Mailable Live Animals • Hacker News Board

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#31

Post by cldellow » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:41 PM UTC

gruez wrote: post #16

smoldesu wrote: post #8

522.3, Packaging and Markings: "A mailpiece marked “If Undeliverable, Abandon” may not be accepted for mailing." In other terms, you cannot put a dead animal in a box, then give it to the UPS for them to dispose of. I wonder how many people abused this particular "loophole" before they closed it.

Surely it's cheaper to dispose of it with your other garbage, or take it to a local dump, than paying postage to "mail" it?

Our dump charges $125 per carcass, regardless of size.

But yeah, when they introduced that fee, my wife's family just started burying newborn lambs that didn't survive, rather than, y'know, fedexing them to people.

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#32

Post by FourHand451 » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:46 PM UTC

I worked in the campus post office while in college, and one of the most memorable days during my time there was when a box of live bees was delivered. It was about the size of a small loaf of bread, wooden on four sides and covered by screens on the other two.

We set them aside from the other boxes, near the counter where students would come to pick up their packages. It sat there buzzing quietly all day and generating a lot of surprised looks. Pretty neat.

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#33

Post by andai » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:49 PM UTC

kjkjadksj wrote: post #23

jetrink wrote: post #18

I love lists like this. I remember waiting for a Greyhound bus and reading the list of prohibited items and imagining the stories behind each one. It ran on for pages. Human heads were not allowed, even if frozen. Martial arts weapons like swords, nunchucks and throwing stars got a section all their own, separate from guns and knives. Each type of bodily fluid was listed separately, lest someone assume that their jar…

This was probably the gruesome incident that got heads banned: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tim_McLean

> On February 10, 2017, the Manitoba Criminal Code Review Board ordered Li be discharged. Li was granted an absolute discharge. There will be no legal obligations or restrictions pertaining to Li's independent living.

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#34

Post by dekhn » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

I had an aquarium and the snail died. I wrote to the compoany, they mailed me a snail. It was great.

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#35

Post by 5faulker » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:51 PM UTC

FourHand451 wrote: post #32

I worked in the campus post office while in college, and one of the most memorable days during my time there was when a box of live bees was delivered. It was about the size of a small loaf of bread, wooden on four sides and covered by screens on the other two. We set them aside from the other boxes, near the counter where students would come to pick up their packages. It sat there buzzing quietly all day and generat…

Hence the term "creating the buzz".

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#36

Post by bigboto » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

I totally misread the title as Malleable Live Animals

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#37

Post by chris_st » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

I remember going in late to work, in order to receive my daughter's lizard via delivery. I was very concerned, but several years later he's doing just fine.

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#38

Post by pwner39 » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

kjkjadksj wrote: post #23

jetrink wrote: post #18

I love lists like this. I remember waiting for a Greyhound bus and reading the list of prohibited items and imagining the stories behind each one. It ran on for pages. Human heads were not allowed, even if frozen. Martial arts weapons like swords, nunchucks and throwing stars got a section all their own, separate from guns and knives. Each type of bodily fluid was listed separately, lest someone assume that their jar…

This was probably the gruesome incident that got heads banned: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killing_of_Tim_McLean

Eight years at a mental hospital for murdering and cannibalizing a sleeping man, seems fair.

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#39

Post by bigyikes » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:52 PM UTC

I’m surprised to not see fish listed. When I was a kid my dad would receive live fish from saltwaterfish.com. They would show up in insulated containers, alive, if a bit stressed. I guess they must’ve come via one of the private mail carriers.

Edit: Whoops, I can’t read!

Re: Mailable Live Animals

#40

Post by derefr » Tue, Aug 17, 2021, 4:54 PM UTC

newdude116 wrote: post #13

You can't send children anymore: https://www.history.com/news/mailing-children-post-office

Which seems like a missed opportunity for a service all its own: a babysitter who babysits while bringing the child somewhere, rather than in a static location. Which could mean "Uber where every driver has a babysitting certificate and the car has a bassinet and a minifridge" or it could mean "someone who'll watch over your child on public transit." It's fundamentally about the babysitting, not really about providing the transportation.