Posted on 09/01/2014 11:43:42 AM PDT by nickcarraway
Customs agents are used to confiscating fake Viagra pills, counterfeit sports jerseys and illegal DVDS. They're not accustomed to snagging giant myriapodous arthropods, however, that wriggle in the dirt and eat decaying plants.
But the U.S. Customs and Border agriculture specialists found and intercepted 20 foot-long millipedes at the San Francisco International Airport mail facility, the agency announced on Friday, and in doing so, stopped the slimy creatures from any further travel.
The intended recipient in Vista, California, was sent a letter that his or her package of exotic wormlike insects would not be arriving from Berlin, Customs Chief J. Frederick Ho told NBC Bay Area. Ho didn't know why the box would be sent to San Francisco and not LAX.
“I'll be honest, we do get certain strange things here," Ho said. "But I can't recall ever getting something like this here. It is out of the ordinary.”
Shipping millipedes – which some like to keep as exotic pets – isn't illegal, Ho said, but they do need a special permit to be sent through the mail – and this package didn't have that. In fact, the package was mislabled "toy car model."
An agent discovered the millipedes while inspecting the facility's X-ray machine and noted the discrepency. Inside the X-rayed package was a large Styrofoam box, containing a mesh bag that held the millipedes, along with chunks of soil and paper.
Ho said, since the shipper lives in Germany, it is unlikely that person will face a fine or a penalty.
The millipedes were whisked off to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and were euthanized.
“20 foot-long millipedes”
Waaaa????
They are arthropods, but not insects.
I may put that off for a while. Like December....
/johnny
Probably idiot journalist cannot translate from metric to english.
Yeah. . .don’t know if I can sleep either, knowing a 20-foot millipede is ‘out there.’
Big error since the largest grow to a little over a foot in length. . .but I think it more likely the writer meant to say they found twenty (20) millipedes that are each a foot long.
I always hear about the troubles exotic species create. I’m surprised it is not illegal to ship them here.
The millipedes were 1 foot long and there were 20 of them. :)
It’s not illegal to ship them. They just didn’t file the necessary paperwork.
Japan radiation must be getting worse.
/johnny
stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp,stomp
Common Core Millipede Math bump!
“20, foot-long millipedes.”
There were 20 of the little buggers that were a foot long. The other way is from a sci-fi movie. Yuck!
Yummy!
Question is, do they like to coat them with cocaine first? Richard Gere will be interested.
If a centipede a pint, and a millipede a quart, how much could a precipice?
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