Catching scorpions in florida?

[Dry Desert]

I thought this for a long time. Then I realized something; the No. 1 biggest threat to invertebrate populations is not collecting, far from it. It's people building right over the top of habitat without a care in the world. I'd rather have someone go out collect a few specimens, gain an appreciation and understanding of what they can find in their area, and so thus hopefully go on the journey towards becoming a conservationist for their area, then stay at home and be completely unaware of what lives around them, much less care if that subdivision goes in or not. You can't protect what you do not know about, as I see every day as the land I love gets torn up every day for more houses, more buildings, more parking lots. There are people chainsawing Joshua Trees illegally because they are simply unaware of what they are hurting (and possibly for more nefarious reasons in some cases, but that's another story).

And before anyone says, "Well that's just getting them started on the path to mass collection and poaching," I have talked with poachers/mass collectors, both in the US and overseas, and the single driving factor behind why they are doing what they do is not because someone on the internet told them to go collect the local fauna. They're in it because they saw a lot of $$$ at the end of line.

Thanks,

Arthroverts

Someone yesterday has posted for advice on how to collect scorpions in Austin Texas.

Replies have suggested nice " quiet " unspoilt areas where to collect.

And so it goes on.

 

[Edward]

Bit of a windy post:

On a highly related note, been floating around with this idea:
Is there any interest in identifying sp. and broader groups of inverts within the US with the intention of attempting to create true “wildtype” bloodlines for these species and eliminating the viability of poached specimen on the market?

In this effort— captive breeding species mostly or, typically, entirely available wild caught would begin at a very small scale prior to making captive bred individuals of the sp. available for dramatically below market value or simply free + shipping.

As was aptly put earlier, poachers do so in quantity and scale for profit or at least some money. Most I know or have read about/of were not hobby enthusiasts or scientists turned businessman, but often locals or a head boss with local contacts in areas they routinely collect specimen en masse. Key point: en masse. When this operation is entirely unprofitable and labor intensive, poachers raise prices until they simply no longer have a strong enough motive to collect/sell.

My suggestion is to create a guild-like group or arachno-cartel to regulate the trade to some degree in this manner, but that’s another long post. If someone is to respond that this exists, please share details as I mostly see informal or occasional (read as: not regular or formalized) co-operaative US Invert Captive Breeding efforts. A group of this sort would be highly co-ordinated and self-regulating based on sound guidelines and etc….

Since the discussion involves this issue— I’ll throw in an additional comment that overwhelmingly /most/ (not all!) species that are threatened are threatened by

1.) Land Usage*/ Habitat Loss/Change due to Invasive Species and Climate Change
2.) Obscene amounts of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides along with pollution (of land but esp of water which, naturally, goes in a cycle…).
3.) (Mostly Synthetic) fertilizer, as well as additives to soil for monoculture mass farming

*To a disturbing degree, the insanely wasteful monoculture lawns with gardens of “ornamental” non-native and highly invasive species accompanies the contemporary rampant suburban sprawl hand in hand. The other factor is roads— especially highways which cut and fragment habitats and often create “archipelago forests” for instance of small, cut off but formerly contiguous habitat.

To address the thread question: I agree that discouraging poaching should be done when posts appear— and related to the Austin locations for scorps post, threads of that sort should be accompanied by open discussion but always a do not poach warning.

On these boards on this forum, the hobby is modeled. Not exclusively, but Arachnoboards is by far the longstanding go-to for the hobby.

These posts as well as the site itself provide a massive archive of years of the hobby’s development— and when someone researches “how to find x in the wild” and finds an abundance of endorsements or at least a credible few posts that re-affirm as well as aid in the catch— it will be these posts that sparked the fire. (And “Only you can prevent forest…” etc).

 

[A cave cricket]

WTL;DR.

 

[Edward]

Just don’t poach mane…

 

[Richard McJimsey]

Bit of a windy post:

On a highly related note, been floating around with this idea:
Is there any interest in identifying sp. and broader groups of inverts within the US with the intention of attempting to create true “wildtype” bloodlines for these species and eliminating the viability of poached specimen on the market?

