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In 2009, 695 people were killed by mines in Colombia, 56 of them children.
Next year, the army plans to use rats to detect and help dispose of hundreds of thousands of mines planted by the FARC rebels.
Why rats? Rats are light so they do not detonate explosives, as dogs sometimes do and they are better at detecting explosives masked with coffee grounds, feces, fish, mercury and other substances.
"The more I work with rats, the more I am amazed at what they can do," said veterinarian Luisa Fernanda Mendez.
ALSO: The parties to the Mine Ban Treaty have given Colombia ten more years to remove anti-personnel landmines from its territory.
http://colombiareports.com/colombia-news/news/13256-colombia-gets-landmine-removal-extension.html
