> Thanks, Chris. Great info from an insider.
>
> Three questions --
>
> ** Can you say about temperatures where gerbils fly? Usual, extremes,
> possibilities, and trans-shipment places. And temperature risks to small
> mammals.
Live animals fly in the first belly of the plane or on the main deck, both
of which are pressurized. They shouldn't endure any conditons the pilots
don't have to. If they somehow found their way into a rear belly (which are
NOT pressurized) I'm guessing they wouldn't make the trip alive.
> ** What about trucks, handling and storage at both ends of an air flight?
Welp, if you're shipping animals, you're probably doing it overnight, so
storage isn't that big a deal. They'll sit on a pallate or a forkliftable
cart for awhile before they get loaded up. Again, they won't endure any
temperatures that the crew doesn't, but this CAN be pretty severe in the
winter (we end up wearing full winter gear in building sometimes when it
gets bad out).
> ** Would you ship your favorite gerbil 300-3,000 miles? Why or why not?
If I could legally do it, yeah. Tonight, since it's monday, I'll probably
handle over a thousand rats, mice and bunnies on our section of the building
alone. BAX moves a LOT of lab animals. And sheep, opposums, pigs, etc. I
think they might get banged up, but then again I've more faith in the
durability of the little guys than many on this list.
>
> thanks again ... Bill
