From Denny: What is it about Australia? Don't they have anything better to do than train rats how to surf? Guess not. :) Meet boat builder, surfing rodents coach and owner Shane Willmott. Now meet The Radical Rodents group of guys known as Harry, Curly, Bunsen, Bunsen Junior and Chopsticks.
Aussies do like their challenges and extreme rodent sports seems to be the flavor of the moment. Though others in the animal kingdom have taken up the sport to prove they can do what the rodents do. Alpacas, bulldogs and squirrels have shown off their surfing prowess.
Master rodent surfing coach Willmott spent years training his rodent friends to catch some waves. He even handcrafted special rodent surfboards downsized for them to easily handle out on the ocean.
Willmott had this crazy idea 25 years ago when he and his friends took note of some really small waves close to shore. They wondered what it would be like if they were small enough to ride those tiny waves. Then the thought occurred that rodents aka friendly mice would be the perfect scale for such a wave ride. A real Stoner revelation, don't ya think?
The next problem was to figure out how to train the rodents so Willmott started in his bathtub. That rodent crew were known by the monikers of Rocket, Peanut, Skidmark and Banzai. First he trained them to get used to the sensation of floating on tiny surfboards on top of the water. Once they mastered that feat, Willmott moved on to his swimming pool. There he had the surfboards towed by a remote-controlled boat to get them accustomed to moving at a greater speed. The next step up from that was to go to the local beach, hop a surfboard and catch those miniature mouse waves. Passers-by were certainly flabbergasted.
"It really makes people smile," said Willmott. And he ain't talking about animal rights activists. Check out these radical rodents having fun riding the waves.
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