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A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing Assman. Myxomatosis doesn't affect mice in the slightest.
Not only that but Myxomatosis hasn't been used against wild rabbits for decades, it is ineffective because rabbits that survived it are immune. I think it came from South America but I remember it in the UK in the 1950s.
In the mid 90s Calicivirus was introduced to help control rabbits and has been quite effective. A new strain from Korea is being released into rabbit populations this month. According to the local radio it will be spread by carrots dropped from the air (?)
As for mice? Mouse plagues come and go, they are a sign of the fantastic, record harvest this year conbined with the wet conditions, the first frosts of winter will solve the problem.
Well, there you go Assman you may not be any the wiser but at least you are better informed. I hope that helped.
Quite right Brucy, seems you are using Baz's link for your knowledge ?
Intensive baiting programmes have so far had little success against the infestation, and locals are hoping for heavy rain to drown the mice in their burrows.
Sadly, the locals are getting more than they hoped for:
Emergency authorities in Australia are warning of "life threatening" flash floods as torrential rains batter parts of the country's east coast.
Dozens of people have been rescued from floodwaters, and residents in many low-lying communities of New South Wales have been ordered to leave their homes.
Police say hundreds of people have flocked to evacuation centres in areas north of the city of Sydney.
Major roads have been shut. Footage has emerged of a house being swept away.
Warragamba dam in Sydney, the city's main water source, has begun to overflow for the first time since 2016, and WaterNSW warns others are also expected to spill over.
Up to 100mm (four inches) of rain is forecast for Sydney, and as much as 300mm for the lower Blue Mountains, west of the city.
More storms are forecast in the coming days, and parts of eastern Australia could receive up to a metre of rain in the space of just a week, the BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney reports.
Quite right Brucy, seems you are using Baz's link for your knowledge ?
Donkeyman! 😀😀😀
As usual Assman you are 100% wrong I don't need anybody's link for those little pearls of wisdom. I said where I got the information from. I always quote links if I use them.
The government may be wary of spending up to tens of millions to try to eradicate the mouse plague, when a cold snap or heavy rains could wipe them out naturally.
Locals are hopeful that heavy rains in the region this week, and more storms forecast in the coming days, will bring the months of infestation to an end.
and my limited knowledge of Australian geography did the rest .....
and my limited knowledge of Australian geography did the rest .....
Actually there is a cloud band stretching from NW Australia to the eastern coast of NSW but as I understand the forecast it is feeding into the trough stuck down the east coast which is giving us the bad weather and floods we are experiencing at this moment.
The rainfall maps don't really show any large falls west of the divide in NSW (that's the Great Dividing Range)
This is the map for the next 24 hours as you can see falls are diminishing and there are no heavy falls predicted. However rain is expected to continue until Wednesday which will continue to cause problems on the already saturated east coast.
Definitely not an expert on weather forecasting so can only repeat BOM information
If past mouse plagues are anything to go by winter will remove the problem.
According to this evening's news flood warnings have been issued for tomorrow as a trough develops across the NW of NSW. Perhaps those little mouses might drown after all.