Unexploded Landmines? Call for The Herorats
by Unexploded landmines still remain a huge problem the world over. What is more, landmine clearance is an expensive business. One man has found a potential solution, however. All hail the HeroRAT.
It may seem like an unlikely combination. Giant pouched rats are not what spring to mind immediately when conversation turns to the global issue of unexploded landmines. However, Bart Weegens, from Belgium has found a low-technology answer to the continuing issue of unexploded mines. A childhood interest in the animals came to mind when he was musing over possible solutions and this led to an extraordinary development.
The idea occurred to Weegens as he realized that rats were both easy to train and had an excellent sense of smell. Combining these two would, he considered, provide a cheap way to detect unexploded mines and – what is more – with limited danger to human life. He founded APOPO, which is a non-profit organization, the aim of which is to train up African Giant Pouched Rats and to deploy them in the field. Not only would the rats be a cheaper alternative to mine clearance methods already in use – he figured that they would be considerably more efficient as well. An army of sniffer rats, would, it seemed save hundreds if not thousands of human lives. Not bad, considering that rats do not generally have a great press with a lot of people.
Having said that, the Giant Pouched Rats used in this project are only a distant relative of the common rat we hold in such great esteem. It is an intelligent species and easy to train – with many new recruits easy to breed. The female of the species can produce up to ten litters a year. Although this is a scary fact, only one to five arrive with each litter, despite the mother having eight nipples. In many African countries they are kept as pets but also are predominantly used as a food source. Perhaps the mine field is a better option than the casserole dish after all.
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uberVU - social comments
On December 13, 2009 at 9:55 am
Social comments and analytics for this post…
This post was mentioned on Reddit by totentanz: I notice the HeroRats have been posted before, but this site has much better pictures and explanations – and the rats deserve some love!…
Danny
On December 14, 2009 at 10:02 am
Never open a bank account from a bank who invest in weapons.
Thanks!
Mightydynamo
On December 14, 2009 at 9:42 pm
I’ve seen people just herd a large group of cattle into mine fields, it gets pretty crazy but it is effective, and if some of the meat lands outside of the mine zone, then it is easy BBQ.
roos
On December 15, 2009 at 1:31 pm
Rats are very cute animals, and, I believe clever aswell!
Wonderfull job
Steve
On December 18, 2009 at 8:45 am
You can see a video about this on SBS Dateline (Australia), here http://www.sbs.com.au/dateline/story/watch/id/600242/n/A-Rat-s-Tale
Nancy Grace
On December 19, 2009 at 12:08 am
Very cute critters!
You need to get Angelina Jolie involved or Heather Mills with this group. If Princess Diana was alive she would have been the best one to get involved in this project.
Tina
On January 4, 2010 at 12:08 pm
Hello, dear all!
HeroRats are absolute fantastic! The best way to support their work effectively is to simply ADOPT one HeroRat for only 5 EUR per month. Even tax refund is possible.
An adoption is also a really great gift for friends or family. It is possible to adopt an HeroRat for other persons and their name will be put on the Adoption Certificate.
Together with the lovely certificate comes a `personal` letter from the adopted HeroRat as well as nice pics of the HeroRat and her trainer.
Regularly updates and new pics will come by email.
.
Also every HeroRat has its own email address (no joke!) and it is possible to write to them when ever wanted.
Last christmas I spent 6 adoption certificates for friends and family and 1 for myself (his name is “Chosen One”
How to do an adoption (it is really very simple and does not take long time) is exactly described under http://www.herorat.org.
On this homepage as well as under http://www.apopo.org you can find many very interesting videos and more information.
There you can see that even Jane Goddall is a great fan of the HeroRats.
Glynis Smy
On March 15, 2010 at 8:30 am
Interesting, I have not heard of these rats before.
thestickman
On March 15, 2010 at 8:30 am
Brilliant!! I love it!!
I think that the U.S. is working with wasps for the same purpose, to detect explosive components in luggage at airports. Wasps can detect the presence of odors many times smaller than even dogs, and it takes (if my source was correct) just MINUTES to train a wasp!! Being insect and the short training session, there would be an endless supply, trainable upon demand…
Valerie Curtiss
On March 15, 2010 at 8:30 am
Very interesting article. Well written and great pictures.
B Nelson
On March 15, 2010 at 8:31 am
good thing the poor critters dont get blown up..
as far as thestickmans wasps.. I know they have been using them to hunt for dead bodies.. I saw it on tv.
Darlene McFarlane
On March 15, 2010 at 8:31 am
An excellent article! How fortunate that animals are able to help. I never knew this breed of rat existed.
Ruby Hawk
On March 15, 2010 at 8:31 am
What a remarkable solution to land mines. I have never seen rats such as the ones in your pictures.
Mr Ghaz
On March 15, 2010 at 8:31 am
liked it..thumbs up
Bill M. Tracer
On March 15, 2010 at 8:32 am
Thanks for the info. Those are indeed really hero rats.
Julie McMurchie
On March 15, 2010 at 8:32 am
I’ve never heard of HeroRats before. Thanks for the very interesting article. Well done.
Orbit1973
On March 15, 2010 at 8:32 am
rats were usually associated with bad activities. it is so amazing to read they infact save human lives. interesting article.
Lauren Axelrod
On March 15, 2010 at 8:33 am
Those furry guys are chubby. So cute and so intelligent. Gotta love rodents!
