Thousands of rats both dead and alive have ended up on beaches in a part of Australia.
Residents in Queensland have become overwhelmed by the problem which started a few months ago.
The surge of rats has been caused by breeding and a bountiful harvest as well as ideal wet weather conditions.
The rats have moved towards the coast in search of more food but many do not survive the trip.
Derek Lord, 49, a resident from the town of Normanton which has been impacted said: ‘Mate, there’s rats everywhere.’
Derek said his pet ducks have been going mad because the rats have been trying to break into the cages.
‘We have hire vehicles and they literally destroyed a car overnight, taking all of the wiring out of the engine bay,’ he added.
‘They’re really getting out of control,’ a fisherman told ABC North Queensland.
‘There’s a stench along the riverbed. Last night, with the moonlight, the river was truly alive with them.’
Another local said: ‘We saw them dead or alive, but exhausted, in the water and on the shoreline. [When we returned four days later], they were running on the sand’.
Other locals said the rats have turned cannibal and have started eating one another as well.
A video on social media shows heaps of dead rats piled up as flies and other insects swarm by them in the water.
Residents now worry the rats will have an adverse impact on tourism because another town affected called Karumba is a well-known fishing and birdwatching paradise.
Jemma Probert, a fishing charter owner in Karumba said: ‘We’ve heard there are still more that are coming.
‘It’s not a good thing to leave Karumba remembering.’
People fear the worst is yet to come because more wet weather is expected in Queensland.
Over the last two years parts of Queensland and New South Wales have experienced a boom in rodent numbers due to more breeding.
For example, mouse populations have reached plague conditions not seen since 2011.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
