Wimmera Mail-Times harness racing scribe Tony Logan this week shared a clipping he found in a 1947 edition of the Warrnambool Standard – a sister publication to the Horsham-based masthead. 

“Mice plague in the Wimmera – spread from the Mallee,” the headline from the April 6 story shouted. 

“The mice plague has now spread to the Wimmera and is not yet under control in many parts of the Mallee,” the story read. 

“More than 100 mice are being trapped daily in some Murtoa homes. Measures to protect food and wheat have been successful but the mice are now concentrating on clothing and curtains. 

“At Quambatook a man had his moustache chewed while he was asleep. Buttons have been nipped from coats left lying on sofas and chairs. Wiring insulations has been eaten from radio sets. 

“At Sea Lake, where the plague has caused devastation, a farmer killed 2000 with poisoned wheat.”