Student says WA school closed by toxic baits had been overrun by mice

Topic:Pests, Diseases and Control Methods The deployment of toxic mouse baits has closed the WA College of Agriculture in Morawa. (Supplied: Facebook) The Morawa School of Agriculture is closed as a result of a highly toxic mouse bait being spread on campus. A year 12 student says they have been left in the dark about the impact the contamination will have on their ability to complete critical work. The Department of Education says it will provide an update to students and families once "precautionary work" at the school has been completed. Link copiedShareShare articleA senior student at a West Australian country school says avoiding a carpet of dead mice was like "stepping on marshmallows" before it was shut due to the spread of toxic mouse bait. The Western Australian College of Agriculture at Morawa, 370 kilometres north of Perth, closed on May 20 after a schedule 7 poison was spread to kill mice. The zinc phosphide baits are not approved for use in towns, residential areas or around buildings due to their toxicity, and high levels can be fatal. The school told families Mouse Off, the commercial name for the zinc phosphide bait, was used. (ABC Midwest Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis) The Education Department said the school was closed for a "deep clean" and could not provide further information on when the campus would reopen. Morawa and surrounding communities are in the midst of a months-long mouse plague that has devastated local farmers and left country residents struggling to exterminate the vermin. A year 12 student at the college said mice had overrun the school, including the kitchen and dining areas, and some classrooms were avoided as the smell of decaying vermin was unbearable. The student says mice had infested the school over the course of the months-long plague. (Supplied) She said staff would not turn the heaters on for fear of "cooking" the rodents in the air-conditioning system. The student said dead carcasses littered the school grounds. "I was careful where I stood because it was just like marshmallows, you're stepping on marshmallows practically," she said. She said the rodents had also started living in the engine of her car, which was kept on campus. The student found "hundreds" of mice in her car. (Supplied) "Hundreds and hundreds of mice were jumping out underneath it. I popped the bonnet and there was dead mice all over my engine bay," she said. The school has been closed for a week, with students and their families yet to receive any indication of when it will reopen. The student said the uncertainty left her in limbo, with little to no clarity on how she was meant to complete essential tests and assignments. She said she was supposed to sit two externally set tasks this week, which are compulsory for general students to achieve their WA Certificate of Education, but they had been postponed. WA's Department of Education said impacted students could attend Morawa District High School while the college is closed. Farms around Morawa and other nearby towns have been hit by the mouse plague. (ABC Midwest and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis) While some assessments could be done off-campus, the student was worried about being able to complete practical units. The agricultural college has a working broadacre and livestock farm, where about 50 students learn the hands-on skills of farming. "All of us year 12s are trying to see when we'll be able to go back to school," she said. The students' mother echoed the same concern. "These kids are at an agricultural college … they can't get their [certificates] if they're not in tractors, if they're not in engineering classrooms," she said. The students' mother said the shutdown was poorly communicated. "It was definitely concerning when we found out that [the closure] was actually from the baiting problem, not so much the mice problem," she said. "Hopefully they caught it early enough before it did any kind of damage to any of the kids." Mice are moving from grain farms surrounding Morawa into the town. (ABC Mid West and Wheatbelt: Chris Lewis) The Department of Education did not respond to questions from the ABC about when it became aware the zinc phosphide had been spread, or whether cleaning had started. In a statement, Midwest Director of Education Lisa Criddle said "precautionary work" was continuing ahead of the campus reopening. "We will provide an update to students and families once this work has been completed and look forward to welcoming them back as soon as possible," she said. Copy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)PromotionTop StoriesIran war derailed talks to claw back billions in tax credits paid to minersTopic:Coal

Student says WA school closed by toxic baits had been overrun by mice

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