National Geographic Kids Chapters

by Elizabeth Carney

  Ellen called Megan to tell her what was happening. She asked if Megan had trained Kasey to do it.

  “No, this wasn’t part of Kasey’s training. She’s doing it on her own. But I’m not surprised.”

  “How can you not be surprised?” asked Ellen. “This is amazing!”

  “Kasey is smart. She knows Ned and what he needs to get better.”

  Over and over, Kasey proved that she knew just what Ned needed. When Ned’s body hurt, she crawled onto his chest. She wrapped her tail around his neck. She made deep cooing sounds. Her care made Ned feel better.

  One day, Ned’s hand slipped and hit the wheelchair controls. They got stuck on “go.” The wheelchair crashed into a bed. It started racing toward a window. Kasey started screaming with all her might. She didn’t stop until someone ran upstairs and stopped the runaway chair.

  As Kasey and Ned’s friendship grew, Ned’s doctors saw changes in Ned. He had always worked hard to get stronger. But now he was healing faster.

  “I think we can thank Kasey for how much better you are moving your arms,” said one of Ned’s therapists.

  Kasey’s ways of getting Ned to work harder were working. Ellen sensed that something else was happening, too. Ned wanted to take care of Kasey in return for all she did for him. He wanted to feed her, pet her, and hold her. For the first time since the accident, there was something Ned felt strongly about. He was responsible for Kasey.

  When Kasey first came, Ned could hardly move from the neck down. He could barely move his hands. After five years with Kasey, Ned can move his hands, his arms, and his upper body. Ned can now hold Kasey. He can feed her walnuts. He can rub noses with her.

  With Kasey at his side, Ned wants to tell the world his story. He and Kasey visit schools and hospitals. They tell kids to stay safe. They also tell them that no problem is too big. With help, you can be strong enough to get through anything.

  “Kasey keeps me going. I will keep getting better. Kasey will take me further.”

  (photo credit 6.1)

  Don’t Call Me a Pet

  Kasey has made a big difference in Ned’s life. When a monkey goes to Monkey College, it can be a big help to a person. But monkeys that haven’t been to college are not good pets for humans. Monkeys are not like cats and dogs. They are wild animals, and wild animals can be dangerous. Visit your local zoo or wildlife center to learn more about monkeys.

  RATS: HEROES IN SMALL PACKAGES

  This hero rat is doing a training exercise to find land mines. (photo credit p3.1)

  African giant pouched rats have an incredible sense of smell that scientists are putting to good use. (photo credit p3.2)

  Chapter 1

  HIDDEN TALENT

  Samo races through the tall grass. He keeps his nose to the ground, sniffing it carefully. He wears a harness attached to a long string. The grass is brown and Samo is brown, too. His handlers can hardly see him. They use the string to follow Samo’s path. Suddenly Samo stops. He scratches at the ground. His handlers come up carefully behind him. Samo has found a hidden bomb called a land mine!

  “Good job, Samo!” Samo’s handler calls him back for his reward—a tasty piece of banana. Samo loves bananas. That’s because he’s an African giant pouched rat.

  Bart Weetjens smiles proudly at the squirrel-size rat. He has worked very hard to bring his rats to this African minefield. Bart remembers how just 15 years ago, people laughed at his idea to use rats to find land mines. After all, who would believe that rats could be useful working animals? They aren’t strong and fast like a horse, or brave and loyal like a dog. They don’t have abilities like dolphins, which are sometimes trained to find bombs underwater. But rats are pretty special. They are smart and easy to train. They don’t mind doing simple tasks over and over. And they have a great sense of smell.

  Most people see rats as a pest. But Bart saw something great: the chance to solve a global problem—land mines. Millions of land mines are hidden on or under the ground in nearly 80 countries around the world. That’s more than one in every three countries. The bombs are left over from wars. Sometimes they are hard to see when they are covered by a thin layer of dirt or grass. If someone steps on a mine, it can explode. The devices cause thousands of injuries and deaths every year.

  Bart knew that people could never be safe with such deadly weapons around. The land mines had to go. But how? Finding land mines is dangerous and difficult. Many people have tried different ways to do it. Each method has problems. What could Bart try that hadn’t been done before? To find an answer, Bart thought back to his childhood in Belgium and a little hamster named Goldy, who started his love for rodents.

  “Happy birthday, Bart!”

  Bart’s mom and dad had opened the door to his room. His dad carried a small cage wrapped in ribbon.

  “What’s this?” Bart shouted, running to the cage.

  A shaggy-haired hamster poked his head out. Bart reached in and scooped up the golden ball of fur.

  “Wow, he’s so soft and cute. I’ll name him Goldy after the color of his hair. Thanks, Mom and Dad!”

  “You have to take care of him yourself, Bart,” said Bart’s mom.

  “That’s right,” agreed his dad. “Goldy is your responsibility.”

  “I promise I will. You won’t have to worry about a thing.”

  Bart kept his promise to his parents and took care of Goldy’s every need. The two were never apart. Bart kept Goldy in the pocket of his shirt. Sometimes, Goldy snoozed in the crook of his arm. Bart took Goldy along when he went to play with his friends. He and Goldy went shopping in the supermarket. He even took Goldy to school!

