Here’s another rat story but with a positive spin instead of ending up at the wrong end of a pitch fork. In Tanzania rats have been successful trained to hunt land mines. Now thailand is trying the same along the Burmese border where humans and elephants have had a history of land mine casualties.

“Rats have excellent senses of smell and weigh too little to set off land mines with their bodies, making them the perfect alternative to using robots or humans to find mines in war-torn countries. Plus, they like to socialize, are easy to train, and are motivated almost entirely by food. HeroRATs have already found 861 land mines in Tanzania and Mozambique, allowing trained technicians to destroy the mines before they can harm local residents.”

from Good.

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