Rat Cunning May Allow For Island Colonization

weighn writes "It was assumed that most rat invasions begin with one or two rats coming ashore from ships. The journal Nature reports that a wild rat, captured and then released on a deserted New Zealand island as part of an experiment, amazed scientists by apparently swimming 400 metres through treacherous open water to reach another island." From the article: "Researchers wanted to know how hard it would be to spot a single invader, and how difficult it would be to capture. Razza had a small radio transmitter attached and was set free on the island. Scientists intended to recapture him within eight weeks, but Razza gave a new meaning to 'rat cunning'. He avoided all the scientists' traps, and after 10 weeks his radio signal failed. 'It would be fair to say that at that point we were worried,' Professor Clout said. The Conservation Department was also worried, as the island had been cleared of rats."

Comments

Just 1 Rat

[powera]

If it's just 1 rat, I wouldn't be too worried. It may be clever, but it can't mate with itself.

Re:Just 1 Rat

[isometrick]

Unless there's frog DNA involved ... duh!

Re:Just 1 Rat

[darkonc]

It may be clever, but it can't mate with itself.

Obviously, this rat was intelligent enough to figure that out too, which is probably why he swam to the next island. it's incredible what us males will do for just the hope of a nice piece of tail.

Somewhere...

[Chairboy]

Somewhere in the world, Jeff Goldblum weeps...

"Oooooh, ahhh... that's how it always starts. Then later, there's running, and screaming, and standing on top of a stool in the middle of your kitchen waving a broom at Chucky Cheese the 'lone' mouse there. You think a single rat won't cause problems? My friend, if chaos theory has taught me anything... it's that nature will find a way..."

In other news:

[bmo]

Male rats were discovered to self impregnate after being told "Go F***k yourself!". In yet other news, Darl McBride is pregnant.

--
BMO

Wow

[Comatose51]

"To our knowledge this is the first record of a rat swimming across open sea, and it's often quite rough water," Professor Clout said. "We assume he did it deliberately, but who knows what was in his mind?"

He speculated that Razza may have wanted female company.

And I thought some of us were desperate!

I Like This Version of the Story Better

[TubeSteak]

"It seemed like a good idea. Let a lone rat loose on a rodent-free island and then figure out how to kill it. That way, when other islands are invaded by rats, you'll know what to do.

Scientists figured they'd trap this foot-long varmint in no time.

Eighteen weeks later, they finally trapped it with some fresh penguin bait. On another island."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9756077/
This version of the article just seems to give a much better sense of "How Ironic, Hilarity Ensues" than the submitted one.

And it includes little details, like they used PENGUINS as bait
I can hear PETA cranking up their war machine.

Not invading!

[M. Baranczak]

The rats are not "invading"! They're trying to spread democracy!

Re:CAT Cunning!

[gronofer]

Great, and what will you send to catch the cat?

Re:Easy solution

[DrSkwid]

sorry, the only acceptable story goes like this :

Skinner: (Upon finding out that the lizards he wanted to wipe out ate pigeon eggs) Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.
Lisa: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
Skinner: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
Lisa: But aren't the snakes even worse?
Skinner: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
Lisa: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
Skinner: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.

Re:They killed Razza!

[noc_man]

Well, now its proven that rats are, indeed, the smartest beings on Earth. This was one of their cruelest experiments on us yet.

Re:Life finds a way... (was Re:Just 1 Rat)

[mikael]

I still don't see why they had to kill it instead of just recapturing it. I mean, after such heroic efforts, it surely deserved better?

That rat gained invaluable combat experience that it would have passed onto others. Taking out this rat became essential if we are to maintain control of these islands.