News and Information

PAPP Bait Update

The submission for the approval of the new chemical, prepared jointly by the IA-CRC and ACTA with AWI support over 7 years, has now cleared initial screening at the APVMA.

For a more detailed description of the new products, their efficacy, and the current progress through the APVMA approval process see: http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/news/2013/20130401-1.htm

ACTA update on the WA Mouse situation 9th July 2012

After 15 years of continued commitment to the resolution of mouse plagues in Australia, ACTA provides a perspective on the current mouse activity situation in WA and also our work to ensure strategic supplies of bait to best manage the challenge.

For a detailed discussion of the situation in Winter 2012, see http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/news/2012/20120801-1.htm

15 September 2011 Mouse Plague update

ACTA strategic reserves of mouse bait September 2011

A small part of the September 2011 strategic mouse bait reserves at ACTA

In the last few days we have been advised that the emergency permit for on-farm bait mixing has been cancelled, and that some or all of the production sites have been discontinued. Information behind this has been scant but the responsible authority, the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines authority, has posted a comment regarding concerns about operator safety and other matters of concern to them. (http://www.apvma.gov.au/news_media/our_view/2011/2011-09-13_mouse_bait_mixing_sites.php)

For more information about the current state of bait availability please see: http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/news/2011/20110919-1.htm

5 September 2011 Mouse Plague Update

Now that spring is once again with us, there is already evidence of early mouse damage to crops. Animal Control Technologies Australia P/L is already preparing for the high demand for mouse baits. Please visit http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/news/2011/20110906-1.htm for more information.

July 2011 Mouse Plague Update

The autumn 2011 Australian mouse plague has eased momentarily as we settle in for winter and pending winter crop development into spring. Animal Control Technologies (Australia) Pty Ltd (ACTA) is taking this short opportunity to discuss the past season, and caution growers and industry on control efforts that will be required in the coming months.

Reaqd about the latest developments of 2011's Australian mouse plague in this PDF http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/pdf/Of_Mice_And_Madness.pdf (155 kB)

For information on products to help control plague mice see: http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/mouse-baits1.htm

May 2011 Mouse Plague update

In May 2011 the impact of an unprecedented mouse plague on the farming community is significant. Animal Control Technologies is doing all it can to address the immediate need and to minimise the impact of the mouse plague in farming communities around Australia.

ACTA's Managing Director, Prof. Linton Staples has prepared an update on the present Mouse Plague situation that explains how the situation is being addressed, and providing a strategy for ensuring that sufficient logistical support is in place to address the ongoing demand for Mouseoff® ZP bait over the coming months. This summary is available on this web site at: http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/pdf/MOUSE_SITUATION_10th_May_2011.pdf (214KB pdf)

The APVMA has now approved an emergency permit for ACTA to supply MOUSEOFF Econobait. To see the press release see http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/news/2011/MOUSEOFF_Press.htm

ATTENTION FARMERS IN SA, WA, and VIC. -- Mouse Plague Alert June 2010

Progress report June 2010

Mouse Alert for Farmers

WARNING: Bad information in circulation

Using insecticide-laced baits is illegal!

A recent newsletter (April 2010) circulated advice to prepare off-label baits using omethoate insecticide added to grain, with a few flavour variants. This advice is not only irresponsible: it is illegal.

Birds killed by illegal insecticide-laced grain

Birds killed with insecticide dose grain. Note that this bait was also applied improperly on a bare surface and at ridiculously high rates as a barrier. (Photo courtesy NSW DPI)

Anecdotal reports abound that many farmers are giving this “back yard” brew a go. We are now also starting to get feedback that it does not work well, and that there has been a spate of non-target bird deaths as a result of this chemical abuse. This practice simply has no place in proper chemical stewardship in the grains industry if we are to retain access to these important chemicals.

The reports of failure are hardly surprising, as we have estimated that farmers would need to use up to10 times the highest recommended application rate to get even a reasonable kill of mice. Although the back yard bait is technically lethal, the ill-considered recommendations failed to calculate the foraging behaviours of mice at high densities. We have calculated that each mouse would need to eat all the bait in about 25 square meters to have a 50 percent chance of obtaining a lethal dose. Perhaps there are accumulation effects if live mice cannibalise the dead ones, but at high mouse densities we think that MOUSEOFF® has about 40 times the power of the back yard brew. Also at high concentrations the risk to native birds and other animals is potentially high if insecticides are misused in this way.

Further, the advice should be questioned as it misrepresented the active in MOUSEOFF® as “zinc sulphide” and not the zinc phosphide used in MOUSEOFF®. The advice also recommended that MOUSEOFF® could be used at as low as 0.3 kg/ha. There is no quality data for this advice. We would suggest that farmers who (illegally) follow the newsletter recommendations and subsequently lose their crop might have a cause for proceedings against those who charge a fee for this advice. There is also a real risk that some insecticides could be withdrawn if the industry does not take notice of the Ag and Vet Chemicals Act provisions a little more diligently.

