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?
@wigglytuffitout I don't think it's petty at all. "I don't like watching my beloved pets die" is a perfectly reasonable thing? <.<
@InspectorCaracal every 1-3 years is just a hell of a wringer to put yourself through. i did it through middle and high school and i loved my ratties immensely but holy shit, it's definitely a pace where as soon as you feel you've got your feet under you again WHAM HERE'S ANOTHER PET DEATH.
i mean i may be biased because the rattie i bonded with most out of the pair (or more) was fucking *always* the one to die young through nothing we could do, but, y'know
@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!!
@InspectorCaracal GOOD FRIENDS DOING WORK FOR NANNER
@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
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