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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Mine Detecting Rat Retires Because of Old Age |
| 2021-06-05 |
| For all your EOD friends. [BBC] Magawa the rat, who was awarded a gold medal for his heroism, is retiring from his job detecting landmines. In a five-year career, the rodent sniffed out 71 landmines and dozens more unexploded items in Cambodia. But his handler Malen says the seven-year-old African giant pouched rat is "slowing down" as he reaches old age, and she wants to "respect his needs". There are thought to be up to six million landmines in the South East Asian country. Magawa was trained by the Belgium-registered charity Apopo, which is based in Tanzania and has been raising the animals - known as HeroRATs - to detect landmines since the 1990s. The animals are certified after a year of training. Last week, Apopo said a new batch of young rats had been assessed by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre (CMAC) and passed "with flying colours". The rats are trained to detect a chemical compound within the explosives, meaning they ignore scrap metal and can search for mines more quickly. Once they find an explosive, they scratch the top to alert their human co-workers. Since this is the Beeb, I expect a followup article investigating atrocities Magawa perpetrated. |
| Posted by:Matt |
| #14 Anytime anyone in EOD gets to retire it's a plus. Indeed. While we are on the subject of movies, the first few minutes of The Hurt Locker lets you get a glimpse of how surreal that job is. Later on, the film descends into the usual crazy soldiers theme, so overall, the movie is just average. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2021-06-05 22:44 |
| #13 Seriously the Rat's a hero.. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2021-06-05 22:05 |
| #12 In Soviet Cambodia, dinner hunts for you! |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2021-06-05 18:51 |
| #11 HERO Rats. At least 35 Republicans had dibs on that name. |
| Posted by: Dron66046 2021-06-05 17:58 |
| #10 Anytime anyone in EOD gets to retire it's a plus. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2021-06-05 17:17 |
| #9 Is it too late to suggest Magawa be replaced by sod sniffing D.C. democrats ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2021-06-05 15:52 |
| #8 Ref #4: Yes, far too many. Everyone gets a SOTD trophy. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2021-06-05 15:30 |
| #7 "The In-Laws" gotta watch it again. Rated Damn Funny! by a panel of experts. Be aware there are *TWO* movies with the same title. The 1979 original has Peter Falk and Alan Arkin. The 2003 knock-off, the same screenplay but 'adapted', has Michael Douglas who just isn't in the same league. Serpentine! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2021-06-05 15:18 |
| #6 He’s lucky he wasn’t eaten in Cambodia. I think I had some in stew when I visited |
| Posted by: Beavis 2021-06-05 15:05 |
| #5 #2 Not getting killed, that's really the key to the benefits program. Peter Falk was the Master! "The In-Laws" gotta watch it again. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2021-06-05 14:26 |
| #4 Rantburg's on a roll... too many Snarks O'The Day to choose from! Bravo all |
| Posted by: Blackbeard Mussolini2887 2021-06-05 12:02 |
| #3 Pelosi could try to deploy a battalion of rats on Capitol Hill to sniff out all the mines planted by white supremacists. But I think the rats would refuse to associate with members of Congress. |
| Posted by: Matt 2021-06-05 10:31 |
| #2 Not getting killed, that's really the key to the benefits program. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2021-06-05 10:19 |
| #1 Animal Cruelty, Matt, PETA to issue statement shortly. |
| Posted by: magpie 2021-06-05 10:13 |