live specimens

did you know that you can send "live specimens" in the mail? in the post office today, we had a parcel delivered from ontario going down to the bio dept, that said, "live specimens. keep out of extreme heat and cold." (guess you wouldn't mail your grubs to winnipeg in winter or summer). we were very curious and my co-worker told me that she's had boxes with moving things inside.
now you can't just go and mail any creature you like, say, some of the canadian geese that poop all over the path where you walk to school so that by the time you get to school you have nasty green pasties glued to the bottom of your shoes. no, the way i understand it, “live specimens" can only be plants and creepy crawlies. Oh, and baby chicks that are only a few days old or haven't pooped yet or something (no joke).
so my curiosity was stimulated and i began to browse through a brochure to see what one cannot send through the mail. "infectious blood." why would i be mailing infectious blood to someone? how about "strong magnets?" who decides what is "strong"? hmmm, very odd.
i once got a pumpkin in the mail from a good friend from camp. no box or anything, just a pumpkin. the address, message and, of course, the jack-o-lantern face were all Sharpie'd right onto the pumpkin.

oh ya... so this package at the post office today.... when the guy came to pick it up, we asked him what was inside. ...mmmm. mealworms.