Rogue rat continues to elude authorities on Alaska island

Conservation officials are on high alert after a rodent has continued to evade capture on a small, previously rat-free Alaska island in the Bering Sea.

The Ecosystem Conservation Office for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island has changed tactics and brought in a team of rat eradication experts because the rodent has been on the loose since early September, Alaska's Energy Desk reported.

The office has added traps, changed bait and installed game cameras to bolster rat prevention measures, said Lauren Divine, of the conservation office.

The office is aiming to keep the island free of rats because they threaten its sensitive habitat and wildlife, Divine said.

"It's something that would devastate the seabirds and would change wildlife life on the island forever," Divine said.

But the increased efforts to capture the rodent might not have been the best response.

"By placing more traps or having more human activity around, we may have scared it away or encouraged it to move its home location," Divine said. "We would adjust our response in the future to that."

The office recently reached out to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, which chartered a plane for a rat strike team.

The team refreshed existing bait stations and added other detection devices during its week on the island.

Divine said the office will remain on high alert through November, and staff will check traps and bait stations twice a month.

"I hope we never get another rat because it's exhausting," Divine said. "But if we do, the education of just knowing the employees of each entity can work together and cover a certain area or do a certain task or divvy up the work has been very helpful for us to have."