Scientists release lone rat on rat-free island to figure out how best to trap rats. Eighteen weeks of hilarity ensues
I want to share with you the funniest story I've read all month.
A little background first. Rats were introduced to New Zealand by European colonists. The local wildlife wasn't used to the experience of voracious preditors, and many of them even nested on the ground. Anyway, long story short, many of NZ's native birds are now quite rare. Many islands off the coast have been cleared of rats and turned into bird sanctuaries.
Then some scientists had a real brain-wave. They'd release a radio-collared rat on a rat-free island and experiment with tracking and trapping it. No biggie, right? They give it four weeks to settle down, and then start hunting.
Six fruitless weeks after that, they lose the signal from the radio collar. A few weeks later again, they hear of rat-droppings on the next island. DNA test confirmed that it was their guy.
Eighteen weeks after he was loosed on the first island, they finally caught him with a trap set with penguin meat.
As it happens, they reckoned he swam the half kilometer of dangerous water to find a mate. What some guys won't do for sex, eh?
I want to share with you the funniest story I've read all month.
A little background first. Rats were introduced to New Zealand by European colonists. The local wildlife wasn't used to the experience of voracious preditors, and many of them even nested on the ground. Anyway, long story short, many of NZ's native birds are now quite rare. Many islands off the coast have been cleared of rats and turned into bird sanctuaries.
Then some scientists had a real brain-wave. They'd release a radio-collared rat on a rat-free island and experiment with tracking and trapping it. No biggie, right? They give it four weeks to settle down, and then start hunting.
Six fruitless weeks after that, they lose the signal from the radio collar. A few weeks later again, they hear of rat-droppings on the next island. DNA test confirmed that it was their guy.
Eighteen weeks after he was loosed on the first island, they finally caught him with a trap set with penguin meat.
As it happens, they reckoned he swam the half kilometer of dangerous water to find a mate. What some guys won't do for sex, eh?
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