This is so cool!

[soldiergrrrl]

Mine-detecting rats! (Evidently, they're not heavy enough to set off the mines...but they can smell them out!)

From the website:
HeroRATS are trained sniffer rats that detect explosives and screen for disease. This unusual idea has been developed into a competitive technology by a group of Belgian and Tanzanian researchers and animal trainers

Comments

[amaliazavattini]

Saw this on Animal Planet - the rats are huge (even by New York standards) but still only weigh a pound or two. And yeah, they're kinda cute.....

[shonao]

They're still not as huge as Nutra-rats! (those things are what the swamp rats in Princess Bride were based on!!!)

I love that they are finding alternate methods of finding them. Having a soldier lose a limb or some such was just no bueno.

[spikywheel]

One word..

NIHM

[deviantsaint]

the animal rights activists are not going to like this one.

[soldiergrrrl]

:-P The rats don't get blown up. I think they'd be happy that kids aren't getting zotted by landmines, but someone's always gotta be upset about something.

[pelgar]

Beat me to it. Curses!

[lorihalia]

Sniffer Bees is another track that's been taken, used to find drugs, pollutants, and explosives to name the few things I can remember from the show I saw a few weeks ago. Awesome, and hilariously funny reaction when they get a hit.

[pelgar]

PETA will have a problem with this.
I can feel it.