Yes, landmines are a plague and a terror, so anything that is helpful in ridding the world(or at least some African countries) of them is GOOD, even rats.
Seriously, though, rats are smart, easy to train, cheap to raise and transport, have fantastic noses, and are too light to set off mines, making them much faster, more cost-efficient, and safer than metal detectors or sniffer dogs.
Don’t believe me, check out this PBS Frontline story!
There are an estimated 100 MILLION landmines left buried and abandoned, according to some reputable sources, so your employment opportunities seem good to me.
I’m so glad you posted this. As the SDMB’s resident crazy rat lady, I know about the use of pouched rats in landmine detection, but I hadn’t seen this particular site nor did I know there were donation possibilities. Methinks I know what charity I’m going to ask people to donate to in lieu of gifts this holiday season.
Sure wish it were practical to train domestic Norway rats for this kind of work. I can’t help but think that more “jobs” for them would do a lot to help the species’ public relations problems, and the welfare problems associated therewith.
Personally, I have always found rats to be fascinating. They give Mr. McQ the heebeedeejeebees, though, so there’s no chance of me ever indulging in them as pets.
From the program info, I gathered that the African rats were selected partially for their natural burrowing instincts, and for their native resistance to disease. I don’t know that anyone has ever tried anything like it with Norway rats. Do you know anything about their trainability?
But were they flying monkeys? Because if they were just a regular unit of ground-based monkeys, they’d be called a “Company” of monkeys. And these are not to be confused with the Naval component, the “Sea Monkeys”.
Tripler
Trust me on this. Especially when monkeys fly . . . [sub]outta my rear end[/sub].
