Thursday, September 18, 2008

High Tech Rat Patrol With Satellites



Scientists plan to use satellite photos to count Giant Kangaroo Rats in California. This would be the first-ever monitoring of an endangered species from outer space.

How do you do a rat census using a satellite? Simple: you count the circular patches of earth that have been left denuded by the rats as they gather food around their burrows.

By comparing modern photos with satellite images taken 30 years by the U.S. Geological Survey, scientists hope to see if populations are growing or shrinking in response to grazing, global warming, and rainfall variances. >> To read more

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