Rats sniffing out mines

Warrigal

Warrigal

SF VIP
Location
Sydney, Australia
Seems like a very good idea.

How these rats are being Superheroes and saving numerous lives

May 29, 2015

This is an amazing story of a unison between man and his least favorite rodent – Rats! This is an example of the world that can be created by strengthening the connection between man and his Universe. These little creatures are helping Humans in detecting land mines by sniffing the scent of explosives.



These rodents are being trained by a group called APOPO (Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling) or Anti Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development, in English.




The rats are trained through friendly methods and the best part is that “NOT A SINGLE RAT HAS BEEN KILLED IN A MINEFIELD”




Their tiny size and superior sense of smell makes them perfect for the job. They are small enough not to trigger the mine, and large enough to be identifiable in the field. These little fellas can clear 200 square meters in 20 minutes. And for a human with a metal detector, it takes around five days to cover the same area.



These little heroes have found over 9000 buried land mines, and several small arms and ammunition, buried all over Tanzania and Mozambique.



The average age for a rat is 8 years. But these soldiers are generally retired at the age of six. And the rest of their lives they are respected and treated as heroes. They munch on avocados, bananas and apples and remember the good old brave days with their fellow soldiers…
Click to expand...
 

Rats are very intelligent, and those rats are huge! I had pet rats when I was growing up, they are the best rodent pet to have. I'm glad none have been killed while locating mines; I'd prefer they use ground squirrels instead, but they probably wouldn't do as good a job.
 
Yes, I have seen a large rat in broad daylight in the centre of Sydney.
It was pretty large and moving slowly through Hyde Park during the lunch hour.

I once kept a white rat but she was not really a pet. I was too busy raising my kids, working and being engaged in the community to devote enough time to her.
A niece of mine did have a pair of rats that were very engaging pets.

I neither fear nor hate them but then again I fear few animals and don't hate any.
 
Good grief, I had white mice in a wooden box with a screen over it and never held them. I didn't have them for long, as I got them without permission and my mother flushed them down the toilet while I was in school one day and told me that they must have escaped...:confused:
 
This is 'RAT ABUSE'!
The poor little darlings being attached to a metal cable and forced to look for a mine field when they are really meant to be frolicking and trampling in your attic, having a wonderful time.
Sat at a suburban train station some time ago and watched the ??lovable?? little creatures walking leisurely back and forth, examining discarded chocolate and other wrappings.
Melbourne, supposedly, is loved and adored by zillions of rats!
:eek1:
 
I love all animals except rats and snakes. They can sniff out all the mines they want.
 

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