Have you seen the movie Thrash?

Terrible name, I know, but people seemed to like it. Within days of its release on Netflix earlier this year, it hit the no 1 spot and gained 11 million views. The storyline is pretty simple. A massive Category 5 hurricane hits a small coastal town in South Carolina. The flood defences fail, and millions of gallons of ocean water flood the streets. People are trapped, the water is rapidly rising, so they need to make an escape. Just one problem. The ocean flooding brought with it a hungry group of sharks. Cue lots of drama, high-adrenaline escape scenes and people making desperate choices in impossible situations. 

Now, you might be thinking this sounds a little unlikely. And you’re not alone, that’s what I thought too, until the news broke last week. Typhoon Maysak flooded Guangxi in China, turning the streets into rivers and washing 900 snakes, including venomous ones like Cobras, right into the flood water. Now, I know that’s not sharks, but still, snakes! If getting flash-flooded isn’t bad enough, imagine flash floods filled with snakes! Your day just can’t get any worse at that point. 

But why so many snakes? Well, that region has several snake farms. Kind of an alien concept to those of us in the UK, but in other parts of the world, snakes are used for medicines, snakeskin accessories and the meat is even served up in fancy restaurants for dinner! You wouldn’t get that on your plate in Birmingham, that’s for sure. 

But this got me thinking, anything that’s sold, has to be transported, and while we’ve moved a lot of weird and wonderful things in my 35 years in freight, a container full of snakes has not yet made the list! That said, a few years back, we handled the importation of snake storage boxes into the UK. Apparently, while we might not like to eat them for dinner, us Brits do like to keep these slithery creatures as pets. I guess it takes all sorts, doesn’t it? 

But that’s the wonderful thing about freight forwarders. We’re never shy of a challenge. No matter how weird or wonderful your goods are, we’re always here to find the best way to move your cargo and keep it safe. 

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve heard of being imported? I’d love to hear your stories?