mouse plague 2011

[cootha]

Has anyone been caught in the mouse plague in their CT?  Going out to the centre in a few months and it's meant to be the worst plague in 20 years. 

Some mates just came back through Cameron Corner on dirt bikes and the mice were everywhere, the fellas couldn't sleep in their swags as the mice were crawling and biting all over.

Is it worth going or should we avoid it like the, err, plague?  Do they die out over winter?

[davo69 and the Nurse]

Mice are everywhere at the moment. Have caught 8 in the house in the last 2 weeks. It looks like they are coming up through the laundry floor drain.

the Nurse

[Yoda42]

We just got back last Monday from a trip to the red centre. There were a few mice at Rainbow Valley that raced over the canvas, but didn't find their way in the camper. They were also at Owen Springs Reserve and Trephina Gorge - The Trephina Gorge mice were the smartest as they were the ones to find their way in the camper, the little buggers

So we have invested in a press stud kit to bung up the gaps we found between the canvas and the frame. In the field, we had to make do with balled up bits of gaffer tape, so there are now 1002 uses for the stuff

[shrek4]

At Easter we stayed at the Port Wakefield Caravan Park in our CT and caught plenty of mice (at least . The inlaws had their dogs with em and they loved chasing the bloody things. Reminds me, need to get some glen 20 to disinfect the camp table for the next run.

Funny thing was when we packed up the CT their was a dead mouse squished under the CT floor. We'd been walking over the sodden thing for the few days we where there.

Had mice in the CT, rummaging through stuff all through the night. Not much you can do other than make sure the bin was empty and food was well out of their way.

[peteandkyles]

We camped at Coward Spring last night and yep they are there as well. We have them around Roxby to the point that we caught 45 on nightshift in 10 hours in the office in traps without bait. Last night camping we had them a few times during the night on the roof of the camper and trying to get in. People camping next to us had small holes chewed through as they were trying to get in. They are everywhere.

[camdyson]

Anyone have a good recipe for repelling the little bu&&ers? Not looking forward to facing that every night for a month. 

Cheers,

Cairns (  ) Cam

[mystq]

I got a few in my place, kill 1 and another just pops up!

[Isuzumu]

Could try using rat sack in an old ice cream container with a small hole in it so that only the mice can get into. Put it away from the reach of small children of course.  Hope fully they will go for the rat sack and leave every thing else alone.
Thanks for the reminder cootha better put some in the camper before our Western Qld trip in June.

[darren]

When i was a young bloke i lived in a Holden ute for a while travelling around and surfing. There was a mouse plague at Cactus bay when i was there. At night you could just walk around and step on them. They were in everything including sleeping bags.
 We used to spend evenings inventing ways to kill them

[GU_Thomo]

The mice don't bother me, it is the damage they can do to the canvas that has got me worried. :
There are heaps of stories starting to surface, of them eating their way in and out of tents and campers. :'( :'( :'( :'(

Cheers
Parry

[darren]

Maybe take a Diamond python with you. The only issue is they only eat about one mouse a week so you might need a few...

[D4D]

I wonder what deep fried mouse tastes like 

[DANBRI]

I just got back from a trip, they didn't get bad until we camped near Hilston. They tried to get in our tent all night but failed, though they did get into the car and eat all of our perishables and pooh everywhere. I don't know how yet. I caught 5 stow aways in the car at the next camp and had them running up my leg whilst driving (no kidding).

It wouldn't stop me going by any means, as long as your tent is thick 12oz plus Australian canvas you won't have an issue.

Take a couple traps and make sure all your food is in containers and rubbish kept well away from your camp.

I built the fire big thinking it might give me a radius but they are not scared by it either. I ended up making a slingshot and trying to shoot them all night.

Once they have a decent cold snap it will nuke most of them and sort itself out in time.

[Gunna Do]

Save the environment and all its beautiful inhabitants and try some of this stuff:-

Here at Dreaming Earth Botanicals (in addition to our many essential oils and massage products for humans), we produce all natural pest control products: Mouse Away for mice, rats and other rodents is all natural, very effective, safe for people and animals. Plus, we offer a non-harmful mouse trap - the Mice Cube, aka Mouse Cube.

Note: we are experimenting with some crawling insect repellents for roaches and other insects and plan to have them ready soon.

Products:

 Mouse Away Concentrate - Pure essential oils of peppermint and spearmint.  Use "straight" and place on saucers, cotton balls, etc.
 
 Mouse Away Solid - Convenient pouches containing our Mouse Away concentrate that can be tossed in cabinets, attics, crawl spaces, and hard to reach areas.

 Mouse Away Spray - Spray under cabinets, in closets, around exterior walls, in basements, etc.

[Gunna Do]

Particularly interesting the peppermint and spearmint ingredient, perhaps someone could try this combination out.

[darren]

Rather than kill them maybe we should try and understand why they are trying to get into our stuff. Work with them. That way we can have an outcome that is acceptable by both party's.

[areyonga]

Years ago in another mouse plague I put a large container half full of water and sprinkled some chaff over the top and a few fence palings resting on the ground and the top of the container with some chaff sprinkled on the wood.  The mice would walk up the wood and jump into the chaff covered water and drown.  The most I caught in one night was about 15.  Its easy to use and non dangerous, except to the mouse

[darren]

Or maybe we could use and inverter and one of those plug in pest free gizmos...

[D4D]

Or maybe we could use and inverter and one of those plug in pest free gizmos...

Now that would be a good test but I'd still like to see them walk the plank 

[darren]

Years ago in another mouse plague I put a large container half full of water and sprinkled some chaff over the top and a few fence palings resting on the ground and the top of the container with some chaff sprinkled on the wood.  The mice would walk up the wood and jump into the chaff covered water and drown.  The most I caught in one night was about 15.  Its easy to use and non dangerous, except to the mouse

 On that trip out at Cactus we got a sealed milk crate, taped a glass coke bottle with the neck hanging over the edge, made a ramp up to it then hung a bit of food on a wire near the neck. The mice would run up and along the bottle and slip into the water. We would then watch them swim, they lasted between 30 to 45 min then drowned. in the morning we woke up and the crate was so full the water had spilled over and they were just jumping out.

[Yoda42]

We found they didn't chew into canvas, but liked anything rubber or silicon. They even had a chew on the jockey wheel! Also the foam rubber used as padding on the stone guard and on the hard floor roof rack. as has already been said, keep your rubbish up high, like on or in your car, close up your kitchen and keep all food sealed.

[gibbo301]

Maybe take a couple of cats with you 

[BigJules]

Does one's camper insurance cover damage by mouse plague? I could see a lot 5+ year old campers suddenly heading west  .

[DANBRI]

    

[GU_Thomo]

Hey Dan,
Where did you get those mouse traps?

Cheers
Parry