Imagine for a moment that you’re trapped under rubble. An earthquake hit your building pretty hard, and now you and some others are hanging on until help arrives.
Help does arrive, but you’re greeted by a rat with a backpack on. Sounds pretty ridiculous, doesn’t it?
But rescue rats really are a thing. This Belgian-based program is the one training them.
I train these clever creatures to save victims trapped in collapsed buildings after earthquakes. We kit them out with a rat backpack, and train them to trigger a switch when they find a victim & come back for a tasty treat 🐀#herosnotpests #science #weirdjobs #WomenInSTEM pic.twitter.com/728IQv70NX
— Dr Donna Kean (@donnaeilidhkean) May 26, 2022
Led by scientist Donna Kean, these rats are the unlikeliest heroes you might find at the next disaster site. They are African giant pouch rats, and Kean shared a lot more details about the project.
Dr. Donna Kean says that the rats already have a comparable sense of smell to dogs. Bet you didn’t know that?
HeroRATs begin their careers at our training HQ in Tanzania. They’re socialized with humans & habituated to lots of different smells, sounds & environments, e.g. transport in a 🚗
This helps them develop as happy & confident rats, & minimises stress ❤️ #EarlyTraining #Welfare pic.twitter.com/KgSaqYAKjn
— APOPO Science (@ApopoScience) July 29, 2022
But it might not surprise you too much. Rats can sniff out spoils and leftovers from darn near anywhere. It’s no wonder they can find their way from sewers into a home. As long as they smell cat food or dog food, they’ll start hanging out in your home.
And it seems like that sense of smell is good for more than just helping themselves to your food.
The organization behind the program is known as APOPO, and it’s been going on since 2021.
**Please retweet** Do you want to help train these heroes🐭 to find trapped humans, fight wildlife smuggling, detect disease & clean up the environment? If you have a PhD & experience with animals apply now #weirdjobs #jobsearch #job #research #sciencehttps://t.co/tVj9XgSTYV pic.twitter.com/QLxzO0TEc3
— Dr Donna Kean (@donnaeilidhkean) May 30, 2022
Dr. Kean says they began training the rats in August of 202. Training them is no easy task, but there are notable advantages compared to training dogs. For one, rats are cool with having more than one trainer.
The same can’t be said for dogs.
The rats’ small size also allows them to crawl into spaces that dogs wouldn’t be able to.
It’s not so strange if you think about it. Consider too, that this species of rat has been used to detect land mines in Tanzania for 20 years.
Just one of our retired rats, Kennedy, enjoying a banana and a good scritch behind the ear 🐭🍌 pic.twitter.com/Rx3V9bkw6k
— Dr Donna Kean (@donnaeilidhkean) September 9, 2022
But how exactly does the process work? Well, Dr. Kean was kind enough to explain the process.
First things first, they had to train the rats to go from point A to B, then return back to A.
The rats had to know how to return to whoever sent them.
APOPO’s HeroRATs take around nine months to a year to train.
Discover more about the journey the rats take to become efficient and accurate landmine detectors: https://t.co/dEU8LVAk1k pic.twitter.com/YgOGJpsery
— APOPO (@HeroRATs) September 5, 2022
From there, the team trained the rats on how to pull a little rubber ball on the backpacks they were fitted with.
The little technology inside the backpacks would give off a signal to the rescuers when the rats pull it.
A perfect score! 🎯
HeroRAT Miriam enjoys a banana treat after finding the 6th of 6 targets hidden in her search area today. She also correctly ignored all 8 non-targets! (Miriam scratches the ground above the landmine to tell her handlers that she has found the target scent.) pic.twitter.com/VNPLc8iPgT
— APOPO (@HeroRATs) August 29, 2022
If all goes to plan, the rats could be deployed to rescue zones soon. Dr. Kean says they can search areas up to 30 meters. Considering they can also fit through spaces dogs can’t, that means they can search far more spaces than a dog could.
“For search and rescue, dogs don’t penetrate debris, they just sniff around the outside of it. So the rats will only be deployed after human and canine search teams have already worked the debris site.” – said Dr. Donna Kean
Of course, people who are squeamish towards rats might not react too nicely to being rescued by one.
Handling a rat needs to be carried out firmly, yet with a gentle touch. They need to feel comfortable & secure so are picked up in a way that supports their large frame, and held close to the body with firm footing. HeroRATs respond better to confident handlers. pic.twitter.com/JKSW5SQGy3
— APOPO (@HeroRATs) August 17, 2022
Dr. Kean says that’s a bridge they’ll cross when they get there. Besides, who’d be foolish enough to refuse rescue just because it came from a rat?
Watch these ‘rescue rats’ in action in the video below!
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