Oh, Rats

       More Letters From Paradise
                Oh Rats

Thousands of people living in parts of our war torn world have lost their lives or limb to landlines. Warfare may have passed, but land mines remain. Farmers are afraid to plow their fields. People live in fear of land mines.

Now it seems that help may be coming from a most unusual source. African rats have been trained to sniff TNT used in land mines. My information came from an excellent Associated Press story, "Hero Rats," by Dennis D. Gray. He writes that African rats trained to locate land mines have been used in Angola and Mozambique.

Now being used in Cambodia, the rats with their handlers are able to clear 2,150 ft. in 20 minutes. A man with a mine detector would take four days!

The non-profit organization APOPO translates from Belgian as "Land mine Detection Product," in English.

These African rats are more easily trained than dogs, and they are friendly too. And they work for peanuts. Their favorite food is bananas.

History has had much to say about rats. Rats spoil or eat almost anything. And they are found around the world, carried there by sailing ships. Traps were invented long ago and continue to be used today. So is poison. American farmers use paper trays containing wheat treated with Warfarin. The rats die of bleeding. It is the same stuff used by humans as a blood thinner.

The main event concerning rats took place in the early part of 14th century Europe, often called the Black Death, now known as bubonic plague. It was spread by rats carrying fleas. It has been estimated that 75 million people died.      

The war against rats continues. Major cities such as New York have ongoing programs to fight rats. Here in Honolulu ships moored to docks often have large round discs on their lines to prevent rats from coming aboard. Visiting tourists will see metal bands around palm trees. These bands are to prevent rats from climbing, and eating coconuts and making nests in the top of trees.

And while I am at it I should mention that Honolulu's Chinatown burned down twice. Once by accident, the second time on purpose, because of rats.

Much has been written about the history of rats. But I feel that I simply must end with the speech made by the actor Edward G. Robinson, in a Hollywood gangster movie "You dirty rat."

         Aloha
         Grant