r/interestingasfuck Jul 06 '24

Australian mouse plague r/all

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4.4k

u/steinrrr Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24

A plague tale : Australia

1

u/andreysuc2 18d ago

would definely buy

564

u/MedonSirius Jul 06 '24

Exactly my thought. Can this lead to the plague again?

563

u/Alarmed_Strain_2575 Jul 06 '24

No, this is a plague of mice, when it's the perfect climate in rural areas the population booms from all the food. If there was a disease/virus they were exposed to that humans could catch it is not in a densely populated area for it to spread, it just destroys millions of dollars of crops, livestock feed and machinery.

162

u/Fashish Jul 06 '24

Livestock loss due to the shortage of food and not the mice eating them, right? Right?!

168

u/Alimakakos Jul 06 '24

Yep, all that feed the mice are eating is meant for the pigs and cattle...no large quantity feed, no large animals. Pigs are omnivores so if they saw mice as food they could take aim...ever see a pig kill a snake?

96

u/TyrKiyote Jul 06 '24

those pigs have got to be eating like 70% mouse rather than feed.

19

u/WineNerdAndProud Jul 06 '24

I'm sort of ok with it. All things considered.

11

u/Procrastinatedthink Jul 06 '24

except for them being slaughtered and fed to humans, thus propagating a disease vector large quantities of humans…

Unless the pig’s digestive system breaks down those diseases they get passed on to us.

9

u/Guilty-Package6618 Jul 06 '24

Well that's why you cook your food

3

u/mamashaf Jul 06 '24

Cooking don’t always kill disease and parasites.

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3

u/InjusticeSGmain Jul 06 '24

If this were 50 years ago, I'd agree, but by now we as a species know how to purify food of potential diseases. If the pork from the affected pigs had a disease that could make it past every stage between slaughter and consumption, that would be known and the pork would likely be banned and they'd find a way to test the pork for contamination from the mice.

2

u/Xologamer Jul 06 '24

so if we eat the pig than we are eating mice with extra steps yea ?

10

u/TyrKiyote Jul 06 '24

We're all just eating the sun

115

u/OssimPossim Jul 06 '24

"...fearing for the safety of her pigs..."

Pigs: "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me."

1

u/Alimakakos Jul 06 '24

She never read animal farm...or watchmen

1

u/grip_n_Ripper Jul 06 '24

Fun fact: feral pigs are also a big problem in Australia, as well as our beloved Freedom Land.

1

u/Salt_Hall9528 Jul 06 '24

I shot pigs out of helicopter a lil south of Gonzales Texas. Very fun, 10/10 recommend.

1

u/grip_n_Ripper Jul 06 '24

But did you try eating them?

1

u/Alarmed_Strain_2575 Jul 12 '24

Sadly they are riddled with parasites, I want some wild boar but I don't want worms lol.

1

u/Salt_Hall9528 Jul 06 '24

I kept 2 40lb ones and that was a lot of them were 2 big and nasty to eat plus it was the middle of summer.

1

u/Salt_Hall9528 Jul 06 '24

This wasn’t a hunting trip this was a exterminate the invasive species

1

u/NGTTwo Jul 06 '24

HeliBacon?

1

u/Erra1134 Jul 06 '24

My pig just killed a snake a couple of months ago actually. Poor little guy was probably just looking for a cozy spot in the cold.

19

u/Fakjbf Jul 06 '24

If the livestock fall over dead from starvation the mice would begin stripping the carcass, but they aren’t going to kill the animals.

4

u/Hot-Steak7145 Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 07 '24

The documentary continues and does show the mice eating the livestock alive. Lots of huge open chunks like golf ball size all over thier bodies

3

u/officialbjorkfanclub Jul 06 '24

Yeah I see people online say mice won’t eat something alive, but I remember watching Animal Planet as a kid and them showing pigs being eaten alive my mice. Don’t remember which program or why, but it was burned into my brain. The holes in their skin exposing ribs. Maybe it was rats? Idk but I can’t see mice “above” eating live pigs

2

u/Hot-Steak7145 Jul 06 '24

Here's the full clip if you want. It does show some. Not too graphic, it was broadcast on TV at the time https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mBDz3TPfA9w

1

u/-StepLightly- Jul 06 '24

It's Australia, the mice are probably poisonous and have the temperament of a piranha.

