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Native Californian, biologist, wildlife conservation consultant, retired Smithsonian scientist, father of two daughters, grandfather of 4 small primates. INTJ. Believes nature is infinitely more interesting than shopping malls. Born 100 years too late.

Monday, January 20, 2014

What are rats good for?



If you've ever asked yourself that question, read this now!

And be sure to watch the video of the rat kennel and training facility.

[Thanks to Rod Jackson for the link]

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great idea. I hope they had the good sense to sterilize the rats or to use only one sex for the job. Otherwise they could be replacing one kind of land mine with another...

Rich

Owlman said...

Excellent use of Rats and "Heros" they are by saving lives.

randomtruth said...

Yay HeroRATs! That's fantastic.

They better be careful, though - if the enemy sees this video they may start putting snakes in their land mines... ;)

Anonymous said...

I loved the mine-sniffing rats! Delighted that the team stuck with the project for so many years. Some years ago, after they just started, I described their methods in my “Chemical Ecology of Vertebrates”, p. 417.

Dietland

D R Michael Buam said...

well, we eat some of them. most are eaten by birds of prey or other carnivorous animal. they are a very important part of the food chain. and, lets not forget the 'lab rats' who serve the human cause. of course they make for cozy pets (unless they stink).