A number of artifacts from the 17th season of Survivor are not being allowed through customs into the US due to a hearty crop of potential insect and parasite infestations. One item, the hyde of an African Civet cat, may even contain contagions of the SARS virus. Other items included a mandrill skull, a parrot, poultry and ostrich feathers, bones and cowries shells, a bag of dirt, a Snickers bar, a tube sock, a copy of Bill Cosby’s “Fatherhood” and a partridge in a pair tree.
While these items are commonly bartered goods in Gabon, where Survivor took place, US authorities restricted their passage and sent the container out to the middle of the ocean on a raft, where it will be set on fire and eventually sink to the bottom. Some objections came from a gnarled female shaman elder wrapped in a tattered shawl who warned of a horrible curse arising from the fumes a claiming the souls of whales, at which point the woman was escorted out of the press conference by security. When asked to comment on the seized items, producers of Survivor stated “Thanks for getting rid of that stuff, we couldn’t have used it for Survivor 18 - North Philadelphia.”
