Hero Rats
June 29, 2007 4:15 PM   Subscribe

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?
posted by dydecker (17 comments total) 6 users marked this as a favorite
 
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.
posted by dydecker at 4:16 PM on June 29, 2007


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.
posted by hincandenza at 4:30 PM on June 29, 2007


See also landmine detecting flowers.
posted by SBMike at 4:40 PM on June 29, 2007


But can they cook?
posted by ericb at 4:41 PM on June 29, 2007


Third world rats are stuck doing these shit jobs, while Ratatouille gets to prance around in a kitchen making French dishes.
posted by Falconetti at 4:41 PM on June 29, 2007 [2 favorites]


uh...great minds think alike?
posted by Falconetti at 4:42 PM on June 29, 2007


Gotta be a better job than anti-tank dogs.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 5:17 PM on June 29, 2007


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?
posted by jayCampbell at 6:09 PM on June 29, 2007


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.
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:20 PM on June 29, 2007


These HeroRats are awesome, incidentally, and their website is adorable, though perhaps not quite as adorable as the rats themselves.
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:25 PM on June 29, 2007


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.
posted by null terminated at 9:31 PM on June 29, 2007


BOOM! Squeeeeeek!!

BOOM! Squeeeeeek!!

etc.
posted by humblepigeon at 1:47 AM on June 30, 2007


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.
posted by srboisvert at 5:27 AM on June 30, 2007 [1 favorite]


Another version of the story is that since the dogs were trained under Russian tanks, they ran to them instead of the German ones.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:06 AM on June 30, 2007


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.
posted by infinitywaltz at 9:54 AM on June 30, 2007


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.
posted by jokeefe at 10:19 PM on June 30, 2007


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.
posted by john at 8:13 AM on July 1, 2007


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