I have to admit I do not like rats. I know they are clever, intelligent, and all sorts of other wonderful things. My dislike goes back to my time working with horses. And then there was Ben…
But this story could almost make me change my mind. The program has been in place since 1997; I only now learned about these rats. Check it out
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/tanzania605/index.html
There’s a video you can watch as well. What a brilliant, innovative idea. I learned about this through an e-mail…can’t find the source, but it has pictures if you can’t play that video.
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Throughout the world, places that have been involved in war and/or civil strife often have large minefields that still need clearing. In 2013, it was estimated that there was a global average of around nine mine-related deaths every day. The situation is especially dire in Africa.
Typically, clearing a minefield involves men in body armor walking in very precise lines with metal detectors. Anything (from a rusty nail to an old ammo cartridge) that sets the detectors off must be investigated before moving on. A new method of bomb detection using rats, however, is flipping this process on its head.A Belgian NGO called APOPO has developed a way to train African pouched rats (named for the storage pouch in their cheeks) to sniff out bombs quickly and safely.
They used this rat because it has an incredibly fine-tuned sense of smell and a long lifespan (8-9 years) to yield returns on the nine months of training they undergo.
They’re called Hero Rats, and not one has died in the line of duty since the program started in 1997.
The average mine requires 5 kg (roughly 11 pounds) of weight to trigger an explosion, but even the biggest of these rats are only around 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds).
Since they’re trained to sniff out explosives exclusively, they aren’t distracted by other metal objects the way human minesweepers are.
They can effectively search 200 square meters in less than 20 minutes.
A team of humans would need around 25 hours to do the same job.
Since they’re in the African sun a lot, the Hero Rats get sunscreen to keep them cancer free.
If a rat does get cancer, it receives full medical treatment.
The rats are “paid” in avocados, peanuts, bananas and other yummy, healthy treats.
After about 4-5 years on the job (or whenever they lose interest in working), they’re allowed to retire.
Retirement consists of eating all the tasty fruit their little hero heart’s desire.
Mona Karel Author 