Mouse plagues have occurred several times throughout parts of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

since wild house mice (''Mus musculus'') were introduced by European colonists along with the

First Fleet The First Fleet was a fleet of 11 ships that brought the first European and African settlers to Australia. It was made up of two Royal Navy vessels, three store ships and six convict transports. On 13 May 1787 the fleet under the command o ...

in 1788. Australia and

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

are the two countries in the world where plagues of mice are known to occur. Mouse plagues occur in southern and eastern Australia, usually in the grain-growing regions, around every four years. Aggregating around food sources during plagues, mice can reach a density of up to .

History

Early mice plagues

Mice probably arrived in Australia as stowaways on board the

of British colonists in 1788. An early localised plague of mice occurred around

Walgett Walgett is a town in northern New South Wales, Australia, and the seat of Walgett Shire. It is near the junctions of the Barwon and Namoi Rivers and the Kamilaroi and Castlereagh Highways. In 2016, Walgett had a population of 2,145. In the 2 ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

in 1871. In 1872 another plague was recorded near Saddleworth in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...

with farmers ploughing the soil to destroy mice nests.

1880s and 1890s

In 1880 a plague of mice was noted along an area of the

Goulburn River The Goulburn River, a major inland perennial river of the Goulburn Broken catchment, part of the Murray-Darling basin, is located in the alpine, Northern Country/North Central, and Southern Riverina regions of the Australian state of Victor ...

. South Australia experienced another plague in 1890 in the

Mid North The Mid North is a region of South Australia, north of the Adelaide Plains and south of the Far North and the outback. It is generally accepted to extend from Spencer Gulf east to the Barrier Highway, including the coastal plain, the southern ...

region in areas around Oladdie, Mundoora and Georgetown.

1900s and 1910s

In 1904, further plagues occurred in parts of New South Wales including

Condobolin Condobolin is a town in the west of the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on the Lachlan River. At the , Condobolin had a population of 3,486. History Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by the Wiradjuri pe ...

and other parts of the

Lachlan River The Lachlan River is an intermittent river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, located in the Southern Tablelands, Central West, and Riverina regions of New South Wales, Australia. The Lachlan Riv ...

and around

Moree, New South Wales Moree is a town in Moree Plains Shire in northern New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Mehi River, in the centre of the rich black-soil plains. The town is located at the junction of the Newell Highway and Gwydir Highwa ...

extending all the way to coastal areas. The plague of 1917 was one of the largest mouse plagues in Australia that occurred on and around the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was general ...

area of Queensland, areas around Beulah, Campbells Creek and Willenabrina in Victoria and parts of South Australia including

Balaklava Balaklava ( uk, Балаклáва, russian: Балаклáва, crh, Balıqlava, ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklava Raion that used to be part of the Cri ...

. Eventually mice reached the Goldfields-Esperance and Wheatbelt regions of Western Australia. Plagues of mice have been occurring ever since with increasing frequency. More incidences of plagues occurred in 1918 in parts of Victoria and New South Wales.

1920s and 1930s

In 1922 areas around

Dubbo, New South Wales Dubbo () is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the Ne ...

and Tamworth in New South Wales were hit again followed by more plagues through the Riverina in 1925. Mice struck again in 1928 in parts of Queensland around

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon, Warwickshire, River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined wit ...

. Further plagues occurred around

Wimmera The Wimmera is a region of the Australian state of Victoria. The district is located within parts of the Loddon Mallee and the Grampians regions; and covers the dryland farming area south of the range of Mallee scrub, east of the South Aust ...

in Victoria, Loxton in South Australia and Winton in Queensland in 1931 and more were recorded in parts of New South Wales in 1932 including

Culgoa Culgoa is a town in the Mallee region in the north west of the Australian state of Victoria. The town is approximately from the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2021 census, Culgoa had a population of 86, declining from 101 in 2016. Primary ...

and Parkes. The next plague hit areas around

Warracknabeal Warracknabeal ( ) is a wheatbelt town in the Australian state of Victoria. Situated on the banks of the Yarriambiack Creek, 330 km north-west of Melbourne, it is the business and services centre of the northern Wimmera and southern Mallee ...

and Hopetoun in Victoria but was less intense than the 1932 plagues.

1950s and 1960s

In 1952, parts of Victoria and South Australia were struck by mouse plagues. Areas in New South Wales and Queensland were hit by mouse plagues in 1955. In 1956 parts of the

Eyre Peninsula The Eyre Peninsula is a triangular peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded by the Spencer Gulf on the east, the Great Australian Bight on the west, and the Gawler Ranges to the north. Originally called Eyre’s Peninsula, it was named af ...

in South Australia experienced the worst mouse plague the area had known. Parts of outback New South Wales around Bourke were hit by plagues of mice in 1967.

1970s and 1980s

In 1972, parts of Queensland were hit by mouse plagues as were parts of Victoria and New South Wales in 1975. A plague in Victoria in 1979 cost farmers 15 million in lost crops and damaged machinery. The plagues continued into 1980.

1990s and 2000s

Another plague occurred in 1994 affecting parts of New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and northern Victoria. Australia's worst ever mouse plague occurred in 1993 and caused an estimated 96 million worth of damage to crops and attacked livestock in piggeries and poultry farms. They also destroyed rubber and electrical insulation, damaged farm vehicles, and ruined cars and buildings.

2000s till today

Mouse numbers built to plague numbers in early 2011 in southern Queensland, through New South Wales, western Victoria and South Australia spreading to the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of , 'no', and , 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its ...

region of Western Australia in late 2011. A mouse plague affecting parts of Queensland and New South Wales began in mid-2020 and continued into 2021. Co-occurring with the COVID-19 pandemic, mice were initially not susceptible but researchers showed that a type of mutation called aromatic substitution in position 501 or position 498 (but not both) in the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein would adapt the novel Coronavirus to mice. In January 2021, the mice continued to cause problems, and raised concerns for crops in areas of New South Wales and Queensland. In March 2021, mice were stripping food and other items from the shelves of a supermarket in Gulargambone ( north west of Sydney). Health concerns for people were raised when mice killed by baits were found in drinking water tanks. Trundle and

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Wal ...

have also been affected. In May 2021, the Central West town of

Canowindra Situated on the Belubula River, Canowindra (pronounced ) is a historic township and largest population centre in Cabonne Shire and is located between Orange and Cowra in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. The curving main street ...

and residents were featured in a CNN report on the phenomena. In the meantime, mice were chewing through walls and ceilings, and were estimated to have caused $100 million in damage to crops and grain stores. Homeowners setting traps were reporting catching 500 to 600 mice per night. The plague caused the complete evacuation (420 inmates and 200 staff) of the Wellington Correctional Centre in June 2021 as dead mice and damage to infrastructure led to concerns for health and safety of inmates and staff.

References

{{reflist Mice Population ecology Invasive mammal species Environmental issues in Australia