‘Lost’ because of the rat disaster, Australia decided to use extremely toxic chemicals

‘Rats are only beneficial when they are dead,’ Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack declared war on the rat disaster, prompting the country to plan to use powerful rat poison.
New South Wales (NSW) state officials are suffering from a rat infestation, with 800-1,000 animals per hectare recorded. The Australian National Science Agency (CSIRO) calls it the “epidemic” rate.

For months, rats have ravaged fields and damaged homes in eastern Australia, from the Victorian border in the south to Queensland in the north, causing millions of dollars in damage to crops and machinery. A pair of mice can give birth to 500 more pups per season, the females give birth to a new litter every three weeks, and they constantly need more food. Rat “nightmare” for farmers in New South Wales, Australia. Photo: Pelgar International. The New South Wales government is considering a more drastic solution. On May 20, officials announced they had acquired 5,000 liters of one of the world’s most powerful rat poisons to treat rats. However, some residents fear the use of poisons could damage food crops and kill local wildlife. End of drought, Australia meets rats again “We’ve had long, bad years of drought, and then 2020 is going to be beautiful. But there’s always something great happening, and this year it’s a rat pandemic,” said farmer Michael Payten of the small town of Canowindra, west of Sydney, sigh. The rainfall in 2020 is roughly equal to the total rainfall two years earlier, making the soil fertile and yielding a bountiful harvest, but also creating ideal conditions for the rats. “Trying to count the number of rats that are harming Eastern Australia is like counting the stars in the sky,” said CSIRO researcher Steve Henry, considered by the New South Wales government to be Australia’s best expert on the disease. in mice, said. Rat extermination expert Sue Hodge clears dead rats from traps in her client’s home every day in the New South Wales town of Canowindra. Photo: CNN. According to Sue Hodge, a rat extermination expert in Canowindra, when winter approaches, rats even take refuge in people’s homes. Ms. Hodge spends her days dealing with dead rats trapped in a client’s home. She removed rat droppings from the kitchen, the children’s room and even their beds. In her home, Mrs. Hodge used steel wool to prevent rats from crawling in from every nook and cranny. She sets a mousetrap every night. According to the New South Wales Agricultural industry group, the loss of cereal groups such as wheat, barley and rapeseed, as well as forage, is having a major impact on the finances of farm businesses. The survey found that a third of businesses had an estimated loss of $50,000-150,000 ($38,000-116,000). The group warned that the total damage could reach hundreds of millions of dollars if urgent action is not taken. Government measures – immediate but too dangerous The New South Wales government is resorting to “heavy weapons” to end the rat disaster, after weeks of consultations with Mr Henry, CSIRO and farmers. Last week, New South Wales agriculture chief Adam Marshall unveiled “a scary set of tools for rat control”, including free rat poison for farmers. This week, thousands of liters of bromadiolone – a “second generation anticoagulant” has been introduced to effectively kill rats. However, Charles Sturt University ecologist Dr Maggie Watson says the toxin is “too dangerous” to use in the environment, as it can leach into the soil and bioaccumulate in insects. then join the food chain. She said native birds in Australia are all at risk of death after eating a poisoned mouse, and it takes up to 15-20 years for them to come back to life. NSW farmer Michael Payten calls his tractor shed a “rat hotel”. Photo: CNN. Proponents of the administration argue that bromadiolone is highly toxic and will likely kill some native predators, but there aren’t enough hawks and owls for the rat population to drop naturally. While the rat population is unusually high, farmers warn that they are running out of time to harvest the winter crop.