Rat plague spreads to Australia's fishing towns

Continuing the discussion from I'm a Celebrity 2023 - Day 4:

Thousands of rats - dead and alive - have swept up on beaches in Queensland Australia, overwhelming residents.

The state has been battling a rat and mouse plague for months now.

A surge in the native rodent population has forced the rats to move coastwards in their search for more food, but many do not survive the trip, according to experts quoted in local media.

“Mate, there’s rats everywhere,” Derek Lord, a resident from the town of Normanton, told AFP news agency.

“We have hire vehicles and they literally destroyed a car overnight, taking all of the wiring out of the engine bay,” said Mr Lord, 49.

He added that his pet ducks had been “going mad” as rats broke into their cages.

The rats have also infested the neighbouring town of Karumba in the past few weeks and some residents worry they will have an adverse effect on tourism in the area, Australian media reported. Karumba is well-known as a fishing and birdwatching paradise.

One video posted on social media shows heaps of dead rats piled up by the water, while flies and other insects swarm around them. Another clip shows a large number of them floating in the river.

Apocalyptic … :scream_cat:

They invaded the Westminster Bubble year ago!

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…and are making the life of Ukrainian soldiers in the southern trenches miserable.

had them as pets once in the HK night clubs - sure their offspring are still there??

Eww, that’s not nice, poor little things. Sounds like the weather and plenty of food caused a population explosion

Where’s the Pied Piper when you need him?

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Kurumba was mentioned in the OP- here’s more:

Bloated bodies

image

Thousands of rats - dead and alive … :scream:

BTW Those are native long haired rats Rattus villosissimus not the exotic Black rat Rattus rattus

Karumba is on the Gulf of Carpentaria Here are some pics I took a few years ago to help you get your bearings.

The pelican didn’t seem too worried about the salt water crocs.

this is old news been goin on for months!!