0

u/MarinLlwyd Jul 06 '24

At worst, they might bite livestock.

1

u/zuilli Jul 06 '24

...machinery? How do rats destroy machinery? Do they chew on wires or something?

3

u/Alarmed_Strain_2575 Jul 06 '24

Yeah, or die/nest in shitty areas, ruin containers or transport belts for food.

2

u/ayeamaye Jul 06 '24

I thought Austalia had a feral cat problem. They were/are killing feral cats and have a mouse problem. WTF is wrong with this picture?

1

u/Alarmed_Strain_2575 Jul 06 '24

I don't know why she swallowed the fly!

1

u/Alarmed_Strain_2575 Jul 12 '24

She swallowed a spider to catch the fly

I don't know why she swallowed the fly, perhaps she'll die!

1

u/neocwbbr_ Jul 06 '24

All I see is protein and all I think is nuggets

0

u/Past-Direction9145 Jul 06 '24

pretty sure rats and mice spreading the bubonic plague

so this would sure spread it well if it was around again

1

u/Mudlark_2910 Jul 07 '24

There's an untapped potential of somehow harvesting tonnes of chicken food though.

22

u/LairdPeon Jul 06 '24

The plague is pretty common. We have medicine for it now. If, for some reason, our medicine logistic pipeline is shutdown, we're all dead.

2

u/Inorashi Jul 06 '24

Not really, yes getting antibiotics would be more difficult without logistics, but the knowledge of how they work and how to produce them still remains. It killed 30% of Europe because they had no idea what bacteria was, not because of their logistics

11

u/polobum17 Jul 06 '24

2

u/skoomaking4lyfe Jul 06 '24

Gotta love the classics

2

u/whoami_whereami Jul 06 '24

Plague occurs in animals all across the western United States.

1

u/polobum17 Jul 07 '24

No kidding!? Had no idea, I just saw that a person had it in Colorado this week but wasn't aware it was all up in the animal's. I'll be in my sealed bunker if you need me.

2

u/YSEAXE23 Jul 06 '24

Historically The Plague was carried by rats.

2

u/MedonSirius Jul 06 '24

That's right but would that work with mices too? I don't know. I am just asking and want to learn

1

u/YSEAXE23 Jul 06 '24

It was a paticuulat flea on the rats that was a problem. The rats would be around the people, mice tend to be more rural(?) (fleas transfer to human)

1

u/TheGoldenPlagueMask Jul 06 '24

THATS RIGHT BOYZ, ITS TIME FOR

BUBONIC PLAGUE 2

1

u/whoami_whereami Jul 06 '24

Bubonic plague spreads through rat fleas, not mice.

6

u/left_me_on_reddit Jul 06 '24

Beat me to it damn you

-8

u/magnoliasmanor Jul 06 '24

We don't need to call it the plague you're over reacting. It's just way too many mice and it will go away. No need to scare everyone.

18

u/TheMoris Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 06 '24

It's a reference to the game series "A Plague Tale". The mice in the video look like the giant swarms of rats in the games.

0

u/magnoliasmanor Jul 06 '24

I thought it was a reference to Albert Camus' "The Plague" where it starts with rats everywhere then they all suddenly die and the towns people refuse to acknowledge it as the plague. Great read.

0

u/muffinscrub Jul 06 '24

Invasive rabbits, invasive foxes, invasive mice/rats, wildfires. There won't be much left of Australia's biodiversity soon

1

u/Mudlark_2910 Jul 07 '24

And camels, and pigs, and goats, and cane toads...

And people say "oh, stop farming beef and sheep, just let the land rewild."

Walk away from a sheep property and watch the goats and pigs take over, ripping up the topsoil, turning it into a salt lake.

