Bomb Sniffing Rats?

[bemildred]

Police in Colombia are training Lola and Espejo, two whiskered, red-eyed rats, to sniff out bombs and land mines.

The rodents are part of an experimental six-rat squadron that police are preparing for dangerous missions to defuse the more than 100,000 land mines that litter Colombia's countryside after four decades of war between the government and leftist rebels.

Unlike dogs, rats weighing less than half a pound each and "don't trigger any explosions when they walk on a mine," said Col. Javier Cifuentes, director of the Sibate police academy, where basic training is taking place.

To earn their stripes, the rats have spent the past year undergoing a daily training regimen in which they are placed in a maze with C-4 explosives and other bomb-making materials. When they detect the target, they're rewarded with a cracker.

ABC

[0007]

1. That pretty clever.

[marmar]

2. Is that what's next for airports?

A federal agent walking around with a rat, clad in a "Don't give me any cheese, I'm working" vest, on a leash?

:crazy:

[tocqueville]

3. yep they've used them in Angola

with great success. They have a little harness and are on a leash. And not all of them are white.