Researchers in New Zealand wanted to know how to control rat populations that are not native to their environment. Rats are infesting the islands of New Zealand, and since they are not native, they have no predators. So they trapped a rat, took its DNA, put a radio collar on it and let it go. They tracked it. Then lost it. Months later, they found it: on another island, 1/4 mile across open ocean water. They tested the DNA - same rat! This is the longest known distance for a rodent to swim! What amazes me is how little we know about a very common mammal: the rat. Our knowledge of our environment, even of other common mammals, is suprisingly little!
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