Australian fishing towns in Queensland have been hit with a plague of rats washing up on their beaches.
The Australian state has seen a recent surge in rodent numbers which has seen many of the rats move up the coast in search for more food.
However, many do not survive the trip, meaning their bodies have washed up on some of the towns’ picturesque beaches, to the horror of residents. Those alive have chewed through wires.
Videos posted to social media show what appear to be thousands of rats at the edge of boat ramps and on footpaths by the water.
Speaking to the AFP news agency, Derek Lord, a resident from the town of Normanton, said: “Mate, there's rats everywhere.
“We have hire vehicles and they literally destroyed a car overnight, taking all of the wiring out of the engine bay.”
The neighbouring town of Karumba, a fishing and birdwatching tourist destination, has also been heavily hit.
Locals in the town say they haven’t seen rodent populations like it since 2011.
“We've heard there are still more that are coming," Jemma Probert, a fishing charter owner in Karumba, told AFP.
“It's not a good thing to leave Karumba remembering," she said.
Tina Hutchinson, who owns a fishing business in the town, said the last thing her business needs is rats in the river.
She told the Guardian: “You can’t keep your doors open because you’ll have rats inside. If you go out in your car at night, you can see them all just running around.”
The surge in the rat numbers has been helped by a combination of wet weather conditions for breeding and a good harvest.
With more wet weather expected for Queensland, some people believe the numbers could yet reach higher.
