Rats in Alberta: Maintaining a Rat-Free Status
Despite occasional claims to the contrary, Alberta has maintained its rat-free status for 75 years.
University of Alberta anthropology professor Darcie DeAngelo researches rats' relationships with humans, including their use in detecting landmines.
The rat was a different actor in the minefield, so it created a different choreography of landmine detection.
DeAngelo's research began when she was working on her Master's degree, studying military wasteland and minefields, where she discovered that rats are used in Cambodia to detect landmines by scent.
- Rats are light enough to safely walk across landmines without detonating them.
- DeAngelo collects stories about rats and their interactions with humans.
Author's summary: Alberta's rat-free status faces new research.