Eldridge
On March 15, 2010 at 8:33 am
Oh, that’s old news. I read about it in Scientific American magazine last year in summer, I think.
Kakamajek
On March 15, 2010 at 8:33 am
Ohhh, this rat is very cute
Rita H.
On March 15, 2010 at 8:33 am
Very good idea for mine detections… and great way to get people to see that rats aren’t the vile infesting rodents that we stereotyped!! Due to the plague they carried from ships… Not their fault!!! They had fleas that had the disease!!! Not the rats themselves!!!!
8Shei8
On March 15, 2010 at 8:34 am
I detest rats but somehow this seems so unjust. Wonderful article.
Lord Banks
On March 15, 2010 at 8:34 am
Well you live and learn I didn’t know about Herorats, good article.
Tanner Koza
On March 15, 2010 at 8:34 am
Thats crzy!!
Cynthia Bartlett
On March 15, 2010 at 8:35 am
Wow how interesting and positive. Now if we could get our gangs to do positive rather than negative things this world would be a far better place.
Thank you for an excellent read.
Annettenasser
On March 15, 2010 at 8:35 am
wow,, these is really interesting post a thousand times
Kaligantsaros
On March 15, 2010 at 8:35 am
A superb article , informative, optimistic and hopeful/ A real eye opener and something i would consider raising money for . Wonderful to see such well written and socially helpful read on this sit. Great stuff. Off to read more of your writing!!
jengriver
On March 15, 2010 at 8:36 am
Wow! Very excellent article, now I learned that rats are not only for experimentation and a pest but could actually save human lives. Thanks for sharing!
Sgt Muffin
On March 15, 2010 at 8:36 am
Cool… Great Article.
Although i still think that this is a better option http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine_roller
alwanstud
On March 15, 2010 at 8:36 am
it’s unusual
Gijo George
On March 15, 2010 at 8:37 am
It is good to know about how rats could save human lives. Interesting read.
Gateway to Wizard
On March 15, 2010 at 8:37 am
This is a new information to me. Thanks
Dragowarrour
On March 15, 2010 at 8:37 am
I don’t like this article but im just going to click on the i like it button. How do u get so many people to click on the i like it button? No one clicks on the i like it button for my articles. I need help getting people to click on the i like it button on my articles.
Debrinconcita
On March 15, 2010 at 8:38 am
I do believe this is just great, I know it will save lives. Why wouldn’t they make this thing available all over, wherever needed? I love this great idea. This Rat Hero is really just what they say a hero! Thanks and keep on keepin on!
overwings
On March 15, 2010 at 8:38 am
Very interesting. Never heard before of APOPO before and their great work clearing mine fields.
pattiann
On March 15, 2010 at 8:39 am
I love your article! It is well written and researched, and it is an interesting topic that I knew nothing about. Thank you for writing it!
adityasatya
On March 15, 2010 at 8:39 am
wow…..humanity reveals,cute rats
Joshua Miguel
On March 15, 2010 at 8:39 am
these rats deserve a medal of honor. modern day heroes. tnx for this interesting post.
rkm123
On March 15, 2010 at 8:40 am
very nice article good job
J.L. Eck
On March 15, 2010 at 8:40 am
Strange, but cool
Aaron Paul Hicks
On March 15, 2010 at 8:40 am
Fascinating work, im not really a fan of rats with being a poultry keeper but it is nice to see them playing a positive role in a very important job,
festive regards
Aaron
Ostap123
On March 15, 2010 at 8:40 am
For the udated version of this article go to the following link http://authspot.com/thoughts/athiests/
LitWurst
On March 15, 2010 at 8:41 am
Pretty damn brilliant! Maybe they can repay their debt for the bubonic plague after all.
liangzhichao
On March 15, 2010 at 8:41 am
hehe,the mouse is very lovely.
jaysonv
On March 15, 2010 at 8:41 am
great post.. i like it.
innetenhave
On March 15, 2010 at 8:42 am
Hi everybody! I just found this page and wanted to thank you all for you nice words, especially RJ for his great article!
As a volunteer from APOPO I’d love to answer any questions you might have – you can always email my at inneATxs4allDOTnl.
As a small gift I’d like to give you all e paper art folding rat, designed by the talented japanees children book writer Satoshi Kitamura, specially made for APOPO.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/20022410/Paper-art-rat-for-APOPO-by-Satoshi-Kitamura
You can download the file, print it, cut out the rat and fold him. Every time you see him, you know who glad we are with the kind words and attention you give us.
Best wishes, Inne ten Have
Naughtywatermelon
On June 17, 2010 at 2:38 am
Hey this is awesome, thanks ‘coz it’s so cool!!!
Thanks all contributors, and APOPO as well as the rats for saving our lives. (I’m very into making sure no one dies.)
Thanks.
Naughtywatermelon
On June 17, 2010 at 2:52 am
Hi! Again, I’d like to thank the contributors and APOPO (+ their rats) for their tremendous effort.
~ Melissa aka Naughtywatermelon (promise me you’ll call me the latter name!!!)
Naughtywatermelon
On June 17, 2010 at 3:35 am
What makes a land mine explode?
Please answer! Email your answer to wikicrystal@gmail.com, starting off with
Q: What makes a land mine explode?
A: …
The answerer will receive up to $50 (unless there is some extra feature requiring reward extension) as long as they supply their mailing address to mail the money.
Thanks, Naughtywatermelon.
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