SNIFFER RATS / HeroRATS

I read about these interesting rats in the National Geographic magazine (October 2008 Vol. 214 No. 4) and I thought I should share it here. Well, rats or mouses are always a nuisane to humans. However, Bart Weetjens found a way to make use of them. They are light and easier to train than dogs so they are used for locating land mines. There are some 60 million land mines scattered in 69 countries worldwide. They are used heavily in Tanzania and Mozambique in Africa, in the world's most mine-riddled continent. The rat, the African fiant pouched rat, has a very sensitive nose. Apart from sniffing out land mines, they can screen human saliva for tuberculosis and finding earthquake victims buried in rubble.

HeroRATS