set up home in the backyard.”
Will Tassie see a NSW-style mouse plague?
Pest control technicians say it’s not out of the question that Tasmania could have a mouse plague of its own, as rural New South Wales continues to be overrun by rodents.
Scorpion Pest Management Senior Technician Shannon Jones said while a mouse plague is possible given the numbers are already on the increase, it was unlikely to happen on the same scale.
“For it to happen in Tassie, there’d have to be a lot more mice than what we have now,” he said.
“If something like that did happen down here, we’d be able to nip it in the bud pretty quick.”
Technician Tracey Eyles said the problem has already been worse in Tasmania this year.
“That’s started a lot earlier this year, there’s been an increased activity going into winter,” she said.
“I don’t think it’s reached its peak. I think it will be in June when the weather’s colder.”
Mr Jones said the situation in New South Wales likely started with flooding.
“All the mice went to higher ground in farming regions,” he said.
He imagined those in rural areas would suffer the most if the same situation unfolded here.
“If it did happen, it’d have a big impact on farmers, the mice would contaminate the grain and stock feed,” he said.
Mr Jones said mice could breed quickly.
“A mouse, they can have five to six babies per litter up to ten times per year and they can reproduce at around seven weeks old,” he said
“They’d just keep breeding, that’s the problem.
“I wouldn’t want to do the maths on the mice in NSW at the moment.”
The experts said the rodents found their way into homes in search of food and warmth.
“The best thing is blocking out entry points in the home. For example, heat pumps have a pipe that goes into the homes,” Ms Eyles said.
“Rubbish outside homes can draw them in, so does leaving pet food out of a night.
“If you have chooks, it’s good to use a chook feeder.”
Cat eyes off mouse in kitchen
Mouse infestations are on the rise as colder months approach.
Kingston Beach local Nathan Rockliff had started hearing scurrying and scratching in the walls of his share house when one evening, a tiny mouse decided to make itself at home right underneath his pet cat’s food bowl.
Tantalisingly close, Mr Rockliff believed the mouse had dashed from underneath the oven into a gap under the dry food, with curious feline Billy catching on and clawing repeatedly at the bowl hoping to catch the rodent under his meal.
“I looked behind me and Billy was arching his back and pouncing on his food bowl,” Mr Rockliff said.
“I thought ‘that’s so weird’ – I’d never seen him do that.”
Somewhat of an animal lover, Mr Rockliff had noticed a pattern over the years and had done his best to save tiny mice from the claws of his beloved Billy.
“We’re not averse to having a little mouse here and there when the weather gets colder,” he said.
“I found a baby in the driveway once before – I rescued it before Billy could get it and caught and released it with a tissue box.”
Nathan, like many locals, has noticed a rise in numbers of the beady-eyed creatures this Autumn, with one Sunnyside local recently catching more than 20 rodents in her home during one week.
Mr Rockliff said Billy was spoiled for options already, with a quite literally a pile of food sitting in the bowl under which the mouse was hiding, so he made it his mission to rescue the mouse.
“I dragged the bowl over to the door, and Billy kept going for it and going for it,” Mr Rockliff said.
“As soon as I got to the door, I lifted the bowl up and the mouse jumped out.
“Billy didn’t see it happen so he thought it was still under there. He was so confused when I did lift the bowl up and nothing was there – he thought he’d been pranked.”
The confused cat continued to claw at the bowl for a few moments before conceding the lucky mouse had fled and the usual, less thrilling bowl of cat food was back on the menu.
Mr Rockliff and his housemates will look into options to free the remaining mice from young Billy.
“I don’t really know what options there are – I don’t want to kill them necessarily, but they can be prone to spreading sickness.”
PETA Australia special projects co-ordinator Desmond Bellamy warned against some methods of eradicating mouse issues, like the “mouse plague” in NSW.
“Dropping poisons which will be picked up by native animals, dogs and possibly human children and will end up in water supplies is a myopic and fatuous way to make it look like something is happening, without ever addressing the issue,” he said.
“Mice probably came to Australia with the First Fleet, with mitochondrial DNA analyses showing a strong link to the UK mouse. We can hardly blame them for thriving, with infestations being reported for the last 150 years, starting with a ‘mouse plague’ in Murrurundi in 1871.”
Mr Bellamy said the government had used “toxic and horribly cruel poisons” as an easy solution to a systemic problem which sustained expensive damage to properties nationwide.
“PETA urges everyone to remember that mice feel pain and fear, just as dogs, cats, and farmers do,” he said.
“The use of gut-wrenching poisons that cause slow, agonising deaths to mice, or other animals who eat the poison or its victims, is no substitute for investing in solid science.”
judy.augustine@news.com.au
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