Rats !!
They just are not the most commonly beloved creatures of nature and of course there is a historical reason for fearing them, as diseaces are know to sped through them.
However - I was absolutely mesmerized when I read an article of a rat called Magawa, a landmine sniffing hero of it's species but of course it isn't (or actually wasn't) the only one doing the lifesaving job in Cambodia. The gambian puoched rats (Cricetomys gambianus) [in Finnish; savannihamstraajarotta] are doing unbelivably valuable work in sniffing land mines ie. in Gambodia. These rats are far more accurate and quicker in finding land mines than any other mean of doing it; as it takes a fraction of time from these quided sniffers to cover an area of appr. football field than what it would take from us humans. Magawa was one of the most successful rat trained to alert human handlers of landmines to be safely removed there after. Trainer by Apopo organization these rats have been detecting (and destroyed) according to their web page now more that 25.000 land mines. Magawa alone during it's appr 5 year career sniffed more that 100 landmines.
A power of a small treat ..
Any small delicate treat will do it's effective work - all is based on positive reinforcement. The animals are trained to mark the place of mines or as far as I understand they are trainer to detect the smell of TNT. By marking the spot the handlers can then inform about it to professional people for destroying safely the landmine. These rats are great in this type of work: They have excellent capability for smelling the explosives plus they are very light in weight so it is safe for them to do the detection.
I am, aften decades of working with animals and their training still just absolutely amazed of how much we can do with different animal species for the safety & well being for us humans.
Android, windows, apple or some other ...
Wait a minute -what does these have to do with landmine detecting rats or any other animal species, like dogs? ...or with any animal heroes trained for the higher purpose of ie. protecting human lives? In reality any operating system really has nothing to do with animal training: Expect - What I've found so fascinating during the years of my career with different animal species; No matter which species I've worked with they are all 'programmed' in the very same way. All of them has similar or same "operating system". There's no windows, no android nor any other difference in that sense.
Come to think of - it is quite astonishing that all species are behaving under the same principles of consequences; positive or negative ones.
Of course you need to know the capabilities of each species and each individual. Individual differences can be rather outstanding. When ever I'm tutoring animal trainers, animal care personnel or owners I'll always emphasizing the time spend with one's animal companion. We just got to learn their personal ways of behaving. At the same time we are also providing them valuable quality time to learn and observe our natural essence.
Where is the limit - within species.
A few years back a video in socialmedia / internet went viral of bublebees learning to pull a rope in order to collect valuable reward. We all know what is done with dogs; scent training to detect different diseases (including covid-19), drugs, lost people etc.
Often times animal training is related to mammals as it mostly has been within my career as well. However this should not limit our thinking. During the last few year I've gathered more experiences of training reptiles and aquatic animals. Aquatic environment is very familiar as I do have decades of experience with marine mammals therefore "diving" underneath the surface should not be a surprize. Recently I've done work ie. with buffer fish, shark and now the last experience is with copperband butterflyfish & peppermint shrimp.
I am just fascinated of the power of positive reinforcement. Taming peppermint shrimps to eat from my hand is just a fun thing to do and an experimental training with no further higher value. On the other hand it could be quite valuable in case there would be a need to transfer this tiny crustacean to another environment (aquarium) as it would be a hole lot less stressful for the individual. We are talking about voluntary participation in animal care which is getting more and more popular in animal care as part of daily animal keeping and welfare. This type of every day training is truly valuable in diminishing stress of handling of animals. it is also providing safety and less stress related feelings to any person dealing with the situation. It is also giving an advantage for management of animals and in long run savings in expenses.
You can find the result of crustacean training from the following link to my tiktok-channel.
(You may have to copy the link)
https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMNdWHSta/?k=1
Enjoy watching !
Every change is a possibility !
Remember not to make any defensive blocks in your mind of all possibilities we are having with our animal companions.
Enjoy of being an enabler for any animal under your care and have fun.
Sincerely
- Kai -
ps. check out my renewed webpages
www.meritime.net
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-mattsson-36967819/
https://www.facebook.com/Meritime-345171735503394
