MOUSE numbers have risen to moderate/high levels in a band across south east South Australia and north west Victoria where they are likely to cause some damage at winter crop sowing.

The increase has resulted from good spring and summer rains plus areas where last season’s crops were affected by wind and storm damage, dropping grain onto the ground which provided high quality food to sustain mouse breeding.

Populations will reach a peak in late autumn, coinciding with winter crop sowing in the southern regions.

Mouse numbers remain very low in all other areas of Australia where dry conditions have prevailed for many months.

Paddock monitoring

Authorities recommend growers remain vigilant and act accordingly if mouse abundance is of concern.

Because of patchy activity between paddocks, growers are advised to monitor across multiple paddocks to gauge mouse numbers and inform management decisions (report on MouseAlert www.mousealert.org.au).

Further information and resources:

Dr Peter Brown – ([email protected]) CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Canberra

Steve Henry – (@MouseAlert) ([email protected]) CSIRO Health & Biosecurity, Canberra

GRDC Mouse Control website: https://grdc.com.au/resources-and-publications/resources/mouse-control

MouseAlert (hosted by FeralScan): https://www.feralscan.org.au/mousealert