MUSEUM CURATOR ACCUSED OF SMUGGLING DEAD SPIDERS OUT OF TURKEY

A curator at the American Museum of Natural History was detained in Istanbul on Monday accused of attempting to smuggle 1500 dead spider and scorpion samples out of the country. Lorenzo Prendini, an expert on arachnids at the New York-based museum, said he had permits from the government to take the carcasses for his research that customs agents ignored. Officers searching his hand luggage found hundreds of plastic bags and capsules packed with dead spiders and scorpions. The Museum of Natural History’s website says Dr. Prendini’s research into spiders and scorpions has taken him to more than 30 countries.
* Weird. I thought praying mantises and dung beetles was where all the exciting research was going on.
* I would imagine most countries pay him money to take away all the spiders and scorpions.
* If I had to carry spiders and scorpions, they would be smashed flat between the pages of book.
* Maybe we could trade Turkey’s spiders and scorpions for America’s rats and roaches. Sort of an International Pest Exchange program.