No Gold Watch

Did you hear about the explosive-sniffing rat in Cambodia who recently retired?

His name is Magawa, and he’s an African giant pouched rat trained to find landmines and alert his handlers so they can safely dispose of them.

A Belgian nonprofit, APOPO (not a poopoo), trained Magawa, and last year the intrepid little rodent won a British charity’s top civilian citation for animal bravery. It’s an honor previously limited only to dogs.

APOPO said Magawa’s track record is quite impressive: He is credited with clearing more than 1.5 million square feet of land -- the equivalent of 20 soccer fields -- and finding 71 land mines and another 38 items of unexploded ordinance in his five-year career.

APOPO said it found African giant pouched rats are best for clearing buried explosives because their size (really not that giant) enables them to scurry across minefields without triggering them.

“Although still in good health, he has reached a retirement age and is clearly starting to slow down,” APOPO said of Magawa. “It is time.”

Magawa had no comment.

APOPO even released some background on Magawa. He was born in faraway Tanzania in 2014 and moved to Cambodia in 2016 to begin his bomb-clearing fame.

Again, Magawa apparently had no comment about his decision to become an explosive-sniffing rat compared to other options that may have been available.

Such as moving to New York City to steal pizza on the subway.

Pizza Rat!

APOPO said more than 60 million people across the globe continue to be threatened by unexploded bombs from wars and revolutions. In 2018, landmines killed or injured nearly 7,000 people, the organization said.

So after five years of putting his tiny life on the line day after day, Magawa’s handlers said the heroic little guy will spend his retirement living in his same cage until he dies.

Wow. Some retirement. Not even the occasional extra portion of cheese?

I bet he’d rather be still getting out of that wire container and making the world a little safer for us humans.

Magawa, again, had no comment.

Note: Magawa died peacefully on Jan. 11, 2022 (https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/magawa-dies-at-8-heroic-rat-sniffed-out-land-mines-and-helped-save-lives/ar-AASG30e?li=BBnb7Kz)