Well, Bob, as a friend of the ground squirrel and most other small mammals,
I shudder at the thought of the land mine study. But, I do believe your
student is on to something here... and the use of animals for
archaeological field work is not that far out. One example: using sea
lions to conduct reconnaissance shipwreck surveys. I kid you not. Check
out:
http://www.starrsites.com/acsmb/meetings/mtg0009.htm
and http://ina.tamu.edu/fieldprojects01a.htm#Other
I think the sea lions enjoy the work more than squirrels would.
Daria