The hero rats of Africa sniff out land mines — and TB infections
https://www.yahoo.com/news/hero-rats-africa-sniff-landmines-tb-infections-210921657.html
It is here in the field that APOPO, a nonprofit organization that trains African giant pouched rats to undertake such endeavors, works its magic. The humans are patient, methodical, while the rats seem eager to learn — an interaction reminiscent of a new owner training a puppy. After each rat undergoes its daily weigh-in — they are generally between two and three pounds — it is put in a harness to walk one of the areas marked off on the field. It paces the ground, scratching feverishly when it detects a dismantled land mine beneath the surface. An APOPO worker uses a clicker to notify the rat that it is correct. The rat then scrambles to receive its treat of bananas or peanuts. After nine months of training, they are shipped out to APOPO’s partner organizations in various countries, where they will detect and help dismantle thousands of land mines that have been left over from decades of prior conflicts.
A trip to Tanzania is on my bucket list, so this caught my eye.
For those too young to get the reference, here it is:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067991/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
That movie spawned a sequel - with this young man singing the theme song:
I am overflowing with pop culture references today...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/hero-rats-africa-sniff-landmines-tb-infections-210921657.html
It is here in the field that APOPO, a nonprofit organization that trains African giant pouched rats to undertake such endeavors, works its magic. The humans are patient, methodical, while the rats seem eager to learn — an interaction reminiscent of a new owner training a puppy. After each rat undergoes its daily weigh-in — they are generally between two and three pounds — it is put in a harness to walk one of the areas marked off on the field. It paces the ground, scratching feverishly when it detects a dismantled land mine beneath the surface. An APOPO worker uses a clicker to notify the rat that it is correct. The rat then scrambles to receive its treat of bananas or peanuts. After nine months of training, they are shipped out to APOPO’s partner organizations in various countries, where they will detect and help dismantle thousands of land mines that have been left over from decades of prior conflicts.
A trip to Tanzania is on my bucket list, so this caught my eye.
For those too young to get the reference, here it is:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067991/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
That movie spawned a sequel - with this young man singing the theme song:
I am overflowing with pop culture references today...
