I do read more than the comics, honest!

An enjoyable article from The Times on 31/10/05 by Anjana Ahuja

RAZZA, a Norwegian brown rat, did not waste a moment of freedom. Released by scientists testing rat-catching techniques on an uninhabited New Zealand island, he went on the run for ten weeks, dodging poisoned peanut butter, tainted chocolate and tracker dogs. This is despite wearing a radio transmitter, whose battery eventually expired.

Compelled by the seasonal urge to find a mate, Razza then paddled 400 metres across to another uninhabited island, thereby accomplishing the longest recorded swim by a rat. Researchers, unaware of Razza’s epic voyage, were tipped off that birds on a neighbouring island were behaving strangely; DNA tests on rat droppings proved that Razza was in town. The creature still evaded capture for eight weeks. “We were tearing our hair out at times trying to find this animal, ” admitted Mick Clout, the Auckland University ecologist who put Razza on the loose.

Razza, Nature reports, was finally done for when he fell for a bait of poisoned penguin meat. The researchers have released another, it is hoped less intrepid, male rat in a rerun of the experiment.