ABSTRACT
The first recorded mouse plague in southern and south-eastern Australia was in 1902. Since then there have been at least seven other severe and widespread plagues. Within the cereal-growing belt in those States, mouse plagues occur over many soil types, ranging from heavy clays to the light sandy Mallee soils. During the mouse plague of 1984, in-crop damage to wheat in Victoria was assessed from field surveys. During mouse plagues, mice invade houses, where they damage electrical wiring and insulation in refrigerators, and stoves, furniture and fittings. As occasional pests, mouse plagues can be contrasted to outbreaks of rats which occur in some years in parts of south-east Asia. The food-quality spacing-behavior model was used in 1983 to predict a mouse plague with its first peak in autumn-winter of 1984, and a second peak a year later. Plagues of house mice recur at irregular intervals in rural Australia, despite the use of massive amounts of poisons during each plague.
