Meet the giant land-mine-detecting rats of Mozambique

Ratatouille's got nothing on these guys. Mozambique has been relying on a fleet of plus-size rats to help rid the country of old land mines. Called Mine Detection Rats (MDRs) but referred to (awesomely) as HeroRats, the giant-pouched African rodents are trained by Belgian organization Apopo to detect mines by odor. They've cleared more than 64 million square feet since 2006 and uncovered more than 2,400 land mines. The HeroRat squads took some getting used to. Alberto Augusto, director of Mozambique's national demining unit, jokes, "In Mozambique we eat rats, so it was very strange to see them working and demining. We were thinking to grill them." [Source]

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