It’s a rare thing to find an unknown carnivore these days. That’s what Smithsonian zoologist Kristofer Helgen did when he looked in a museum drawer, and then in the mountains of Ecuador.
Note on Emerging Science – Singing Mice
Almanac – The Chinese New Year of the Rat
Gap in Nature
Earthear
Animal Note/Flavorful Pesticide
Living on Earth’s Maggie Villiger reports on research that wood rats use bay leaves to keep their homes pest-free.
Wild Nights
Rats and pigeons aren’t the only form of wildlife that uses New York City as their habitat. Diane Toomey talks with Anne Matthews, author of the book, Wild Nights: Nature Returns to the City.
Rats
You’ve heard of the Canadian Mounties and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Add to that stellar list a Canadian… Rat Patrol. The province of Alberta has zero tolerance for the rodents. And as Amy Jo Ehman reports, the government there employs a team of trusty officers to carry out its policy.
Technology Update
Cynthia Graber reports on a new test that will reveal if rats or mice are hiding nearby.
The Pied Piper of Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. has more than its share of rats — the four-legged kind. Lex Gillespie brings us a profile of the man the federal government calls on to exterminate them.
