WASHINGTON — No need to be scared of these rats. These little guys save lives. In fact, some say they’re heroes.

Through a program called HeroRATs, African Giant Pouched rats are being used to detect live mines in Cambodia, CBS News reports.

The rodents are already used to detecting mines in Tanzania and Mozambique, according to Anti-Personnel Landmines Detection Product Development (APOPO), the Belgian nongovernmental organization that created the program.

Cambodia is one of the most bombed and mined countries in the world. The rats use their well-developed sense of smell to detect the mines and are too light to set off the explosives, CBS reports.