flying with gerbils

[Kathleen]

Now I am not advocating this, but my 10-year-old nephew just came to visit from across the US with his pair of gerbils.  He flew more than 2000miles.  I asked him how he arranged it, and he said that one of his friends figured it out last year at Christmas time.   He put the gerbils in a small plastic critter keeper in his carry-on back pack.  At the airport, before going through the security check, he took the gerbils out of the keeper and put them in his pocket (in the bathroom).  He then went through the security detector and sent his back pack through too.  the gerbils don't set off the alarm, and the critter keeper must not look funny to the security guards, because they didn't question or open the back pack.  After passing the security check point, he took the gerbils out of his pocket and put them back in the critter keeper and zipped up his back pack.  the gerbils flew from Chicago to Seattle.   Like I said, I certainly don't recommend it, but it shows the ingenuity of a child.  I'm waiting to find out if my sister knew what he was doing!