Winners of the Dr. Ian Malcolm Prize for October ...

... are the team of scientists who found out that a lonely male rate, when confronted with the prospects of life on a deserted island, will find a way even if he has to swim a quarter mile to another island. In other words, "Life Finds a Way."

Scientists got more than they bargained for when they released a single rat named Razza in an experiment into why rats are so hard to eradicate.
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Researchers from the University of Auckland in New Zealand had problems catching him even though they had fitted him with a radio transmitter.

He was finally killed by a trap 18 weeks after the experiment began.
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It then took the scientists another eight weeks to find and catch him once he arrived on Otata island.

"We were literally tearing our hair out at times trying to find this animal," Mr Clout said.

He said it was fortunate they had used a lone male rat in the experiment.

"If this had been a pregnant female rat it would have been a problem. It takes only one to establish a population."

Comforting thought.

The science team enjoyed the experiment so much they are repeating it.

Scientists have released a new male rat in a follow-up experiment to see if Razza was unusually clever or lucky.

"We want to check whether this was normal behaviour," Mr Clout said.