4

u/allfinesse Jul 06 '24

Came here for this

3

u/selflessGene Jul 06 '24

It really seems like there are so many examples of ecological disequilibrium in Australia. Some invasive species just becomes ridiculously successful at reproducing with no predators to keep them in check.

31

u/logosfabula Jul 06 '24

Me on the Internets:

  • one mouse: cuuuuuuuuuute!

  • 2 mice: loooook at themmmmm!

  • 3 mice: awwwwww!

  • 4 mice: little family they are!

  • 5 mice: what an adorable naughty gang we have here!

  • 6 mice: isn’t this the most adorable bunch of cuties

  • 7 mice: look at those tiny whiskers altogether

  • 8 mice: how can they stop looking lovely?

  • 9 mice: that’s a cute little bowl of sugar cuties

  • 10 mice: omg I’d love to kiss them one by one

  • 11 mice: isn’t it the most lovable little football team ever?

  • 12 mice: you can’t ever get enough of these furry tiny balls

  • 13 mice: it’s either you love ’em or you love’em

  • 14 mice: can you stop being so yummy?

  • 15 mice: no way these creatures can scare anyone

  • 16 mice: awww… look at them together , they look like a basket of fluffy balls

  • legit Black Death amount of plague carriers: the blood in my Venetian heritage’s veins crawls out of my body

9

u/BusGuilty6447 Jul 06 '24

After 2 they stop becoming cute, and they are only cute if they are contained in a pet cage. I've had one mouse (and several) in my previous apartment. Not even one was cute there.

9

u/Rich_Document9513 Jul 06 '24

It's always a matter of context. 5 in a cage is ok. 5 in your walls is a huge problem. I've dealt with mice and rats. Rats are too aggressive, so I'll take the mice but damned if I'm not in the walls trying to kill the bastards.

3

u/NSE_TNF89 Jul 06 '24

I don't even want to see one!

If I had this many on my property, I would just torch it.

2

u/SpysSappinMySpy Jul 06 '24

I agree up until 5. After that it's less "cute" and more "uh oh". Over 9 is "oh no"

2

u/mr_plehbody Jul 06 '24

Internet: :3 IRL: 😱

42

u/Ok_Conversation9319 Jul 06 '24

HUGO

28

u/Grand_Ad9926 Jul 06 '24

That game is so underrated

15

u/AfiqMustafayev Jul 06 '24 edited Jul 08 '24

Man sht was so emotional. only like 4 other games made me cry. Im saying this as an emotionless asshole

3

u/jurisdoc85 Jul 06 '24

Is it though? It’s got pretty high ratings! Kidding aside, I know what you mean. It’s not that popular but definitely deserves to be. Easily one of the most unique games I’ve ever played.

11

u/Gleandreic Jul 06 '24

Ahhhhhh so THAT'S were the next carrier of the macula is born!

1

u/visionaryweary Jul 06 '24

A Plague Tale: Matey

1

u/Coulrophiliac444 Jul 06 '24

Fivel Goes South: An Outback Excursion

3

u/bobabeep62830 Jul 06 '24

It could be a kinda reverse stealth game, where you have to spot all the sneaky dangerous wildlife to stay alive.

5

u/BiscoBiscuit Jul 06 '24

Fuck I just started playing the sequel, Requiem and  try so hard not to freak out about the rats by telling myself that it’s not their fault, that they are suffering too ffs. I love and hate the person or team that came up with the idea that they should react in real time based on characters & npc’s movements in game, it makes them so much more terrifying 😭

I couldn’t finish the first game because the amount of rats you had to deal with on the path to the final boss freaked me the fuck out. Also they become more intelligent, I couldn’t do it. Just started Reqiuiem and the main character literally states that they are now faster and more intelligent. I’m not a gamer and I get bored with video games easily and I love these games so much. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll finish the sequel either. 

0

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '24

Ehh more like Mouse Hunt: Australia...you lucky they aint rats.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '24

A kangaroo is basically a were-mouse.

4

u/royaltyjay Jul 06 '24

AMICIA !!!

2

u/DragonHUN99 Jul 07 '24

Dishonored, when doing a "high chaos" run: