HeroRATs Rats Who Save Lives

Hero Rats. Rats Who Save Lives. Written by Gabriel Fembris.

英雄鼠。 拯救生命的小老鼠。 加布里埃尔·芬布里斯 著。

Landmines are a serious problem in Mozambique, a country on the continent of Africa. These weapons are buried underground and are set to blow up when people step on them. Landmines were used during almost 30 years of wars in Mozambique. The wars ended many years ago, but millions of landmines were left behind. Every year, thousands of people in Africa are hurt or killed by the remaining landmines. Huge areas of land cannot be used because of these dangerous, hidden weapons.

地雷是非洲国家莫桑比克面临的一个严峻问题。 这些武器被埋在地下，有人踩到就会爆炸。 莫桑比克近30年的战争中曾大量使用地雷。 战争结束很多年了，却留下了数百万颗地雷。 每年非洲都有数千人被遗留的地雷炸伤或炸死。 因为这些危险的隐藏武器，大片土地都无法使用。

Some unlikely heroes are helping to solve the problem. Rats. Bart Wietjens, an engineer from Belgium, came up with the idea. Since childhood, Bart has loved all kinds of rodents. Rats, mice, hamsters, gerbils, and squirrels. Rats have a very keen sense of smell. Bart realized that rats could use their powerful noses to find landmines so humans could safely remove them.

一些意想不到的英雄正在帮忙解决这个难题。 就是老鼠。 这个想法是比利时工程师巴特·维延斯提出来的。 巴特从小就喜爱各种各样的啮齿动物。 老鼠、小家鼠、仓鼠、沙鼠还有松鼠。 老鼠的嗅觉十分灵敏。 巴特想到，老鼠可以靠厉害的鼻子找出地雷，这样人类就能安全排雷了。

Dogs have been trained to sniff out landmines for many years. Bart figured out that rats would be cheaper and easier to train than dogs. At first, people thought his idea was crazy, but Bart didn't give up. He quit his job and began training his favorite animals as part of a program he calls Hero Rats.

多年来，人们一直训练狗狗嗅探地雷。 巴特发现，老鼠比狗更便宜，也更容易训练。 一开始人们都觉得他的想法疯了，但巴特没有放弃。 他辞掉工作，开始训练自己最爱的动物，这个项目就叫「英雄鼠」。

Castro is one hero rat who is coming to the rescue in Mozambique. He uses his cute, twitchy nose to find landmines. When he is at work, Castro races across a field, sniffing every inch of dirt. When he smells a landmine, Castro scratches at the ground to alert his human partner. For his hard work, Castro receives a yummy treat of bananas and peanuts and a scratch

卡斯特罗是在莫桑比克参与救援的英雄鼠之一。 它靠灵动抽动的小鼻子寻找地雷。 工作时，卡斯特罗在田野里奔跑，嗅闻每一寸泥土。 闻到地雷的气味时，卡斯特罗就会挠地面，提醒自己的人类搭档。 努力工作后，卡斯特罗会得到美味奖励：香蕉、花生，还有舒服的挠痒痒。

Castro is a specially trained African giant pouched rat. These rats are common in many areas in the southern half of Africa. The rats are unusually large, about three feet long from their nose to the tip of their tail. They weigh about three pounds, 1 .36 kilograms.

卡斯特罗是一只经过特殊训练的非洲巨颊囊鼠。 这种老鼠在非洲南部的很多区域都很常见。 这种老鼠体型格外大，从鼻子到尾尖大约长90厘米。 它们体重大约三磅，也就是1.36公斤。