You can an do this at home with one of those ant farms sold in hobby stores.  Ants love sugar. Soak fools gold in sugar.  This is called Iron Pyrite.  It is fairly easy to aquire. The colony will import the fools gold into their nest as food.  Notice how it is stowed in the nest. With this knowledge, go to gold country and search for an ant colony.  You do the same training exercise.  Soon enough, the ants learn to find gold along rivers thinking that the color is associated with sugar. They begin gathering flakes of gold and stowing it in their nests.  You return to this nest with your trusty metal detector many months later.  After a few digs you might uncover enough gold to make it interesting.  A new hobby is born.  Goldmining with ants. 

      There are other animals that one could be trained much like a dog.  How about a Search and Rescue moose? With those incredible scent detection nostrils a moose could locate lost hunters and carry supplies to the distressed.  Horses also have uncanny ability to find lost children.  One just has to trust the animal to search in his own perculiar way.  He could carry water and food, medical supplies and warm clothing. The horse could be taught to kneel and allow a person to mount thus performing the rescue entirely on his own.

        Birds of prey like the eagles could be trained to find the lost and disabled in wilderness areas. Their keen eyesight and ease of flight could aid human rescuers in locating children who have wandered away much more rapidly than the techniques used today. One well trained eagle could circle the disabled until the rescue party arrives. Even Golden Eagles could be used. Look to the Saudis for instruction on how to train these birds. They have had generations of experience.          The Redwoods is where I lived for a few years mining for gold. Roland had given me a gold claim he was saving for his boys. They were not interested in the hard labor required to be successful.    The first thing I did was buy a gold pan and a Stroh ax which is the best Swedish double bladed ax in the world.

          I applied for Food Stamps. I supplied myself with enough victuals to last for a few weeks. I lashed everything onto my packframe.  I caught a ride to Helena, where the North Fork of the Trinity River flows down from the Trinity Alps. I staked out my claim according to the rules. I made camp and hoisted my food into the trees.  It was not long before the bears picked up the scent.  I had to abandon the claim after finding enough gold to return to school.   Chinatown is where to sell your gold. They use it to bring their relatives to the freedom of the USA. I had to pack out everything.  I tied my gold into a cloth tobacco sack nearly everyone uses to roll their own in the backwoods. I then would place it under my toes before pulling on my boot socks. Then the hiking boots.  I used the very best boots I could find.  The Swiss make beautiful boots called Vasquez which served me for many trips.  One day, as I was hiking out through the parking lot at the trailhead,  I spotted a cab over camper with the backdoor swung open.  The cowboy spotted me. He called me over. I reluctantly came to check if he needed help. He asked me about gold claims. I said I knew nothing.. I was only enjoying the hiking in the majestic redwoods. I begged off after a cup of coffee. He showed me his revolver strapped like a gunslinger. I knew then and there I was talking to a claim jumper  I said so long and departed into the fading light, glad to be away from this evil man