Not So Nice Mice
Last Updated (Monday, 02 June 2008 16:00) Written by Raymond Nakamura
Today's episode of Dr. Ray and Darwin (R&D) was inspired by a tale of nature red in tooth and craw.
A mouse from a distant land arrives by boat on an island of sea birds. In a picture book, a mouse and a fat fuzzy seabird chick might become best pals.
But on Gough Island, it is a different story — a horror story. The mice grow to twice the size of their stowaway house mouse ancestors. Gough Island is uninhabited, but the mice were presumably brought by whalers At night, they gnaw out the innards of the hapless seabird chicks. The chicks are somewhat bigger than the mice — like hippos to house cats — but they are not used to predators.
Here's an article about it.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/may/20/wildlife.endangeredspecies











