5 Outback Occurrences That You Never Want To Experience

2. Plagues

I can't emphasize how much a plague can really put a dampener on your day. Now granted, when it came to population control of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo or an explosion in rabbit numbers it was kind of fun for us kids cause we'd get to go hunting. Sometimes in the back of the local policemans paddy wagon or police "ute." But I ain't talking about that, I am talking about a plague. Specifically, STINKBUGS. Yes that right, we had not one but TWO stinkbug infestations. Where you couldn't take one single step without stepping down upon a mass layer of them (crunch). Not just one under your feet, but hundreds. Thousands. Did I mention they were stinkbugs? Do you know what happens when you step on just one, much less 20 at a time? They don't have that name for their sunny disposition. It didn't help having a sadistic brother who would jump up and down to the detriment of anyone within a 50 foot radius. But although stinkbugs were a smelly, gooey mess, nothing is like living through a mice plague.

These little bastards get everywhere. You can't walk, you can't keep your feet on the ground period. All of us kids had to sleep together on the top bunk, and even that wasn't very safe. They ate everything, including the walls. Mice plagues can seriously do some damage that really has to be seen to be believed. You wouldn't think they could pull off this type of destruction, being just mice and all. But when they are swarming they can turn into an all devouring floor monster the size of an entire town. Kind of like the Blob, 1988 version. Although that didn't stop some of the kids (my brother included) coming up with new and innovative mouse traps in which to kill them. Some I could possibly write a book about as they were in fact, genius.