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DOGS may have had their day in detecting drugs and explosives. A hit squad of 鈥渟niffer rats鈥� now in training threatens to oust their canine competitors.

James Otto of the University of Baltimore and his team have taught rats to search out illicit smells scattered across an arena. The animals can track down the scent of explosives and simulated cocaine with a 90 per cent hit rate, even in the presence of distracting odours such as engine oil and almond extract.

When the rats find what they are looking for, they raise the alarm by standing on their hind legs. This triggers sensors in a harness that records when and where this happens. Otto has devised a way of training the rats en masse, using a computer to monitor their performance and dish out appropriate food rewards. He says this will make it much easier to turn out sniffer rodents than to train a dog.

And that鈥檚 not the rats鈥� only advantage. They don鈥檛 form social relationships with people, so are not dependent on a specific handler. They can get into tighter spaces, too, so they might be better able to find casualties in collapsed buildings. He now plans to test the animals in the field.