The ignorance is staggering...and funny!

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Lucara

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 5, 2007
Messages
656
LMFAO a 10" tree climbing ultra rare B. smithi! OOOooooooOOoo! I'm terrified...why doesnt anyone send stuff like that to me as joke? I'd send them a thank you letter.
 
betuana

betuana

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jan 21, 2008
Messages
345
Rochelle said:
I just found out that Britain is trying to ban ALL tarantula keeping. This is pit-bull type legislation at it purest form.
This is the time to speak up, folks...if the BBC is saying they should ban keeping of T's..and everyone believes their word...then WE'RE LOGICALLY NEXT!!!
Speak up!! Even if it's an old report - ( I found it on yahoo's main page just today) - we need to add good information and comments to negate this kind of inaccurate and legalistically slanted reporting.
This was just funny when I posted it - but now that I know what's behind it.....:embarrassed:
Click to expand...
I just wrote a fairly lengthy, but polite letter to them about the tone of the article, and the errors in their facts...I made a point to try and keep it professionally written and polite, while attempting to point out the misleading bits of their information.

I hate breed specific legislation (ie, breed bans) with dogs, and banning tarantulas because they are "dangerous" would be no different. However, people trust sources like the BBC, and if they take the tone of the article to heart they may be encouraged to try and enact such a ban.

On a related note:
For the public education committee I'm in for school (vet tech) we are putting together a bulletin board and we decided to talk about various "scary" animals related to halloween. We want to go over why people fear them, and then explain why they don't need to be afraid, what useful things the animals do, etc. One of the animal's I'm getting to do a write up on is spiders. This attitude of fear is just the sort of thing that our group is going to try and fix.

We are also going to put up 'cute' picture of the various animals to try and help people see them in a different light. I actually have a pretty cute picture of a versi sling on a webkinz black cat (with an orange background) that I took just for that board. I already showed it to one person who said they can't even stand to look at spiders, and even she had to admit that she found my sling to be pretty adorable! (Pictures are in the thread here: http://www.arachnoboards.com/ab/showthread.php?t=135706 If anyone out there has T pictures that they think the general public may view as 'cute', and you don't mind us putting them on our bulletin board, send them my way!)

I think trying to combat these negative images that articles like this one puts forward by not only objecting to the article, but presenting good information to the public can help a lot - there are tons of people out there who might be against Ts only because they don't know about them (heck, a couple years ago I'd have agreed with many of them that people who keep Ts are crazy lunatics!....a bit of self education after a good T experience with a friend of mine made a huge difference!). So I'd also encourage people to be willing to try and help people learn more. Don't get in people's faces, or get confrontational, or they won't listen. But if you are willing to try and share information with patience, maybe the tide can be turned so that most people out there at least understand the reality behind T's, rather than just what sensationalistic news and horror movies like to teach us.

Gosh I feel like I'm preachy today...sorry for that long bit! :8o I get typeative (like talkative, only on the computer :razz: ) sometimes...as many of my friends and previous coworkers can attest (they LOVED reading my internal memos - even if they were way long... {D )
 
clam1991

clam1991

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Messages
971
what will they dream up next?

i mean weve hit the 100 foot python
the 10 inch smithi
any ideas for their next butchering?{D
 
robc

robc

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 10, 2007
Messages
3,824
Rochelle said:
I just found out that Britain is trying to ban ALL tarantula keeping. This is pit-bull type legislation at it purest form.
This is the time to speak up, folks...if the BBC is saying they should ban keeping of T's..and everyone believes their word...then WE'RE LOGICALLY NEXT!!!
Speak up!! Even if it's an old report - ( I found it on yahoo's main page just today) - we need to add good information and comments to negate this kind of inaccurate and legalistically slanted reporting.
This was just funny when I posted it - but now that I know what's behind it.....:embarrassed:
Click to expand...
No breed specific legislation will touch me or Rochelles dogs I can guarantee it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hate BSL and I will fight it to the letter, I ask you BSL advocate's you want to ban this??? (this dog saved my sons life)

Here is the full story:

http://caseyray.iforums.us/hellow-my-name-is-rob-dot-c-vt18.html



or this???



or these????




These are my dogs advocates and there is only one way to get to them, thru me!!!! and I will not hesitate to put you 6 feet in the ground, actualy I would enjoy it!!





 
S

ShellsandScales

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
502
I said my piece to BBC everyone else should do the same until we get them to print a retraction. ANY roporter worth half their weight in fly excrement could have done 5 minutes of research and printed the truth. It is inexcusable for a NEWS outlet to print flat out lies............................................... However hilarious it may be.
 
K

KirbyStyle

Arachnopeon
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
18
Blind victims? 10 INCHES? What the hell did they feed it? Its funny because if I didnt know better (much like most of the readers of the article or the "target audience" ) I would think that they are soo dangerous too, lol. They can't fool me this time though. I wish someone woulda mailed me a B. Smithi! Those are expensive!
 
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A

Arachnosold1er

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 18, 2008
Messages
307
Isnt it nuts how the media can put any old bull@#$% out for people to watch and read. Thats whats wrong with the world. "Beleive none of what you hear and only half of what you see!!" Thats my motto. I mean, a little inaccuracy is acceptable, but that is just plain crazy! I hope my Smithi gets to be 10"!!
 
barabootom

barabootom

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 1, 2008
Messages
644
After reading the article, I feel I must get rid of B smithi. I protect myself from the wildly flicking hairs by wearing ski goggles whenever I approach her lair, but I had no idea the 55 gallon aquarium she lives in wasn't going to be big enough to house her until she matured. I learned sopmething else from this article also. I thought those giant hooks at the end of her legs were for tickling prey before devouring it. I had no idea they were for climbing trees. I'm afraid she might pounce on my dog if she gets loose. I'm thinking I should flush her down the toilet, but then she might live in the sewers and eventually attack some street person sleeping too close to a sewer grate. I'm scared and don't know what to do. I'm going to write the BBC, they know everything.
 
S

ShellsandScales

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 20, 2008
Messages
502
clam1991 said:
what will they dream up next?

i mean weve hit the 100 foot python
the 10 inch smithi
any ideas for their next butchering?{D
Click to expand...
well you know there is a mouse in indonesia that spits acid on anything that threatens it. It's the size of a monkey and eats 10 times its weight in frogs a day.
 
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L

Londoner

Arachnoangel
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 21, 2008
Messages
846
I remember reading this article on the morning it first appeared (took me a while to clean the cornflakes off my computer screen! :mad: ).
It's sad to say, but over the last 10-15 years the BBC has deteriorated to the point where all impartiallity and accuracy have gone out the window. In my eyes, it's not much better than The Sun (one of Murdoch's comics that amazingly outsells all other British newspapers). They've finally realised what most of the mass media have known for some time...danger and exaggeration sells and makes for a much jucier story.
The scary part is, after the story appeared a couple of my friends called me to ask if the info was true (even though they had known me for years and I'd tried to educate them about Ts whenever they were over :wall: ). Like someone said earlier, the BBC had told them it was deadly so they believed it. Just goes to show the power of the media :eek:
 
crpy

crpy

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 19, 2008
Messages
2,567
Aurelia said:
FOX will report biased and inaccurate stories.
Click to expand...
Oh, and all other media sources wont, I search many media outlets and it seems ALL of them are in for sensationalism and hype.
 
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