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Incubators full of eggs cause scare at rest stop

A worker was suspicious of the objects he saw near the trash. Turns out they weren't dangerous, though, just filled with rotting reptile eggs.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published June 9, 2006

WESLEY CHAPEL - The Thermal Air Flow Hova-Bator Incubator, which retails for $43.95, apparently has no use in sinister deeds like manufacturing drugs or exploding things.

Jim Johnston, Pasco's emergency operations coordinator, would know. He called around and made sure before he popped it open Wednesday.

Two of the incubators were found next to a trash can at the southbound Interstate 75 rest area Wednesday. Maintenance staffer Alvin McDonald took one look at them and backed away.

"After all that's been going on lately," he said, "I wasn't going to mess with it."

He let emergency officials do the messing.

By the end, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, Florida Highway Patrol, Pasco Fire Rescue, Pasco Emergency Management, and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission all had responded.

Johnston was charged with the heart-stopping task of opening the mystery containers, inside of which he found 30 decomposing, golf-ball-sized reptile eggs.

No telling what type of reptile, he said. "They were just disposed of.''

Chase McGehee is a manager for GQF Manufacturing Corp. of Savannah, Ga., which makes the Hova-Bator. He termed it a "jack of all trades" incubator, meaning all incubation trades.

"I've never actually heard anything of it being mistaken for any type of explosive device," he said.

The investigation is at a standstill. The perpetrator, if caught, could be cited for illegal transport of the eggs or illegal dumping of the incubators.

Illegal dumping - as in littering.

[Last modified June 9, 2006, 06:59:44]