Hero Rats

[Viking Prince]

Land mine problems? Call HeroRats

I did not know about this until the CNN news item, but I think this is pretty cool stuff.

Excerpt from CNN: herorats detect landmines:

... Upon study, the rats' advantages emerged.

Their olfactory senses are superb. They're native to Africa, so tropical disease is no problem, and they don't grow heavier than the 3 to 10 kilograms required to trip a mine, Bach said. It also helps that the mine-sniffing rats are not bonded to individual trainers or prone to ennui, as dogs are, he said.

"If you compare them to canine mine detectors, it's pretty much the same in terms of sensitivity and capability," Bach said, noting that dogs are better equipped to work in brush or high grass that might conceal a rat.

"Rats are not going to oust dogs in this industry, but it's a very positive complement," he added. "You could say they work for peanuts."

Indeed, said Weetjens, cost is especially an advantage in Africa. It takes limited skill and only six to eight months to train a rat -- or a year for the "slow" rats because "some rats are smarter than others," said trainer Mushi, who oversees 14 rats.

The cost to train a rat is 6,000 euros ($7,700), roughly a third of what it costs to train a dog....

If you want to learn more, go to the link for herorat.org

[MathiasOfAthens]

Oh well I guess its ok since they cant trip a mind since they dont weigh over 3 kl.

[Poach]

They should weigh over 3kg. We could finally have a use for sewer rats: round them all up, cleaning out the cities and improving hygene and all that, and deploy them to Afghanistan where they can set off mines for us. Win-win!

[Lucius Gellius Publicola]

We could finally have a use for sewer rats: round them all up, cleaning out the cities and improving hygene and all that, and deploy them to Afghanistan where they can set off mines for us. Win-win!

yeah it looks like it's the win-win situation. After all there is no city in the world that would not like to be cleaned out of it's rodent population.

[Ascarona]

Since it costs almost 7K to train these things, I think this:

They should weigh over 3kg. We could finally have a use for sewer rats: round them all up, cleaning out the cities and improving hygene and all that, and deploy them to Afghanistan where they can set off mines for us. Win-win!

...would be a far better solution.

[chamaeleo]

Rats live 2~3 yrs max, so each spends at least 1/4 of its lifetime in training. $7700 each rat, for 6-12 mo? Damn, that trainer must be earning bank, considering the requisite infrastructure for such an operation could fit in a trailer...

[Santini]

Pouched rats, like those used for mine clearing, live 12 to 14 years.

And even if they used regular rats, $7,700 isn't much to pay for a human life.

[Phier]

7k for rat training seems....high.

[Santini]

7k for rat training seems....high.

I'd pay $7k for a foot. More then that for my hands. Or my eyes.

Just sayin'


Anyhow, a part of the reason it's so hard to train them is because they're gambian pouched rats- they're bigger, smarter, stronger, more aggressive and more independent then regular rats.

With pet rats, all it takes is handling and feeding and they come to see you as the boss rat.

With the bigger guys, it's a battle of wills

[Phier]

I'd pay $7k for a foot. More then that for my hands. Or my eyes.

Just sayin'


Anyhow, a part of the reason it's so hard to train them is because they're gambian pouched rats- they're bigger, smarter, stronger, more aggressive and more independent then regular rats.

With pet rats, all it takes is handling and feeding and they come to see you as the boss rat.

With the bigger guys, it's a battle of wills

I'm not saying 'don't find landmines' I'm saying 7k per rat sounds high for training. Exactly what are they doing to train them?

[Angrychris]

they should deploy the rats with little duffle bags and maybe a camo hat

[squatlover]

A 3-10kg rat? Wow! That is worth 7000 dollars - I thought rats were about half a kilo ish.