If you're the sort of person who squeals and jumps up on a chair when
you see a rat or a mouse, then this buisness enterprise is not for
you.
Paul McManus is perhaps Australia's only full-time large-scale
breeder of rodents. He has about 5000 of them in a galvanised-iron
clad, concrete floor shed on his property on South Australia's Yorke
Peninsula.
It all began just over a year ago when as a pet shop owner, Paul
couldn't get enough rats and mice to feed his snakes and lizards.
Other reptile breeders had similar complaints.
Most of the rodents they fed were surplus laboratory mice, and with
those you just had to take whatever was left over.
The other source of rodents were backyard breeders and catchers and
with those you could never be assured they were disease free and
had'nt been in contact with poison.
So, with the help of a federal government grant through the new
enterprise incentive scheme (NEIS) Paul McManus established SA
RODENTS.
He breeds between 500 to 1000 creatures a week, but would soon like
to build up to 4000 a week. Any surplusto demand are kept in deep
freezers.
He admit's it's a lot of hard work and not everyones cup of tea,
but at this stage the buisness is about breaking even.
If you wish to comment directly on this, please write or phone:
Paul McManus
C/ Pine Point General Store
Pine Point SA 5571
Phone:
08 8838 2368