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October 24th, 2005, 03:59 PM
#1
Cunning rat outsmarts scientists
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- A rat released on a deserted island off New Zealand outsmarted scientists and evaded traps, baits and sniffer dogs before being captured four months later on a neighboring island, researchers have said.
Scientists from the University of Auckland in New Zealand released the Norway rat on the 23.5-acre island of Motuhoropapa to find out why rats are so difficult to eradicate.
They got more than they bargained for.
"Our findings confirm that eliminating a single invading rat is disproportionately difficult," James Russell and his colleagues said in a report in the science journal Nature.
Despite all their efforts, including fitting the rat with a radio collar, they couldn't catch the crafty creature.
After 10 weeks on the island the rodent decided it had had enough. It swam 400 meters, the longest distance recorded for a rat across open sea, to another rat-free island where it was eventually captured in a trap baited with penguin meat several weeks later.
The Norway rat, which is also called the brown or sewer rat, is a husky rodent that weighs about 11 ounces and has a long tail.
Invading rats on remote islands off the coast of New Zealand have been a recurring problem. Norway rats have invaded the uninhabited Noises Islands at least six times between 1981 and 2002.
"Our results may help in the design of conservation strategies to keep islands free of invasive rodents," Russell and team added.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science...eut/index.html
CNN.com - Cunning rat outsmarts scientists - Oct 21, 2005
No wonder they've been around so long
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October 24th, 2005, 04:35 PM
#2
Rat granted asylum in UK and provided with a council flat in Birmingham.
Rat to sue NZ gov for marooning it. Cheri Blair to take case.
Rats are regarded as being at least as clever as dogs. I've seen some get round some quite complex dry and water mazes.
Very nice animals when you get past the '***** its a big rat' first reaction.
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October 24th, 2005, 04:58 PM
#3
LOL
Rats are indeed smart, our cooks used to show up for work in the wee hours (4:30am) to get brkfst ready and they would come face to face with a wharf rat (they will come indoors for the winter), so they decided to start showing up with a .22
Pretty nerve wracking when you are being stared down by a Big F**king Rat
Even went so far as to adopt a local tomcat in the hope it would dissuade the vermin, few days later found cat's corpse
PC Registered user # 2,336,789,457...
"When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats."
Claude Swanson
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October 24th, 2005, 05:01 PM
#4
Even went so far as to adopt a local tomcat in the hope it would dissuade the vermin, few days later found cat's corpse
WOW!! are these wharf rats rather large? Or was the cat simply a p*$$y?
Difficult takes a day, Impossible takes a week~Kthln01!
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October 24th, 2005, 05:35 PM
#5
Hmmmmmm.........................
I have always found that 4.7gr of Bullseye behind a 485 grain Speer SJSWCHP did the trick...........I have also used C4 to some effect
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October 24th, 2005, 05:39 PM
#6
.I have also used C4 to some effect
Isn't that a bit of an over kill Johnno? A M-80 I could see, but C-4 is almost like nuking them.
\"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, Champagne in one hand - strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming WOO HOO - What a Ride!\"
Author Unknown
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October 24th, 2005, 05:59 PM
#7
Lol you put a cat in there to get rid of them???? HAHAHAHAHAHAH. If they were Mice, sure Cats are awesome, specially house cats, as theya re the most murderous of all cats. They murder animals for the hell of it even though they have food given to them.
But for rats, they can kick a Cat down. Personally I'd get a snake for rats. The rats would take a while to actually take a snake down. If all else fails, dig a hole and put food in it, let them drop down and electrify the sides. Or build a little underground aquarium so nothing can get out that falls in, put food in there and a Cobra. that would take care of them because of the rats try taking on the snake, A cobra would defend itself with venom.
the good part is, you make it so it can't climb out. Like I said make only a slight opening so Rats can fit inside to get in, but make the fall long and narrow so nothing can get back out including the snake. Cobra venom can be treated so if somehow someone got bitten they would live unless they were REALLY allergic to it.
If you can't find a cobra, use Scorpions or Piranhas
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October 24th, 2005, 07:30 PM
#8
Gore, you've thought about that waaay too much
But you're right about cats. Our 2 bring in dead/wounded prey and drop it in front of us and just kinda look like they don't know what they've done.
We've come home and found the kitchen covered in blood when they've not done the job right. Need to teach the cat about forensics and how to work the freezer/woodchipper.
Nihil - 4.7gr of Bullseye behind a 485 grain Speer SJSWCHP - ??
Grains as in gunpowder?
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October 24th, 2005, 08:01 PM
#9
LOL, scenes from Fargo.
No the P***sy around this navy town are rather large, so was surprised when we saw that the rat had his way with our kitty, actually the rats down around here are the size of small dogs, and where our harbour is so generous when it comes time to feed the little critters, it's no wonder they are so large.(gotta figure approx 350,000 people have to go some time and well our ancestral engineers figured with such a huge ice free harbour, well why not??)
But as Nihil pointed out, if you have to use C-4 plastique, then our rats don't even come close to his.(we are talking about the 4 legged type though right?)
PC Registered user # 2,336,789,457...
"When the water reaches the upper level, follow the rats."
Claude Swanson
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October 24th, 2005, 08:44 PM
#10
dalek,
i would pass out if i saw a rat the size of a small dog!
**shuddering**
Difficult takes a day, Impossible takes a week~Kthln01!
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