New animal/human relationships

[Rakuen Growlithe]

I was watching TV and a programme came up with two new ways of animals helping humans.

In Africa landmines are a huge problem and difficult to detect. Apparently some don't have metal so metal detectors (most common way of finding them) won't work. Then they started training dogs to sniff the mines out but dogs get distracted and bored too easily. So now they are training rats to sniff out mines. Apparently the rats are easier to train, work better and are easier to transport. They are also too light to activate a landmine.

The other thing the programme showed was to prevent bird-strikes (birds crashing into planes and causing damage) by having trained dogs to chase the birds away when planes are landing and taking off.

On a related note:
I've seen a thing about people training hawks and falcons to chase wild birds away from airports.
I also read about a rat that was trained to wire old buildings by dragging the cable through the roof, guided by the trainer tapping the ceiling.
I know people were trying to make a plant that would change colour when it grew where there were chemicals found in landmines.

[anoyomouse]

Yay, i knew rodents were useful for something ^.^