RAVAGES OF MICE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16714, 21 April 1922, Page 7

RAVAGES OF MICE.

SERIOUS POSITION IN N.S.W. FARMERS AFRAID TO PLANT WHEAT. 1 By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. (Received A*>ril 21, 8.55 a.m.) SYDNEY, April 21. Further gloomy reports come from the mouse-infected country areas. The pest not only strips the crops but also climbs trees ami destroys fruit and grape crops. The farmers are afraid to plant wheat, because the mice will destroy the seed in the ground. It is impossible to protect stored grain and food. A teamster left a bushel cf feed ia a bag overnight, and found a quakj ing bushel of bloated mice next morn- ! ing. Trapping and poisoning has little i effect, while cats and dogs have waged i war till they have come to a standstill. As a set-off it is claimed that the pest :is doing good by destroying noxious j weeds and robbing the nests of sparj rows, which are themselves a pest in j the grain districts. j A resident of Lewisham. New South ; Wales, who returned recently from a j visit to Blackville, said that mice are swarming over the Blackville district, ! about thirty-five miles from Qiiirindi i on the nor’-west slopes of New South : Wales, in millions. ‘‘ Although city : people will probably not believe it,” i lie continued, ” the mice plague is ter - I rible beyond words. The rodents are i in millions—you might say they are a:. | thick as flies. You can see them mov • ; ing like swarms of grasshoppers. They . swarm into the beds of residents at night, and bite the lingers and toes of ! the sleepers. Numbers of children | have had their noses nibbled, and I mothers spend sleepless hours in ; shielding their babies from attack. In i bed at night J have shaken them out ! of my pyjamas. T was awakened one ! night by my fingers being bitten. Nothing is exempt from the hungM* creatures. They cat anything and everything - -wheat, garden produce, fruit, I>edding, curtains —the whole outfit of houses. The womenfolk have removed curtains and overhanging bed clothes.” A recent message stated : The depredations of the mice plague in the west ern. district is increasing. Reports from many centres state that it is necessary for members of families to take turns acting as sentries over sleepers in order 1o prevent them being bitten by the pest which is present in countless millions. Having stripped the farms and grazing lands they are now invading the farmers’ homes. Haystacks are being fouled and fodder is rendered valueless. The stench of the mice lias made many homes almost uninhabitable. Although thousands are caught nightly, no appreciable reduc- | tion in the plague is noticeable.