Letters from Sniffles
Adoption Letter 10/09
Sniffles says Hello 10/19
Update 11/09
Holiday Letter 12/09
Update 02/10
Update 05/10
Update 07/10
Update 11/10
Update 12/10
Update 03/11
Update 07/11
Update 09/11
APOPO
Newsletters
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
February 2011
January
2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
August 2010
Summer 2010
February 2010
March 2010
2009 Seasons Greeting
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
Summer 2009
Our Challenge: http://www.herorat.org/content/braintree-scientific-0
Sponsorship Statement: http://www.herorat.org/who-we-are/partners
Meet Sniffles: http://www.herorat.org/search/node/sniffles
Video Gallery: http://www.apopo.org/video.php
Slide Show:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/42612410@N05/show/
Learn More:
http://apopo.org/files/Handout_092009.pdf
Find out
more:
http://www.apopo.org
and http://www.herorat.org
Hero Rat Song on You Tube
The
dream of each and every rat trained by APOPO is to
become a HeroRAT! HeroRATS contribute to peace and
development, by finding explosives and screening for
Tuberculosis.
The
training process begins when the rats are 5 weeks of
age and are weaned from their mothers. Trainers
begin socializing the young rats to the sights,
sounds, and textures of the world. For example, they
pass generators, walk on wet grass, go for a ride in
the lorry, and meet some new people. This helps the
rats learn their environment and not be afraid of
things they will encounter in the field, in training
or on an operation. Then the rats learn to begin
associating a clicking sound with a food reward-
usually some banana or peanuts. Once they learn that
“click” means food the real training begins. Rats
begin to be trained in a series of cages and learn
that they must indicate on positive samples to get
the food, then it’s just practice, practice,
practice.
Finding landmines and detecting disease is a complicated business so HeroRATS specialize in one of three disciplines. The first is screening samples of soil that have been brought from a suspected area and evaluating which samples (and corresponding areas) are highly suspected and which are not. This discipline helps ensure that the team tasked with demining an area can focus on the areas with mines and the areas without can be released- opening roads and letting in much awaited aid. The second and most popular method is working in the field to find hidden landmines. The third discipline currently pursued by HeroRATS in training is evaluating sputum samples for Tuberculosis.
©2001 Braintree Scientific, Inc.
Address: PO Box 361 Braintree, MA 02185
Phone: 781-348-0768
FAX: 781-843-7932
e-mail: Info@braintreesci.com
Prices Subject to Change without Notice
Prices are Valid for U.S. Customers Only
Copyright ©2001 Braintree Scientific, Inc. . All rights reserved. No portion of
this Web site should be copied.
This web-site was last updated
12/08/2011