- Joined
- Jun 20, 2004
- Messages
- 1,003
Good really founding, congrats!!!
Beautiful tarantula indeed, a great one "moderatum"!
Beautiful tarantula indeed, a great one "moderatum"!
South/West TEXAS Trip w/ pics
- Thread starter Gsc
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 23, 2006
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- 3,509
is that one gravid? looks pretty fat lol
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2004
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- 538
Thansk for the nice comments everyone.
Gary- I hope she's gravid... I'd love to have a few spiderlings to raise...If so, I'll probably release 95% of the spiderlings back to the exact locality she came from to help sustain the population.... They are beautiful spiders!
Gary- I hope she's gravid... I'd love to have a few spiderlings to raise...If so, I'll probably release 95% of the spiderlings back to the exact locality she came from to help sustain the population.... They are beautiful spiders!
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2004
- Messages
- 538
It's usually not about trying harder...it's just about getting "lucky"... like the above post said...I spent three days before I found them (all three of those days were almost completely in known territory for them). I drove over 1600 miles (round trip)...when I wasn't driving between spots, I was looking for burrows & scrapes. Good luck on your search...
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2005
- Messages
- 8,325
Hey Graham, why did the male Aphonopelma cross the road?
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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2008
- Messages
- 256
Gary, did you collect any of those dung beetles?
Given that you only have one post and are asking about a highly sought after and potentially threatened species...
I highly recommend nobody give this person information regarding this species, at least for the time being.
Ehhpic
Arachnopeon
- Joined
- May 16, 2011
- Messages
- 11
I do appologize my noobness in the hobby. It was not till I read more posts that I realized that "poaching" is common even when it comes to tarantulas. You are right that I have very few posts under my belt as I never felt the need to comment and just enjoyed looking at other's photos. I am a photographer of insects and I do have a small collection of critters that are all captive bread as I would rather look upon nature from afar rather than disturb it.Given that you only have one post and are asking about a highly sought after and potentially threatened species...
I highly recommend nobody give this person information regarding this species, at least for the time being.
I would ask before you quickly lumping me or other "noobs" as being involved in nefarious undertakings you rather educate us as to what is appropriate to ask and what is not. That may go a long way in keeping people on the right and proper rather than lashing out at what can be then be confused as a condescending and elitist bunch of T-huggers.
I was even able to answer my own question with publicly available sources : Chamberlin, R. V. 1940. New American tarantulas of the family Aviculariidae. Bulletin of the University of Utah 30:1-39.
Which clearly tell me from a scientific standpoint the counties where they are more prevalent. I am sure that an intellectual such as Chamberlain realized that knowledge is power and educating people as to these beautiful creatures will in fact do the opposite of what you imply- I believe that the more people that know about the habitats and the lives of these mysterious creatures the more protected they will be.
Furthermore I have educated myself as to the CITES list and as you well know A. moderatum nor A. hentzi are listed. With that knowledge I can no more be upset at others who have posted in these very forums of driving out and capturing them in the wild for their own pleasure in any unknown quantity. I can only hope that they would do what I would do if I ever decided to remove any from where they reside and in captivity breed them and return the slings to the wild so they can continue to thrive.
You may think that this is a very optimistic view of the actions of those that choose to inquire as to what county (in Texas counties can be 100's of square miles) the T's were found, but I think no more pessemistic than the feelings that were shared that I would only be out to raid their colony and capture enough to not only pay the $100's in gas to get to the Valley from SA but then find a market for a T that can be bought on Kenthebugguy for about $50.
I am sure I could just as easily breed some B. emilia's or B. smithi's without any of the trouble if that is what I was in it for.
Regards,
PEDRO MERCADO
USMC(R)
That is why I said "at least for the time being". It was nothing against you personally, just a warning to others.
I have personally seen these spiders in the wild in both unnatural habitats and natural...there is a huge demand and quite a few localities have been completely wiped clean.
Way to make such an assumption! I am all for knowledge and information being freely available, as you found, the information is all there if you spend the time looking. My post was targeted to avoid commercial collectors who often will be given localities by unsuspecting hobbyists just wanting to help another out and I have personally lost 3 spots(collected everything, turned over everything, trampled plants) to untrustworthy people I allowed into my normal hiking areas. Posts asking for localities are very suspect when, as you pointed out, those who care to search for the knowledge can find the information simply.
Just because something is not listed does not mean it is not in trouble... :? I could go out and collect all the Lutica sp. I can find from the coastal dunes of California and destroy habitat as I go if I so pleased, I could also go not collect Apomastus(a genus also likely endangered but not listed) in Laguna Beach where their primary locality there is for sale to build a house on it, but that doesnt change the fact that their habitat is dangerously rare due to people entering their domain. Any person collecting should never take more individuals than a population could support if 10 others were taking just the same amount(at least that is my general rule of thumb), with A. moderatum these have been commercially stripped from their habitat for profit, they are highly sought after, and they are in significant danger from people lacking the responsibility to take care of the habitat they are visiting in a quest for just another spider.
Ask those here who have personal experience with the devastation that is commercial collecting, have it happen to one of your spots, and then come back to me with that. These spiders have a very specific type of habitat and afaik the majority of the remaining populations are on private property, Texas Blonde and GSC are probably your #1 and #2 best sources for info on these and their current and past status. Perhaps you should do a bit more research before getting so offended and posting such as you did. Or better yet, handle it like a normal person and ask why I was being the way I was either with a post or PM before doing it.
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