The weirdest things confiscated by the TSA this year

Confiscated items include bear mace in a sock, eels, dead venomous snakes, a grenade launcher and even a gassed-up chainsaw.

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Life's Little Mysteries

Wed, Aug 15 2012 at 5:53 PM

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Air Travel

From left, a pistol in a hollowed out book, a throwing star, a knife hidden in deodorant, stun grenades, fire crackers and knives. All of these items have been confiscated by TSA agents. (Photo:

While some people think to pack their toiletries in their checked baggage before heading to the airport just in case TSA counts toothpaste as a forbidden fluid, others are busy cramming spear guns, cannonballs, grenade launchers, venomous snakes and eels into their carry-ons.

According to a year-to-date report issued by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), all those things and more have been confiscated so far this year at airport security checkpoints across the country. Some travelers "bring some rather shocking items with them to the airport," the agency stated in the Aug. 14 report.

While screening more than 375 million people since the start of 2012, TSA agents have found 821 firearms, or an average of four guns per day nationwide. Of the total, 691 guns were loaded. One person attempted to get a gun past security by disassembling it and hiding the pieces in separate stuffed animals, while other travelers tried to hide their pistols in a pot plant and a hollowed-out book. [Are We Safer Today than on 9/11?]

"If the number of firearms we've discovered so far this year didn't shock you, these examples might: a live 40mm high explosive grenade; a bottle wrapped in black electrical tape and filled with flash powder, and three M-80 fireworks; a black powder flask filled with 5oz. of black powder; even an explosively-viable cannonball; and last but not least, a live blasting cap," TSA wrote.

Along with the deadly weapons, agents have also found a lot of other stuff that's dangerous but also just plain weird. Confiscated items include bear mace in a sock, eels, dead venomous snakes, a grenade launcher and even a gassed-up chainsaw.

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