In this effort— captive breeding species mostly or, typically, entirely available wild caught would begin at a very small scale prior to making captive bred individuals of the sp. available for dramatically below market value or simply free + shipping.

As was aptly put earlier, poachers do so in quantity and scale for profit or at least some money. Most I know or have read about/of were not hobby enthusiasts or scientists turned businessman, but often locals or a head boss with local contacts in areas they routinely collect specimen en masse. Key point: en masse. When this operation is entirely unprofitable and labor intensive, poachers raise prices until they simply no longer have a strong enough motive to collect/sell.

My suggestion is to create a guild-like group or arachno-cartel to regulate the trade to some degree in this manner, but that’s another long post. If someone is to respond that this exists, please share details as I mostly see informal or occasional (read as: not regular or formalized) co-operaative US Invert Captive Breeding efforts. A group of this sort would be highly co-ordinated and self-regulating based on sound guidelines and etc….

Since the discussion involves this issue— I’ll throw in an additional comment that overwhelmingly /most/ (not all!) species that are threatened are threatened by

1.) Land Usage*/ Habitat Loss/Change due to Invasive Species and Climate Change
2.) Obscene amounts of pesticides, insecticides, and herbicides along with pollution (of land but esp of water which, naturally, goes in a cycle…).
3.) (Mostly Synthetic) fertilizer, as well as additives to soil for monoculture mass farming

*To a disturbing degree, the insanely wasteful monoculture lawns with gardens of “ornamental” non-native and highly invasive species accompanies the contemporary rampant suburban sprawl hand in hand. The other factor is roads— especially highways which cut and fragment habitats and often create “archipelago forests” for instance of small, cut off but formerly contiguous habitat.

To address the thread question: I agree that discouraging poaching should be done when posts appear— and related to the Austin locations for scorps post, threads of that sort should be accompanied by open discussion but always a do not poach warning.

On these boards on this forum, the hobby is modeled. Not exclusively, but Arachnoboards is by far the longstanding go-to for the hobby.

These posts as well as the site itself provide a massive archive of years of the hobby’s development— and when someone researches “how to find x in the wild” and finds an abundance of endorsements or at least a credible few posts that re-affirm as well as aid in the catch— it will be these posts that sparked the fire. (And “Only you can prevent forest…” etc).

What an uppity response to a kid wanting to collect some scorpions to keep.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Just don’t poach mane…

While I don't like making appeal to authority arguments, it's hardly accurate to demonize the collection of any invertebrates by calling it "poaching" when the majority of arthropods' populations aren't threatened by collection in the slightest and there's nothing illegal about collecting non-endangered species unless its in a national park or something... its not poaching any more than fishing with a license. There's definitely instances where collecting should be condemned (like mass commercial harvesting of large slow-growing taxa, though even then I doubt it has much of an impact on widespread species) but the content of this thread isn't it. Why not focus your attention on conservation issues that are actually a threat to species, like habitat destruction.

 

[Dry Desert]

While I don't like making appeal to authority arguments, it's hardly accurate to demonize the collection of any invertebrates by calling it "poaching" when the majority of arthropods' populations aren't threatened by collection in the slightest and there's nothing illegal about collecting non-endangered species unless its in a national park or something... its not poaching any more than fishing with a license. There's definitely instances where collecting should be condemned (like mass commercial harvesting of large slow-growing taxa, though even then I doubt it has much of an impact on widespread species) but the content of this thread isn't it. Why not focus your attention on conservation issues that are actually a threat to species, like habitat destruction.

The two main reasons for anything to become vulnerable, or even endangered are,

Habitat Destruction
and

Collecting for the pet trade.

Regarding fishing with a license,
All course fish are always returned to the place they are caught. Part of the license rules I believe.

 

[jc55]

IMO land development in Florida is the biggest threat to native species than anything else.

 

[A cave cricket]

I just wanted tips and...

