A plague of mice is devastating fields and invading homes in parts of rural Australia.
Farmers are reporting infestation levels as high as 3,000 to 4,000 mice per acre, as they scramble to lay down poison to save their grain crops.
The plague sweeping across parts of western and southern Australia is costing farmers large sums of money as they replant crops that have been eaten, and lay down bait to kill the vermin, the BBC reported.
The infestation is the second in five years and has been triggered by a record harvest last year, as well as wet weather.
Belinda Eastough, 59, who has a 14,000-acre farm 50 miles north-east of Geraldton, said: “Last year, we had a record-breaking harvest, so that gives the mice a lot of food.”
Ms Eastough explained that summer rain then spurred the growth of young, green shoots.
“So instead of just steak, they got steak and salad,” she said. “Basically, the mice were in absolute mouse heaven.”
Officials define a mouse plague as 320 mice per acre, and Ms Eastough estimates her fields currently have more than 10 times as many.
She said: “Sometimes we’ve had mouse plagues, and the numbers will crash once they run out of food, but this year, they haven’t. I’m living the nightmare.”