Probably less applicable to some, but those of you who often get stuff sent to them from places and parts unknown, this is entirely applicable. And, f or those in Australia, keep in mind that pretty much everything is trying t o kill you!
I post this in the radio forum - but substitute the item of your choice for "radio" and the message will get through.
Yes, I know today is *your* first day of Autumn....
WARNING: Very Graphic Images Attached!
All: Now that there are actual flowers in bloom (Crocus, Forsythia & Snowdrop), it is time for the annual post on stalking the wild radio... and what accidental passengers that may come along with it:
- Insects and other arthropods: Anything from spiders to wasps to fleas and more. Any radio that has spend substantial time in a barn, basement, shed, garage or any other damp or exposed area may well be inhabited by or infested with various small and potentially painful critters. Especially those found in the southern states, home to the Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders. Wasps, centipedes (quite poisonous as it happens) and other vermin are no fun as well. And, if you do find some critter of this nature, KILL IT. Being soft hearted and releasing it into _your_ environment may make you feel all warm and fuzzy, but that creature may then cause considerable harm being somewhere it does not belong and where it perhaps has no natural predators. EDIT: Global Warming (whether you believe in it or not) has push ed the Recluse range into Maryland, with some few transported by human agen cy as far as Michigan and Pennsylvania. This is one NASTY spider with a ver y nasty bite.
- Evidence of Rodent Inhabitation: Handle with GREAT care.
Hanta-Virus (a relative of Ebola) is endemic throughout the entire United States, Mexico and parts of Canada. It is a disease without effective treatment and an over 50% mortality rate worldwide (36% in the US). It is carried in the feces and fresh urine of many rodents...and there is limited recent evidence that reconstituted waste (dr ied but inhaled) will also spread the disease especially if inhaled, a possibility not accepted in the recent past.
Lyme Disease: Carried by deer ticks that winter over in the white- footed deer mouse (an omnivore, BTW) that will winter over anywhere it can find shelter. The ticks that mice carry will leave the mouse to lay eggs... perhaps in that radio that served as their temporary winter dorm and latrine.
Various other tick-borne diseases include Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and a whole bunch more *very* nasty diseases not worth risking, all endemic in the US.
- Bird Dung & Old Nests: Per a recent (June, 2007) paper, there have been over sixty (60) diseases that may be carried in wild bird poop including Avian Flu, Fowl Typhoid, Infectious Coryza, Paratyphoid, Salmonellosis, Schistosomiasis, strep and on-and-on. ((Those of you servicing your Bluebird and other bird houses about now need also keep this in mind.)) Most wild birds are carriers of these diseases and show no visible symptoms. We bleach our birdhouses - THEN we clean them out. Amazing the number of dead insects and other vermin we get out of them every spring.
Asbestos: Dangerous only when friable - small particles able to become airb orne easily. If you are a smoker, even more dangerous. A single (one (1)) f iber can cause a fatal reaction over time. For all that, it is fairly easil y made safe with a little bit of care and caution. But even if you do not b elieve it is dangerous, you do not have the right to expose others, or tran sport it in conveyances where residual material may come in contact with ot hers - that is, do not transport it openly in the family minivan.
Bottom line: A proverbial ounce of caution beats the hell out of a pound of care. Common sense, rubber gloves, a breathing mask, Lysol, Bleach, Moth-balls, Insecticides (which often do not work on Spiders or Tic ks, so read the label), and other elementary precautions conscientiously an d carefully applied will "safen" even the nastiest of wild radios.
I did pick the ugliest pictures I could find. I can be thick at times, so t hey are chosen to get my attention at my thickest...
Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA