Mice plague chaos: Families wake to rodents hiding in beds and floating in their pools - as weary farmers face a 'perfect storm' of challenges

By CAITLIN POWELL - NEWS REPORTER Published: 00:44, 21 May 2026 | Updated: 00:50, 21 May 2026 Farmers and their families are battling a months-long mouse plague, with the rodents infiltrating their homes, swimming pools and beds. High mouse activity has been recorded in South Australia's Mid North, Lower Yorke, and Eyre regions, Western Australia's Northern and Sandplain this week.  There was also moderate levels of mouse activity in central and eastern WA.  A concerned father told the Daily Mail his teenage daughter woke to find a mouse crawling inside her bed at their home in the Shire of Moora, 200km from Perth. Father-of-three Leighton Wilksch, 48, told this publication he had been removing mice by the bucket-load from the pool at his Yorke Peninsula home.  'I have learned to mouse-proof our house, but we do have a swimming pool, and every morning there's about 10 dead mice in it. It's pretty horrific,' he said.  'Our kids, when they're home from university in Adelaide, they've been a little bit grossed out by the mice. 'It's chlorinated water, and we're not swimming in it at the moment. It'll be fine come summer-time, but just at the moment it is pretty gross.' Mr Wilksch, an agricultural technologist, said the 'mice plague' was similar to a previous outbreak 10 years ago in the region's southern grain belt.  He said every morning there's about 10 dead mice in his swimming pool Father of three Leighton Wilksch (pictured) said he has collected buckets of mice A mouse plague has been affecting regions in South and Western Australia for months 'With feral animals, their populations do blow out due to various environmental conditions, and we've had a lot of February and March rainfall, which has been unseasonable,' he explained.  'That has been the main driver for the mice getting into large numbers. 'Due to the availability of moisture around for them, the mice feel like they can breed. 'It's also germinated seeds in the fields and on the roadsides, and that has germinated into grasses that they are now eating.' Wheatbelt-based business owner Elyssa Giedraitis shared a callout asking for advice on how to safely get rid of mice in a house with pets and children.  'We are currently going through the most disgusting mice plague ever. It's so gross. Basically they're invading crops but they're also invading houses,' she wrote.  'There (are) mice everywhere.  I have never had mice in this house until this started - and my cat has decided this is the perfect time to run away.' Small mouse populations can turn into large infestations within weeks and can significantly impact farmers and the agricultural sector. Wheatbelt-based business owner Elyssa Giedraitis (pictured) said there are mice 'everywhere' Mouse populations increased rapidly after wet weather saw crops, which they eat, flourish A devastating mouse plague in 2021 caused an estimated $1billion in damage across several states, with rural New South Wales alone facing $660million. Farmers in affected regions have already reduced movements across paddocks to conserve petrol amid the ongoing fuel crisis.  Duncan Young, a crop farmer in WA's wheatbelt, said the mouse outbreak adds to a 'perfect storm' of challenges for the sector. 'You've got massive fertiliser hikes due to the war (in Iran), you've got fuel shortages and fuel price hikes,' he said. 'This outbreak is another cost on top of that, and potentially in a year where budgets were already pretty tight before the war began.  'Farming is a very big revenue driver for Australia with our exports. Potentially, you could be talking about over a billion dollars worth of damage.' The Australian government introduced an emergency use permit for Grain Producers Australia to use a bait, zinc phosphide 50 g/kg (ZnP50), on Monday. Duncan Young, a crop farmer in the wheatbelt western region, said the mouse outbreak adds to a 'perfect storm' of challenges for the sector, which is facing fuel and fertiliser supply issues The Australian government introduced an emergency use permit for Grain Producers Australia to use a stronger bait to kill off mice (pictured, mice on a farm in Mullewa, WA) It means manufacturers can sell and use the bait until December in zones where mouse activity has been assessed as moderate to high. The rodents need to eat two or three poison-coated grains to receive a lethal dose. 'Prior to that, we only had the weakest one, which is a 25g strength,' Mr Young said. 'The difference is, if the mice don't eat enough of the 25g, they stop eating it and it doesn't kill them. With the 50g, they have to digest less to actually kill them, so you get a higher efficiency and better kill on the mice.  'It's a numbers game. Mice can breed so quickly and, by having the 50g strength which will get much higher kills, it will stop the breeding cycle.' Mr Young said it was a problem affecting people across the country. 'It can happen all over Australia. It just doesn't affect farmers. There's a lot of people in towns where the plagues are getting just as badly affected as farmers,' he said. 'They (mice) are in the houses, you're talking about huge numbers of mice, and they build up very quickly. You want to stop it, because you don't want it to spread and get bigger and bigger. The quicker it can be stopped and contained, the better.' No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. 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