An African giant pouched rat sniffs for traces of landmine explosives at APOPO's training facility in Morogoro on June 17, 2016.
APOPO trains the rats to detect both tuberculosis and landmines at its facility. CARL DE SOUZA/AFP/Getty Images
Imagine it’s a brisk morning, and when you’re about to snap up the morning newspaper at the doorstep, there’s a little extra something that catches the eye. It moves, it shivers, its doe eyes yearn. Poor little kitty, is it? An abandoned puppy? An injured critter of the wild? Our inborn nature of compassion kicks in.
But what if this gift from nature were a rat?
Tim Wahl
Author
Timothy Wahl is an ESL teacher, reporter, essayist, and author living in Southern California. His most recent book is “Footballogy: Elements of American Football for Non-Native Speakers of English.”
