Mice plague sweeps Arthur's Pass

Friday, 5 December 2014

The mountain village of Arthur's Pass has been invaded by the worst mice plague seen in 20 years, say locals.

Two weeks ago, long time resident Eleanor Reid returned from holiday to discover her home had been hijacked by hundreds of mice.

Since then she had been trapping about 50 rodents a day, with no end in sight.

'We've been trapping for weeks. We've had hundreds of them,' she said.

'The whole village has lots of mice.'

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The bizarre infestation had occurred about three times in 20 years, she said, but this was 'the best one yet'.

Beech trees in the national park were the culprit - they had dropped millions of tonnes of seed, which sparked the endless parade of the furry critters.

A mild winter meant there was a bigger seed drop than usual, which had made the problem worse.

The Department of Conservation had not launched an official defence against the invasion.

Reid wasn't sure how long it would last. In the past the mice appeared in autumn, only to be killed off by frosty winter temperatures.

The early start meant it may be a long journey ahead.

'It's a hassle. But living in the mountains you have to deal with various wildlife things, so it's just another aspect of living in Arthur's Pass.'

She had taken to composting the piles of dead rodents, she said. 'What else am I supposed to do with them?' 

Marion Bohny, from a local cafe, had managed to stay on top of the problem.

'It just gives you a bit more work, really,' she said.

'We can live with it. We'd rather not, but it's bearable.'

She was only catching half a dozen mice a day, so had escaped relatively unscathed.

For her, it also echoed a similar plague 20 years ago, and this was definitely the worst it had been since then.

She remained optimistic it would be all over soon, and quietly hoped the mice would turn on each other.

'I'd say it might have another few weeks to run, then it might peter out. 

'The food starts to run out, then rather unfortunately, they eat each other. It's charming.'