Comments on: Hero Rats

Hero Rats

dydecker — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:15:45 -0800

Totally rad Frontline video about Hero Rats who sniff out unexploded land mines in rural Tanzania. Not only a great idea, but this story had me on the edge of my seat: are the rats on a suicide mission or not?

By: dydecker

dydecker — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:16:02 -0800

Bart Weetjens Hero Rat site has been posted before - it was pretty much ignored – but the great Frontline video makes this worthy a new post. I might even sponsor an African rat now.

By: hincandenza

hincandenza — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:30:42 -0800

These are very cool, and a great example of how a simple solution can save lives without requiring highly expensive cutting edge technology. Also, as a side note, the most recent Amazing Race series (TAR: All Stars) on CBS had as one of their challenges the use of hero rats to find a deactivated land mine... which I realize now was mentioned in the last thread, but... well, I'll mention it again.

By: SBMike

SBMike — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:40:56 -0800

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:41:40 -0800

But can they cook?

By: Falconetti

Falconetti — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:41:56 -0800

Third world rats are stuck doing these shit jobs, while Ratatouille gets to prance around in a kitchen making French dishes.

By: Falconetti

Falconetti — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:42:20 -0800

uh...great minds think alike?

By: i_am_a_Jedi

i_am_a_Jedi — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 17:17:02 -0800

Gotta be a better job than anti-tank dogs.

By: jayCampbell

jayCampbell — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 18:09:09 -0800

are the rats on a suicide mission or not? The promising offspring of successfully suicidal rats should have a greater chance of propagation than the bloodlines of unsuccessful rats. Reverse darwinism?

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:20:14 -0800

From i_am_a_Jedi's link: The dogs were employed by the Soviet Union during World War II, to be used against German tanks. The dogs would be kept without food for a few days, then trained to find food under a tank. The dogs quickly learned that being released from their pens meant to run out to where a tracked vehicle was parked and find some food. Once trained, the dogs would be fitted with an explosive charge and set loose into a field of oncoming German tanks and other tracked vehicles. I know this is probably stating the obvious, but man, what a bunch of dicks the Soviets could be.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:25:36 -0800

These HeroRats are awesome, incidentally, and their website is adorable, though perhaps not quite as adorable as the rats themselves.

By: null terminated

null terminated — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 21:31:33 -0800

Third world rats are stuck doing these shit jobs, while ~~Ratatouille~~ Remy gets to prance around in a kitchen making French dishes such as Ratatouille.

By: humblepigeon

humblepigeon — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 01:47:01 -0800

BOOM! Squeeeeeek!! BOOM! Squeeeeeek!! etc.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 05:27:00 -0800

I know this is probably stating the obvious, but man, what a bunch of dicks the Soviets could be. The Russians had somewhere around 9 million casualities in WWII. 19 million civilian dead. That was more than 10% of their population. And you are here complaining about some dogs being used in WWII. I know this is probably stating the obvious, but man, what a dick you are.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 08:06:06 -0800

Another version of the story is that since the dogs were trained under Russian tanks, they ran to them instead of the German ones.

By: infinitywaltz

infinitywaltz — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 09:54:50 -0800

And you are here complaining about some dogs being used in WWII. I know this is probably stating the obvious, but man, what a dick you are. I think it's possible to acknowledge the massive sacrifices made by the Russian people during World War II while still pointing out that blowing dogs up is kind of a dick move. Besides, rats and dogs alike pale in comparison to the awesome military might of the battle rhino.

By: jokeefe

jokeefe — Sat, 30 Jun 2007 22:19:58 -0800

I just adopted a rat for the very low amount of 5 Euros a month. This is a fantastic program, and I'm very happy to help.

By: john

john — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 08:13:11 -0800

Those same Giant Gambian Pouch Rats are an invasive species in Florida after someone in Grassy Key neglected to contain the ones he or she were breeding as exotic pets. An extermination program was started recently. Early results from tagging has determined that the reason few people have seen them is that they move mostly at night, mostly.