i miss having ratties so much sometimes, but y'all... i just can't deal with the short lifespan. that sounds petty i know, but it fucking wrecks you.
someone genetically engineer me up a rattie that lives about a decade pls?
i mean the solution is to get one of these funky little fellows but iirc they are very much uncool on the domestic pet market in my area since there are problems with them becoming invasive in florida, and georgia's dnr laws are... Incredibly Stupidly Written right now
so i just donate to APOPO instead
@InspectorCaracal it's an african pouched rat!!
they're a little bigger than normal ratties, have cheek pouches, and the APOPO charity trains them to detect landmines!!! they're very quick and easy to train, they live about 7 years, and they're light enough that there's no chance they set off the landmines (unlike with some dogs). they can clear fields very quickly and efficiently!
APOPO is also teaching them to sniff out tuberculosis, too!!
@wigglytuffitout ooooooooh I remember reading the landmine thing a while back
@InspectorCaracal they're hands-down one of my fav charities
the tuberculosis thing is newer, but the screening they can do is much, much, much quicker and cheaper, and they tend to only give false positives instead of false negatives - so tb can actually be eradicated from communities more easily.
also they have an emphasis on recruiting and training local people, so it's not just White People Are Here To Solve Your Problems o'clock lol, which i appreciate
@InspectorCaracal GOOD FRIENDS DOING WORK FOR NANNER