Otterly Ridiculous Situation Delays Continental Flight

The Houston Chronicle reports that on Tuesday, a pair of otters chewed through their wooden cage and caused a nearly 90 minute delay as employees tried to recapture them. In fact, one employee was injured, although not seriously.

The otters got out of the container when it was being transferred at Houston’s Intercontinental Airport to Continental Flight 1294  bound for Columbus, from their original flight from Tampa. The shipper was sending a metal crate. One wonders, if otters can chew through wooden boxes, why they weren’t initially in a metal crate?

Reports indicate the otters chewed into and damaged luggage. That is something one certainly does not think will happen to their luggage when they hand it over to their airline. People interviewed put it best, one stating that, “People thought it was a joke at first I think.”

The Hairballs Houston News Blogs commented on the issue as well, wondering how many times otters would delay flights before something was done. It is not uncommon for animals to delay flights. This summer, we reported on some turtles that had delayed flights at JFK.