Police in China Train Squirrels to Detect Drugs Instead of Dogs

(Patria) - Thanks to their highly sensitive noses, police forces have used dogs for years to sniff out everything from hidden drugs to dead bodies. Dogs have about 300 million olfactory receptors in their noses.

However, in a "bizarre twist," police in China have reportedly decided to try something a little different. They have trained six Eurasian red squirrels to sniff out illegal drugs.

These particular animals are surprisingly adept at the task thanks to their keen sense of smell and small size, which allows them to climb into places where drugs might have been hidden.

When one of them finds something, it alerts its handler by scratching, reports Dnevno.hr.

- The squirrels' sense of smell is quite sensitive, it's just that our technology in training rodents wasn't mature enough before - says police dog trainer Yin Jin.

Although the training of tracker squirrels has gone surprisingly well, it might be some time before these animals are actually engaged in drug detection.

Squirrels have a highly developed sense of smell. It is one of the senses that squirrels use to survive in the wild. They use their sense of smell to find food, shelter, and identify other animals nearby.

They can smell food and forests from a great distance, which allows them to feed and avoid dangers.

Squirrels' sense of smell also plays an important role in communication. They can distinguish the scents of other squirrels in their group, and they can also use scent trails to orient themselves and find their way home.