A response to Rick Lemker's posting of 5 Aug 95 re smuggling ferrets across the border. I'll paraphrase pertinent parts to save space. Rick says Fish and Game are unconcerned at the border, while Calif Dept of Food and Ag will "only confiscate fruits, plants, and vegetables ...NOT animals. (It's well known that the border agents don't do much produce shopping)." While it has been a few years, I was one of those Food and Ag Quarantine Officers and I can give you a few details about the arrangement. First, except during hunting season (to check tags and look for poachers) Fish and Game usually do not stay on the Calif border. Food and Ag enforce all agricultural and fish/game quarantines. ALL quarantines, including federal. YES, they will confiscate animals, including _Xenopus_ frogs, ferrets, gerbils, poisonous reptiles without permits, etc. The factors in your favor to smuggle are: (1) it's a boring, boring job!; (2) bored people are not efficient; (3) the supervisors vacillate over how tough the officers should be; and (4) by and large, most of the officers are poorly trained and could care less about enforcing anything. A tough criticism, but then as I said, I worked for and with them. Things they will look for (and remember, there are some sharp officers mixed in with the dross): license plates from east of Utah (more fruit/vegie quarantines); animal cages (obviously); soil/plants; anything that might have been outside in gypsy moth states; and visitors/tourists who annoy them! I know we used to rip apart cars of obnoxious tourists, assuming they had something to hide! As for the officers eating the fruit or vegies they confiscate, I knew of some who would eat occasional pieces, but it's not worth a reprimand or suspension most of the time. The confiscated items (including animals) are destroyed. Most officers will give you a chance to take animals back out of state, but the way the quarantine laws are written, it's vague enough that they don't have to. For those of you who don't think they can forcibly seize any property of yours, the officers ARE law enforcement officers and have direct phone lines to the highway patrol. My basic suggestions for crossing border: hide ferrets, don't have any cages visible, no plants, and have a bag of fruit to sacrifice! A couple of apples and an orange work well. Those are normal tourist things. My wife is laughing over my shoulder. She doesn't realize that each officer reports what they've confiscated each day, and by showing them the fruit and giving them the chance to show they are "doing their job" those untrained minds are happy. Do NOT bluff! Simply do not offer any info that you are not asked for and simply say NO if asked about animals other than dogs and cats. If your car smells of ferrets, air it out a bit as you drive up! DISCLAIMER:I am not encouraging anyone to break any quarantine law. EPFlemyng [Posted in FML issue 1279]