  No one knows I have a hamster hidden in my clothes, Bart thought to himself. It was like he and Goldy shared a secret.

  It wasn’t long before Bart’s secret got out. Bart was in trouble.

  “Bart, I’m glad that you and Goldy are so close. But you can’t take him out of the house. It’s not safe for him,” Bart’s mom told him. She knew that if Goldy got away, the little fur ball would be really hard to find.

  Bart agreed to leave Goldy at home from then on. But he worried that his buddy would get lonely. Bart wondered if he could get a friend for Goldy. His parents said he could. Soon after the new hamster came, baby hamsters were born.

  Bart’s parents didn’t want a dozen little Goldys running around the house. They told Bart he would have to find a new home for the babies once they were big enough to leave their mom.

  Bart took the young hamsters to a pet store. To his surprise, the shopkeeper gave him some money for each hamster.

  This is great! thought Bart. If Goldy has more babies, I can have fun and make money, too!

  The shopkeeper said Bart could also sell him other baby animals. Before long, a row of cages lined a wall of Bart’s room. Inside, hamsters, gerbils, squirrels, and rats ran around happily.

  Bart’s parents were a little nervous about having so many rodents in the house. But Bart cleaned the animals’ cages. He gave his rodents fresh food and water every day. He played with them and petted them. Since the hobby made their son so happy, Bart’s parents allowed it.

  Rats became Bart’s favorite of all. They were so smart and friendly! Plus, they had an amazing sense of smell.

  I bet rats could do lots of cool things, Bart thought.

  At age 14, Bart left home to go to boarding school. He had to leave his rodent friends behind. Little did Bart know that when he grew up, rats would be part of his life again. This time, the stakes would be higher. Bart was going to use rats to save lives.

  (photo credit 7.1)

  Giant Rats

  African giant pouched rats can be found in many parts of Africa. They weigh 2 to 3 pounds (0.9 to 1.4 kg) and can grow up to 3 feet (0.9 m) long (including their tail). In the wild, they’re active at night and sleep during the day.

  While this type of rat is social and easy to train, they don’t make very good pets. The animals have a strong chewing instinct. They�
�ll chew on anything they find in your house.

  Land mines like this one are a very serious problem all over the world. (photo credit 7.2)

  Chapter 2

  AN EXPLOSIVE PROBLEM

  It was 1995. A war had ended in Mozambique, a country in Africa. Both sides had used land mines. They buried the small bombs under dirt or leaves. When a person stepped on one of the mines, it would blow up. When a car ran over one, it would explode. Some mines were buried to keep the enemy away. Others were used to scare the enemy.

  When the war was over, the killing stopped, right? No, it didn’t. The mines were still there. People stepped on them and were hurt or killed. Farmers ran over them while plowing their fields. Kids stepped on them when playing ball.

  Mozambique is not the only country with land mines. About 100 million mines are buried all over the world. They kill or hurt thousands of people each year. This is a very big problem.

  Since the war ended, many countries have agreed to stop using land mines. They have also agreed to get rid of the land mines they have. But there is still one big problem: How do you get rid of the land mines that are already buried in the ground?

  Many people have tried to solve this problem but have not been successful. This is mostly because finding the land mines is dangerous and very expensive. The problem had gotten so bad that people were beginning to lose hope.

  Bart knew all of this, and he wanted to help. He read what other people had written about finding land mines. Many people had ideas on how to get rid of mines. One group used a high-tech sensor to find them. Another made a machine that could see mines in the dirt. These ideas didn’t work very well. They needed electricity, and mines are often in places that don’t have electricity.

  Other people had made special cars. These cars had armor to keep them safe when a mine exploded. But they only worked on flat land. Metal detectors weren’t right either. They found every piece of metal on the ground. They found some mines, but they found mostly coins and rusty screws.

  Dogs were trained to sniff out TNT, the stuff that makes land mines explode. But sometimes the dog would set off the bomb and be hurt or killed. No one wants a dog to be hurt. The dogs got sick a lot, too. People realized this idea wasn’t a good solution either.

  Bart needed a new way to find land mines quickly and well. He knew that it had to be simple and not cost a lot of money. One day, he read an article about scientists who trained gerbils to find bombs. He thought back to the rats he had kept as pets when he was young. They were smarter than gerbils, and they had a great sense of smell. That’s it! he thought. The idea struck him like a lightning bolt.

  Rats can do that! I’ll train African rats to sniff out mines. They’re too small to explode the mines because they don’t weigh enough. Their lives won’t be at risk. Plus, they don’t cost too much to feed. They can’t get sick from local diseases because they are already used to them. And they are easy to take wherever they need to go.

  Bart typed a letter. He sent it to a group that gives money to projects that help the world. The group told him they didn’t like his idea. They didn’t give him any money. Bart sent the letter to another group and then another. Almost two years passed, and still no group thought Bart’s idea would work.

  Finally, in 1997, someone liked his idea. The Belgian government gave him the money he needed to test it. Bart set up a training program. He had to make his rats ready for the hard work in the minefields. Only then could Bart’s rats become the heroes he hoped they would be.

