WHILE the number of mice skittering around is worrying, the Wimmera should avoid a plague of them this year.
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This likely brings little comfort to those who remember the pain of the 2011 mouse plague, and who are already seeing too many for their liking this year.
To help take your mind off the high mouse numbers, we’ve decided to look back at the other big plague we’ve suffered in the past decade.
It was back in April 2010 when the first locusts arrived in the Wimmera.
Locusts were already in plague proportions in areas of NSW and Queensland and Victorian plague locust commissioner Gordon Berg said there was potential for a plague in Victoria.
Mr Berg said there had been reports of localised locust groups in the Grampians and Warracknabeal regions, and by early April had made their way in and around Horsham.
‘‘People are going to have to keep an eye out for locusts and monitor their numbers because there is a chance they could reach plague proportions,’’ he warned.
Mr Berg was right. By the end of April, he was describing the plague as the most widespread he had seen locusts since the 1970s.
In fact, one Horsham 12-year-old even found a spur-throated locust, native to Queensland and other tropical and sub-tropical climates!
By mid-May, Yarriambiack Shire Council chief executive Ray Campling called for the region’s invasion of mice and locusts to be declared a natural disaster.
In June, the state government announced a $43.5-million package to combat locusts.
Premier John Brumby said the package would cover the cost of chemicals to control locusts on private and public land.
“Our government is taking action to support farmers to fight a forecast locust plague which has the potential to cost Victoria’s agricultural sector $2 billion if left untreated,’’ he said.
‘‘The advice of leading scientists indicates the scale of the coming spring’s outbreak could be as bad as we experienced in 1973 and 1974 when locusts swarmed through much of Victoria.
‘‘Prior to that, the last outbreak of this scale was in 1934, so we could be facing a once-in-a-lifetime locust plague with locusts swarming right across the state.”
Farmers were suffering from the locust plague, but so were others.
Wollongong’s Jan Rudnik walked about 900 kilometres from Sydney to Nhill and had to battle locust plagues along the way.
Drivers had to guard against the bugs, which turned the front of cars black with bodies.
Meanwhile, Horsham became the forefront of the war on locusts with an incident control centre and influx of specially-trained staff.
As spring neared, farmers continued to be worried about both mice and locusts.
New programs came about to help them choose the best chemicals to use in the war on locusts.
And then it was time to prepare for new hatchings.
The state government placed ads in the Wimmera Mail-Times, warning about the plague to come.
Flooding in September did little to quell the fears.
Agriculture Minister Joe Helper said flooding in parts of NSW and Queensland had not appeared to affect locust eggs.
“This means we are still faced with a $2-billion threat to Victoria’s agriculture,” he said.
Hatchings started across the state in mid-September. By October, they were confirmed in the Wimmera.
The Department of Primary Industries believed adult locusts found in Horsham survived the Wimmera winter.
Horsham locust incident controller Bruce Taberner said two adult locusts found in Carroll Street and Barnes Boulevard would have hatched late in autumn and survived the winter months.
Wet and cold weather slowed the locusts down in mid-October.
In November, the department urged Wimmera residents to be prepared for swarms – but not to expect them.
Swarms hit north-east Wimmera communities by early December.
The swarms covered parks, gardens, houses and vehicles and forced a race meeting at Donald to be transferred to Ararat.
Horsham Locust Incident Control Centre services were transferred to Tatura – just as locusts arrived in the Wimmera.
Department media spokesman Tim Mitchell said the decision to move operations to Tatura had nothing to do with budget cuts as a result of the change in state government.
“It’s just an operational decision so we’ve got more flexibility,” he said.
“The service to the community is still the same and there are still field officers working in communities.”
Locust eggs began hatching in the Buloke Shire by mid-December and the Department of Primary Industries predicted more hatchings between Horsham and Stawell by early January.
State locust director Rob Walker said the second-generation locusts could produce a third plague before the end of summer.
Day-to-day, the locusts were a nuisance, including for Mail-Times columnist Yolande Grosser who wrote about showing up at a girlfriend’s front door with a locust in her hair.
Editor Rod Case wrote about his own experience.
“Sitting inside, it was like someone was spraying the side of the house with bullets – thump, thump, thump, thump,’’ he said.
“I don’t get that – if you are presented with a paddock full of green grass, why would you choose to slam yourself into a house or fly headlong into a car doing 100 kilometres an hour?
“Looking across the paddocks of Vectis, the air was thick with bugs. About the only ones happy at our place were the chooks.
“The first chook wandered out of the shed in the morning to see what offerings I was carrying and couldn’t believe the smorgasbord on offer.
“Instead of the usual bread and food scraps, tasty morsels of bug – tossed with the fun of having to dart around catching them – was the order of the day.”
Wimmera drivers were warned of the dangers the bugs presented, and urged to pull over if swarms reduced visibility on the roads.
Police warned Wimmera drivers they would be fined if their number plates were not visible because of locusts.
Despite locusts buzzing around the track, Horsham and District Racing Club was confident locusts wouldn’t affect its Wimmera Mail-Times Santa Day Races.
The plagues put smiles on the faces of car wash businesses and intrigued international guests.
But the locusts left the once-lush tourist haven of Halls Gap a barren dust bowl.
Halls Gap Caravan Park manager Ian Black said the plague insects ate almost every bit of greenery in the town within 48 hours.
And then, as 2010 came to a close, the locusts provided a new experience – a new snack.
Horsham’s Caleb Bolwell, 10, and Molly Bolwell, 6, barbecued and ate locusts.
Caleb said the insects tasted like prawns, but with a different texture.
“They are really crunchy, but they do taste like prawns,” he said.
“The brown ones are better to eat than the green ones.”
Molly said she liked catching and eating locusts.
“I ate about five of them and I liked it,” she said. “I would go in a locust eating competition.”
The Department of Agriculture Forestries and Fisheries’ website reports locusts are a food source for some people.
“People in several countries collect locusts for food particularly during outbreaks. Locusts are rich in protein and can be stir-fried, roasted or boiled,” the website said.
Seven years later, that trend still hasn’t caught on here.