A number of studies have shown that rats are extremely intelligent and that they can acquire all sorts of skills if trained. As it turns out, one of them is driving.
Instagram users were recently amazed by the video of rescue rats Kuzko and Kronk driving a mini car by themselves.
It turns out that Kuzko and Kronk received a mini car from their owner’s dad. The project was inspired by research from the University of Richmond, which showed that rats can learn how to drive tiny cars and that the experience is actually relaxing for them.
Kuzko and Kronk’s features a simple setup with three pedals that cause it to go forward, turn left, and turn right. During a period of a couple of months, rats received training through a reward system and quickly picked up the basics.
“After only a couple months of 5-10 minute lessons each day, we’ve been blown away by how skilled Kuzko and Kronk have become at accurately turning and accelerating their cars!” the owner explained in a caption of the video that received more than one million likes.
Kuzko and Kronk’s owner later shared more of their driving adventures while noting that each rat receives 10 minutes of time at the wheel to “maximize focus.”
