The Curious Incident of the Non-Rafting Foxes

Blink and you might miss this unexpected bit of common sense, embedded in a NY Times article on adorable dwarf foxes native to California's Channel Islands ("Foxes That Endure Despite a Lack of Genetic Diversity"). How did they get there? They were evidently ferried thousands of years ago by Native Americans, who seemed to regard them as totem animals.

It's unlikely the foxes made the trip on their own; the islands are separated from the mainland by 12 to 70 miles of open ocean. Another clu...