Excerpt from a podcast that was originally published on August 19, 2021. Posted for RTDNA award contest.
Rats have earned their reputation as pests. In addition to spreading disease, their voracious eating habits have contributed to the extinction of more than 75 species worldwide.
Humans are largely responsible for their global spread, but there are efforts underway to undo the harms of the past and protect sensitive ecosystems.
Hosts Elizabeth Friend and Laura Pellicer talk to Mike Cove, research curator of mammals at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, who shines a light on the history of invasive rats. And we meet Naomi Cordiero, a biosecurity dog-handler on the front lines of the battle to keep one of the world’s most remote landscapes rodent-free.