Is this even my thread any more‽‽‽

 

[A cave cricket]

Hello will somebody teach me the ways on how to catch a scorpion and where to catch a scorpion? And to care for a scorpion. And to identify the scorpion .

Are you all blind?

I guess nobody knows how to catch a scorpion, where to catch a scorpion, and care for a scorpion.

 

[Richard McJimsey]

I just wanted tips and...

Is this even my thread any more‽‽‽

Welcome to the invertebrate hobby in the 2020's, where people will reply to your post and ramble on about absolute nonsense, while providing no help for you.

 

[jc55]

Are you all blind?

I guess nobody knows how to catch a scorpion, where to catch a scorpion, and care for a scorpion.

I believe Salmonsaladsandwich posted the information you are looking for on the first page of this thread and that is pretty much spot on.When i lived there i found both species under bark on trees more so fallen trees or under rocks and other debris and used tweezers and a plastic container to catch them in.One of the Hentzi's turned out to be gravid which was a pretty cool experience for me but those were the only ones i ever collected from the wild.Oh and a UV light does help especially if you search at night.

 

[A cave cricket]

Thank you, kind stranger.

 

[Postmalone35]

Is anyone breeding Florida species?

 

[A cave cricket]

Species?

Please be more specific?

 

[CanebrakeRattlesnake]

Hi OP! I'm sorry your thread devolved into a clown show.

If you want to collect native species, here's what I would do:

• Look up any local laws regarding collecting wild animals, and even if a species is legal to collect, make sure you're in an area where you're allowed to collect from. In my area, there are lots of places with rules making it illegal to remove anything besides edible fruits, nuts, fungi, etc. Your own property or property of a friend would be a great start.
• Find out what species are in your area. I personally use iNaturalist which is also a great website for IDing different plants, animals and fungi. Once you make a list of species in your state or area, your next step should be to make sure those species aren't protected or threatened, both on a state AND federal level. Also make sure, if a species is invasive, you're allowed to possess it.
• When you go to collect, don't take more than you need and respect the habitats. Don't leave garbage behind, always fix any logs or rocks that you flip over, etc. When you lay them back down make sure you do so gently so you don't hurt any of the animals hiding under it.
• If you return anything back to the wild, return it to the EXACT spot that you found it. Never release plants, animals or dump water in an area different than it came from to prevent the spread of disease, pathogens and possible invasive species.
• Don't take anything you can't immediately care for. Even if you see something REALLY COOL, if you don't have the means to set up a habitat as soon as you get home, leave it be and just make a note of where you found it for next time.
• If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email or call your DNR or check their website.

I'm in the process of setting up a native Wisconsin vivarium or paludarium (waiting on an email back from the DNR with a question I had) and I love to see more people becoming interested in their native fauna and flora. Exotic species are super cool, but there's often times a lot of amazing animals right in your back yard that never get noticed. I made a vivarium/Ecosphere with just some dirt and plants from my back yard and I've seen so many amazing species in there that I never noticed otherwise.

It's important to respect the environment and treat it with kindness and not over-harvest, but if your main concern is species going extinct, you might want to look closer at massive companies bulldozing protected habitats to build new condominiums, people dumping fertilizer and chemical's into the water, and people spraying everything in their yard with pesticides.

 

[A cave cricket]

No
Maybe
Yes
Yes
No.
Remember, it's not illegal if you don't get caught.

 

[kingshockey]

Remember, it's not illegal if you don't get caught.

not gonna lecture you on this way of thinking cause i used to think that way to about other things and ended up with a couple of prison terms because of that. just somthing to think about and the road it can lead your life down better to do things the right way no worries about police then being on probation/parole sucks

 

[CanebrakeRattlesnake]

If that's the attitude you have then I wish you all the luck in the world but I'm not going to help further as you're clearly not mature enough to respect yourself and the animals you want to work with.

 

[Dry Desert]

If that's the attitude you have then I wish you all the luck in the world but I'm not going to help further as you're clearly not mature enough to respect yourself and the animals you want to work with.

Hoorah. - someone's finally woken up.