As the current mice plague in Australia is getting worse, an Australian farmer posted to TikTok a video of his strategy to save his crops. By burning them alive. Viewers seem to be torn on the ethics of this arguing if it was really necessary.
@andyj3825
Australian farmers have been battling a mice plague sweeping their crops and machinery for the last year. As the video reached over 6 million views, the comments flooded with opposing opinions on his strategy. In the past 4 days since its post, countless commenters are debating the ethics of his methods. Many argue his strategy is necessary while others strongly disagree calling the farmer’s video ‘cruel” and “heartless”.
This seems to be his most effective way to get rid of them. The video has since been taken down but it didn’t stop commentators on both sides of the spectrum for and against the act. Some said this was” inhumane” while other commentators said it was necessary and he’s doing what he has to, to save his crop the best he can.”
But let’s backtrack as to why the mice have broken out in the first place.
According to abc.net.au, “this plague began around 2017 when Australia was recovering from a drought to which they lost most of all their crops.” Every decade or so, Australia suffers a mouse plague. The current one came after the over-present rains last year that left the farms abundant with grain- the perfect food source for mice. Not only has agriculture has been affected businesses and homes have been left to ruins as well.
Mice in your grocery stores and in your homes in the night keeping them up past the lasted hours trying not to get bitten. Some families are being left in hospitals in critical condition due to being bitten by mice in their sleep. Some families say they have caught up to a thousand mice a night per (ABC). These mice are overtaking the country. They are everywhere. Houses, garages, beds, you name it. And while I wouldn’t want any mice in my house… the reality is, the farming community is experiencing the absolute worst of it. The estimated price has to exactly how much has this plague costed eastern Australians is already over 100 million dollars but what’s even worse it’s caused a significant impact on everyone’s mental health.
ADVERTISEMENT
Families and farmers alike are up at night not sure if the water or food they consume is contaminated. Struggling to sleep in fear of being bitten has got to be exhausting. Roy Butler The State MR was reported saying, “ obviously a lot of us live off of rainwater, so the fact that we have mice in our rainwater tanks bloody horrible frankly. Your one source of water on the property and you’ve got mice in it.” The New South Wales government recently announced a support package that includes rebates on mouse bait. They also lifted the ban on the use of poison (a previously illegal solution to extermination). Unfortunately, the mouse bait just isn’t working. The government hasn’t given any compensation for personal costs and damage such as farmers’ crops and mouse bait expenses. If the plague isn’t contained by this coming winter and the mice are able to sustain through winter they will breed and this plague will turn into an epidemic.
Andrew’s controversial TikTok video of him burning mice has been taken down due to community guidelines. He recently uploaded a video where he was dumping the mice in the bucket this time without the fire. Though he had a bit more controversy on the last video between opposing views this time commentators are asking “where is the fire?” Someone wrote “I came to see em burn” with a sad face. Another person wrote, “Broo turn the fire back on.” Others suggested drowning them instead of burning them. The number of mice will quadruple if no action steps are taken. Regardless of the task is inhumane or not thousands will starve or be out of home and forced to relocate if nothing is done we wish them all the best.
