RISING mouse numbers have boosted sales of traps and bait and set the phones ringing at pest controllers in the Swan Hill area.
North Vic Pest Control owner David Warburton said demand had picked up in the past month or two, especially from offices and workplaces.
“It seems to be pretty widespread,” he said.
“It’s in town, out of town, it doesn’t matter what part of town, and in some areas it’s really bad.”
Mr Warburton said mouse numbers had built up over summer on the back of a good season, with plenty of food and fine weather.
But numbers weren’t as bad as they had been in 2010-11 after the extremely wet summer that caused widespread flooding across the region, he said.
Murray Valley Home Timber & Hardware hardware manager Karen Gillbee said demand for mousetraps and baits had picked up in the past four to six weeks.
“They’re selling very quickly because there’s so many around,” she said.
“We’ve been topping up our order every week to make sure we keep on top of it.”
Ms Gillbee said the most popular was the Ratsak one-click trap, which people baited with cheese or peanut butter.
“Touch wood, at the moment I haven’t had a problem with any mice, but people are saying peanut butter is the best one for the traps,” she said.
“They love peanut butter, apparently. And then we have a range of baits made by the same company.”
A Bunnings spokesperson said the Swan Hill store was also selling a lot of traps.
Care is recommended when using bait or a bait station, especially for householders with children, dogs or cats. Dogs can find the poisonous bait attractive and cats that eat poisoned mice can develop secondary poisoning.
The latest mouse activity update from CSIRO, which monitors mice across the major grain growing regions of Australia, indicated overall numbers in the Mallee were lower than expected, so there was not likely to be an outbreak or plague in Victoria.
“Mouse numbers are highly patchy and could be dependent on paddock history (late harvest, high yielding crop, storm affected crop, and lots of ground cover masking signs of mouse activity),” CSIRO said.
“Because of patchy activity between paddocks, growers are advised to monitor across multiple paddocks to gauge mouse numbers to inform management decisions … (and) be aware of emergency permit requirements for the 50g/kg zinc phosphide bait.”
CSIRO recommends that if mice are present at sowing, bait should be applied off the back of the seeder to prevent damage to the freshly sown crop.
Tips for dealing with mice
- Clear gardens of fallen leaves and other vegetation that can provide shelter
- Trim shrubs near the house
- Store firewood away from the house
- If mice are getting into the house, work out where and stuff any gaps in the wall or brickwork with steel wool
- Place traps where mice are most likely to frequent, such as the kitchen, pantry, garage and laundry
- Store food in airtight containers, don’t leave dirty dishes in the sink, and dispose of garbage regularly
- Avoid leaving pet food in the bowl all day.