  Bart chose the African giant pouched rat for his project. These rats live an average of six to eight years. They’re calm, friendly, and easy to handle. Plus, with their large size, they’re easier to spot in thick grass than smaller rats.

  Bart got the idea to use the pouched rat from a friend. When his friend was in Africa, he saw a person walking one on a leash.

  This is the rat for us! Bart thought when he found out about it.

  Bart’s training program starts soon after the rats are born. At five weeks old, the rats are ready to leave their mother. People take care of them for one to two weeks so the rats get used to being around humans. Each rat is given a name. Then, it’s time to start the training.

  The rat trainers teach the rats to do simple tricks. When a rat does a good job, the trainer gives it a food treat. At the same time, the trainer makes a clicking sound. The rat learns that a click means it has done a good job and will get a treat.

  The trainers teach the rats to find TNT by its smell. At “sniff school,” rats go into a large tank with slots along the bottom. Scents are loaded into the slots.

  A rat runs along the bottom of the tank, its nose to the ground. When it stops at the TNT scent, CLICK … Snack time! The rat gets a bit of banana or a peanut each time it finds the TNT smell.

  The training is repeated until the rats learn to stop and scratch at the spot where they smell TNT. From start to finish, the training program takes from eight to twelve months. Some rats learn fast and some learn slowly. Bart’s rats seemed to be getting the hang of it pretty quickly.

  (photo credit 8.1)

  Rat Athletes

  Talk about a rat race! At a college in Nebraska, rats compete in events like the long jump, tightrope walk, rope climb, and weight lifting. It’s like the Olympic Games for rats!

  Students train the rats as part of a science class. When the rats learn a step to a trick, they’re rewarded with goodies like protein pellets or yogurt chips. Eventually, the behaviors are combined into a complete skill.

  A rat is rewarded with a chunk of banana for a job well done. (photo credit 8.2)

  Chapter 3

  RATS TO THE RESCUE

  Bart’s rats practiced for months until they were expert TNT finders. Bart knew that they were ready for the next step: It was time to go outside. Bart set up a fake minefield. He buried old mines that were fixed so they couldn’t explode. The mines still had bits of TNT for the rats to sniff out. They were great for the rats to practice on.

  Pouched rats aren’t used to being in the sun. They usually only come out at night. Bart made sure to protect them. The scientists put sunscreen in the rats’ ears.

  The rats scampered over the grass. They found all the TNT smells. Bart knew they were ready to be heroes. Now it was time for them to find real land mines. In 2008 and 2009, Bart’s company, HeroRats, sent 30 rats to sniff more than 600 square miles (1,500 sq km) of land in Mozambique. The rats found 400 land mines! They did such a good job that they got a new goal. The government asked HeroRats to find all the land mines in the country by 2014.

  Bart knew his rats could do it. Every day, he sees how the rats have helped people.

  In 2010, HeroRats was sent to a village where the electric company couldn’t work. There were mines hidden where they needed to put wires. Many people had no electricity for cooking or refrigeration. Children couldn’t study at night because they didn’t have lights. They couldn’t use electronics like computers or televisions.

  Bart’s HeroRats found 40 mines in the small minefield. A team came to destroy the mines. The area was safe for the electric company workers.

  When Bart visited the village later, he saw how much it had changed. Now the village had electricity. There were new schools, stores, and places for people to work. The villagers had a better life—and it was all thanks to HeroRats.

  (photo credit 9.1)

  Meet the Rats

  Each HeroRat has its own name and personality. Here are a few of the program’s most famous critters.

  ANZO

  Bart’s favorite rat lived to be nine years old. That’s very, very old for a rat. She had so many babies that lots of today’s HeroRats are Anzo’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

  ARARAT

  Ararat was HeroRats’ star student. He breezed through the training program. Bart sent him to Mozambique right away. If there’s a land mine around, Ararat will find it.

  (photo credit 9.2)

  GRIGO
RY

  Grigory isn’t a top student, but he tries hard. During his field training, he missed a fake mine. But Grigory’s trainer isn’t ready to give up on him. “Tomorrow, he’ll know he needs to do better.”

  (photo credit 9.3)

  At another village, mines had been buried in a field next to a school. Teachers and students feared that one step could bring disaster. Children could not go outside at recess. They had to be careful on their way home from school.

  The HeroRats were called in to sniff out the land mines. They cleared the whole area—finding more than 100 mines! Now, children can play safely in the schoolyard. They can have recess and play soccer and tag.

  Bart and his rats have come a long way. They are still working in Mozambique. Now they clear land mines in neighboring Tanzania too. The group is planning to go to Thailand, a country in Asia where many mines are buried. They’re also beginning another important job.

  Some scientists thought that if these rats were so good at finding bombs, they might be good at finding other things too. As luck would have it, they are. These rats are now finding an illness called tuberculosis (sounds like TOO-BURR-CUE-LOW-SIS).

  Tuberculosis, also called TB, mostly attacks people’s lungs. It is a big problem all over the world. When someone has TB, he or she can give it to other people by sneezing or coughing.