Heroes Come in All Sizes
AN AFRICAN RAT RECEIVES PRESTIGIOUS GOLD MEDAL FOR SAVING LIVES
A metal detector can take anywhere from 1–4 days to detect land mines in the war-torn landscapes of Cambodia. However, a Gambian pouched rat named Magawa can detect them in 20 minutes.
certified. This program has been around since the 1990s, teaching animals how to detect land mines and tuberculosis.
Magawa only works for a half-hour during the day, but as he nears retirement age at 7 years old, Magawa has sniffed out 39 land mines and 28 unexploded munitions in his career. His tremendous work has now been recognized worldwide. In 2020, the U.K. veterinary charity PDSA gave Magawa its gold medal for “life-saving devotion to duty, in the location and clearance of deadly land mines in Cambodia.” Over 30 animals have received this award so far, but Magawa is the first rat. “To receive this medal is really an honour for us,” Apopo’s chief executive, Christophe Cox, told the Press Association news agency. “But also, it is big for the people in Cambodia, and all the people around the world who are suffering from land mines.” Now that’s a real hero if we’ve ever seen one. Thank you, Magawa, for all your hard work, and we hope you have a long and happy retirement ahead of you!
Magawa’s ability to sniff land mines has been lauded as “truly unique,” as he potentially saves hundreds of lives every day. Yet, he weighs a mere 2.75 pounds and is only 28 inches long. While that’s larger than your average rodent, Magawa is still light enough to safely step over land mines without setting them off. That’s been amazing news for Cambodians. The landmine problem began during the civil wars of the ’70s and ’80s, causing over 64,000 casualties and creating 25,000 amputees since 1979. But where did Magawa come from? A Belgium-registered charity named Apopo trained Magawa in Tanzania as part of the program HeroRATs, where after a year of training, the animals become Kern County: Resolving Overweight Truck Tickets When you get an overweight truck ticket in Kern County, you might need to appear in court in either Mojave or Lamont to resolve the ticket. The fine assessed on the ticket is set based upon how many pounds the vehicle was overweight. If the vehicle is 4,500 pounds overweight, the violation is only an infraction and the fine will be around $800. However, the fines go up quickly if you’re more than 4,500 pounds overweight. First of all, 4,501 pounds overweight is a misdemeanor offense. Second, you could be facing a hefty fee. The fines increase exponentially to several thousand dollars for misdemeanor tickets. OVERWEIGHT TRUCK LIMITS All commercial vehicles and trucks must abide by the CA Vehicle Code (CVC) weight limits. Be sure to know the limits for your truck. It’s important to make sure that you don’t violate either the total weight limit or the weight limit per axle. Either violation will result in an expensive ticket. A PERMIT Sometimes you may need to carry an unusually heavy load. In that case, look into getting a permit to do so legally. In CA, Caltrans handles transportation permits for oversized vehicles. Though most fleet managers handle getting permits for oversized vehicles, if
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