Using MOUSEOFF® ZP Correctly

Mouse Damage in Canola Crops

Mouse damage to canola crops

MOUSEOFF Zinc Phosphide

Monitor mice using break back traps, canola soaked census cards or by counting active mouse holes. An average of 5 active holes per 100m2 is equivalent to >1000 mice/Ha. 200 mice are equivalent to one sheep grazing your crop. Mice can now be effectively controlled in crops with MOUSEOFF® Zinc Phosphide bait available from all leading merchants. Cost of treatment is recovered if damage exceeds 1-2 percent of yield. MOUSEOFF® is approved for ground or aerial spreading. Only 1 kg/ha will adequately control most mouse problems .

MOUSEOFF® is available from all leading merchants. Technical information on managing mice in crops, including a GRDC sponsored DVD, is available from NRM Boards, merchants and agronomists.

More information is available at: http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/mice1.htm

FREE booklets are available. You can download a booklet describing monitoring methods in detail from http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/pdf/ZP PreCrop Mouse ID All States.pdf. Call ACTA on 03 9308 9688 to request a copy or email enquiries@animalcontrol.com.au

General Interest

There is now a case study of the 2010 mouse plague on this site at: http://www.animalcontrol.com.au/mice5.htm

ACTA Corporate Developments

ACTA has grown and developed some significant new product ranges through 2006. Read about the new corporate developments in "A Year In Review".

We keep our customers and other interested parties informed with our Information Update series. The current Information Update, number 27, contains articles about a diverse range of pest management issues, including:

To receive a copy of the latest Information Update please send us an email at: enquiries@animalcontrol.com.au, with "Information Update request" in the subject line, and your name and mailing address in the body of the email, or use the More Information link on any page to complete an enquiry form. 

Please let us know at the e-mail address below if there is a topic in vertebrate pest animal management that you would like to see discussed through this site.  

Previous

October 2006

ACTA has released several new products and added to its familiar product ranges. The list of new products includes:

July 2006

Following reports of extensive crop damage across the Eyre Peninsula caused by mice, a brief survey of current damage to crops caused by mice in Wudinna suggests that the usual indicators of the presence of mice are underestimating the problem posed to farmers, and that now is the time to bait if the potential for mice damage to crops is to be minimised. The risk posed by mice varies with the crop, but at a mice control workshop in Wudinna Paul Crock said that in high-value crops once mice damage is apparent, the cost of preventing even such a small percentage of damage is exceeded.

See: Little pests can beat the cold. http://sj.farmonline.com.au/news.asp?editorial_id=67091 and http://sj.farmonline.com.au/news.asp?editorial_id=67064

October 2005

Springtime Fumigation of Fox Dens: Now is the time to fumigate fox dens to reduce the impact of a new generation of foxes this season.

Synthetic Fermented Egg Attractant: SFE has demonstrated its effectiveness in attracting feral canids.

The Southern Ark Project. The Southern Ark Project is a research effort to reduce the impact of foxes across the eastern corner of Victoria

August 2005

An article in "The Land" newspaper on 11 August 2005 (P. 58) titled "Fox bait necessary, just handle with more care" cautions about the potential for "careless and irresponsible use" of baits necessarily used to control foxes and wild dogs in the period corresponding to the NSW lambing season. Rob Churchill from the Crookwell Veterinary Clinic,  stresses that the baits be laid "in accordance with the instructions on the permit: that signage is placed properly, neighbours appropriately notified of the intention to bait, and unconsumed baits collected after a reasonable period."

July 2005

18 July 2005 ABC Rural: Mouse Plague Potential

The ABC rural report on 18 July reported a potential for mice to rise to plague proportions quickly, and the conditions are in place now. You can see the full abstract for the programme at:  http://www.abc.net.au/rural/sa/stories/s1416619.htm

April 2005

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Australian Parliament is enquiring into the impact of pest animals on agriculture and the environment. The principal focus is on the impact of wild dogs on stock but there is no restriction on the issues that can be raised. The purpose of this enquiry is to identify nationally significant pest animal issues, and consider how current and future approaches can mitigate damage and reduce the potential for infestation.

Animal Control Technologies has long held concerns about the inefficiencies that arise from legislative and labelling differences between states and of the relatively short term nature of some approaches. We have made an impassioned ???? plea to the committee to prompt constructive debate on what we se as the practical realities of pest animal management in Australia.

A list of the submissions to this committee in electronic form is at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/primind/pestanimals/subs.htm.  The submission from Animal Control Technologies Australia is at http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/primind/pestanimals/subs/sub084.pdf.

We hope you will take the time to explore these submissions to see the range and significance of issues and proposed solutions.

2004

September

August

July

2003

November

  • www.grdc.com.au/growers/gc/gc47/mice.htm Summary: "Developed by Animal Control Technologies Pty Ltd (ACTA), Mouseoff® Zinc Phosphide Bait can be applied within two weeks of harvest or – in a bid to encourage pro-active mouse control – at any time from sowing to preharvest."

June

  • QLD Country Hour - 04/06/2003: Feral pig workshop at  http://www.abc.net.au/rural/qld/stories/s871977.htm Summary: "The country's largest ever feral pig workshop has just wrapped up in Cairns with delegates seeking support from all levels of Government for a national and co-ordinated eradication programme."

May

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enquiries@animalcontrol.com.au

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Animal Control Technologies
46-50 Freight Drive
Somerton, Victoria, 3062
Australia
Telephone +61 3 9308 9688
Fax +61 3 9308 9622

E-mail: enquiries@animalcontrol.com.au