So you want to be a customs officer…
You never know what’s going to turn up in a customs check. Check out that carton of spongecake, for instance:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tarantulas-sponge-cake-german-airport-customs/
The boxes were shipped from Viet Nam and wound up in Germany, in Cologne-Bonn Airport. They contained 1,500 “young” tarantulas. Officials were tipped off by what they described as an “unfamiliar smell.”
I can’t help imagining someone dropping the carton and it breaks open when it hits the floor, releasing 1,500 tarantulas into a crowded public space.
Oh, boy, spongecake!
That would be surprising, indeed. Whoever wrote the story described them as venomous spiders, which is a bot of a stretch. A tarantula is about as dangerous as a bumblebee.
They also tend to be shy; I remember seeing a tarantula, frightened and cowering, when it found itself on the sidewalk, just outside of a public building with a lot of passersby. They look scary, but they aren’t really much of a problem.
I am a lifelong arachnophobe who nevertheless likes wolf spiders.
I find them a bit unsettling. I’ve never been able to bring myself to pick up a tarantula, even though it’s easy to do, and they don’t seem to mind. I found one, about half grown, crawling up my bedroom wall, about 8 years ago. Even my cat didn’t care to touch it. I got it into some kind of container and put it outdoors. BTW, the giant millipedes that inhabit the area can be a handful to deal with, and they have an irritant on their many feet that can be unpleasant.
I held one once, and it was tickly.
Makes sense. They aren’t particularly aggressive.
Brother Lee, this short piece is from my book, “7,000 Miles of Life Perspectives A Memoir.” My first trip to the Philippines. Perhaps, you might find reading the whole book interesting.
“Once in town, I checked into my lodging house. I needed rest, for I find airplane seats unfavorable for sleeping, and by that time I had been awake for nearly twenty-four hours. As I prepared for bed, little did I know I had company. While brushing my teeth, I picked up a small garbage can to move it to the next room. I looked down, and inches from my hand was a monster-movie-sized spider. After I evicted him, I spent a feverish twenty minutes checking beneath the bed, under the covers, on the walls, ceilings, and behind the dresser to make sure he was the only one, and not part of a felicitous family reunion.”