Who knew squirrels were able to do this!

Police have “successfully trained” squirrels, as they do with dogs, to sniff out drugs along the border in southwest China’s Chongqing municipality, the Washington Post reported.

Yin Jin, a police dog trainer in the region, told state media that six Eurasian red squirrels were trained as an alternative to canine narcotics units.

The squirrel squad has been doing an “excellent job” during routine tests. But since the yearslong process has been a tough nut to crack, they won’t be officially deployed for a while.

A video, published by the state-sanctioned media outlet People’s Daily, shows the elite task force during one of their training exercises.

According to Jin, squirrels represent the animal kingdom’s best candidate for uncovering drugs since they possess an excellent sense of smell, can maneuver in small areas and can climb to heights that would be inaccessible to dogs.

These squirrels have a rather keen sense of smell, and when the animals detect an illegal substance, they are trained to start scratching at it is to alert their handler.

Chinese police have allegedly started using squirrels to help sniff out drugs along the border.
Chinese police have “successfully trained” squirrels to sniff out drugs along the border.
Squirrels are the optimal candidate due to the fact they possess an excellent sense of smell and that they can maneuver in small areas and reach heights that would be inaccessible to a dog.
According to Jin, squirrels are the optimal candidate for uncovering drugs since they possess an excellent sense of smell, can maneuver in small areas and reach heights that would be inaccessible to a dog.

(Video courtesy of People’s Daily)

While years of research were devoted to perfecting the process, many social media users have still found the idea a bit nutty.

News of these sniffer squirrels went viral on China’s popular microblogging site Weibo after the video was posted last week.