OT: Weird news of the day - mine-sniffing rats

Cheaper than dogs.

John

Also lighter - too light to set off a mine; they don't get bored like dogs can, and they don't need a specific handler like dogs do - they'll work for anybody who has a banana and a clicker. :-)

Cheers! Rich

Then again, all you need is one sensitive cheese bomb to go off.... :)

So you lose one rat - they breed like rats, after all, and so are significantly cheaper than dogs. ;-)

They _do_ have to spend some time training them, but the rats also seem to love mine-rat school. :-)

Cheers! Rich

Perhaps I should have said "dirty cheese" bomb? :)

You know, something to distract the mice...

Oh, they're not mice - they're "giant Gambian pouched rats." They're bigger and smarter than common sewer rats.

And they won't go after the cheese, because that's not what they're trained to find. When they find explosives, their trainer/handler hand-feeds them a banana.

And who's going to put a "dirty cheese bomb" in a minefield while people are starving? The people would go out into the mindfield to dig up the cheese and eat it!

Cheers! Rich

Rich Grise:

I have a dog with the bad habit of sniffng mine and my guests' ones since

You and your guests have land mines?

EEEEK! That must itch something fierce! =:-O

Thanks, Rich

Rich Grise:

No, we have our bollocks, but it's impolite to name them. :D