I know, I know ... yuck, right? Give me a chance and I'll explain why I'm posting about these critters on a Feel Good Friday. I had always put rats in the category of the completely unnecessary, until I learned about the Belgian agency called APOPO training African giant pouched rats to do landmine detection for humanitarian efforts. Here are two awful facts: - 1. There are currently 66 countries and 7 territories around the world affected by landmines and/or explosive remnants of war.
- Detection of landmines is difficult, dangerous, costly and time-consuming.
The trained rats -- affectionately known as HeroRats -- have done amazing work and here are some best reasons why they're so well-suited:
1. Rats have an exceptional sense of smell, and can be trained to detect explosives. Unlike metal detectors, they can detect both metal and plastic-cased landmines.
2. Rats are light-weight (approximately 1.5 kg or less) and they will not set off mines when they stand on them (it typically takes 5 kg to set off a pressure-activated landmine).
3. Rats are very sociable, easy to train (they are rewarded by banana and peanuts) and happy to do repetitive tasks.
The more I learned, the more I started loving these rats and last year I "adopted" one as a gift for my brother. I just "adopted" Blossom a few minutes ago. And I feel pretty good about that.
The more I learned, the more I started loving these rats and last year I "adopted" one as a gift for my brother. I just "adopted" Blossom a few minutes ago. And I feel pretty good about that.
