#8 :: Insects at the Border

If you’ve ever taken an international flight, you may remember moments of tension as you passed through customs, filing into a long line with your baggage as people in front of you answer questions, holding customs declaration forms and your passport. Customs and Border Patrol officers greet you upon return to the US. Some have a dog with them, but rather than being a drug-sniffing dog, it may be a beagle trained to smell agricultural products including fruit, vegetables, and other items that might harbor unwanted insect stowaways. In this episode, we talk about items some officers in the U.S. Customs and Border Patrol – known as agricultural specialists – are looking for, and why it’s so important that they find them.

Guest Editor: Dr. Walter Pett
Music: "InsectaLoop" by Jake McCarthy.
More links: Agriculture Protection Program, Stopping unwanted pests, USA Jobs