zimbabwe Ts

[ithuriel]

hi , see there are still some arguing and a tantrum going on( the term throwing your dummy out of the pram comes to mind) tut tut should just ask and if poeple want to they will help you but not with such an attitude , chill out a little ok back to what i originally was going to say was chatting to my mate at work has he visited his in laws in zimbabwe last xmas. very interesting stuff too about black mambas and water scorpions but then he told me about the Ts over there they see them as a pest and he told me a few times of hearing Ts running across the porch at dusk/evening time. they even had a bbq and said they would see the little demons go running through the middle of the garden at high speed. the solution his father in law takes was unique too . he would get a can of lighter fuel , squirt it at the T which would turn and threaten and toss a match the T would then vanish into the bush squealing while aflame africa is an interesting place and maybe one day if im lucky i might get to see it for myself :}

 

[Wade]

This type of thing is fairly common in many places, T's regarded as pests and simply destoyed on sight. Farmers in Mexico pour gasoline into B. smithi burrows. And yet, somehow, people feel the pet trade is a threat...

Wade

 

[Paul Day]

Hey Wade: I enjoy your point.

For that and some other reasons, I came back to the hobby. Because I realized that the hobby does little bad compared those encounters in such places.

Pauly

 

[Code Monkey]

Originally posted by Paul Day
Hey Wade: I enjoy your point.

For that and some other reasons, I came back to the hobby. Because I realized that the hobby does little bad compared those encounters in such places.

Pauly

<Code Monkey falls out of chair, bangs head. When he comes to, he drags himself to keyboard to type reply>

Now that is something refreshing to read. When in a country as educated as America is, spiders are the number one or two animal phobia (snakes are their competition) and invariably in the top 3-5 phobias, and consequently squished or sprayed on sight, it should come as no surprise that their plight is going to be worse off anywhere less educated.

The few dozen to few hundred individuals exported every year of most species (with a couple reaching the thousands) is still only a drop in the bucket compared to the number stomped, burned, or simply paved out of existence every year in their native lands.

 

[Paul Day]

Hey Codemonkey:

I do agree with that now
Another thing I might add, is that we at least try to not be part of the problem through captive breeding attempts. But sometimes I feel like the hobby needs to get some sort of enviormental commision going, or raise some sort of fund, to prevent further habitat destruction. Not that it's going to help a lot, but at least we would be more responsible. It is my opinion that we should try the best we can not to be part of the problem even if it becomes a minor inconvienence to the hobby. After all, we are taking these animals out of the wild for our own purpouses, we owe it to them. I plan to start something in the future, and raise funding for enviormentally friendly causes that help our little hairy friends

But CITES definitly wasn't established upon Brachypelma primarly because of the abuse of the pet trade, but was definitly due to the circumstances of cultural abuse over the animals, which reduced the numbers.

Besides, if you want to target a specific hobby, target Iguana's. Millions of Iguana's are being bred, to be sold at ridiculously low prices, only to be abused by non-committed people and money-hungry pet-stores who soon learn how difficult they are to care for. If anything, I think we should stop breeding Igauna's, or place some restriction on it, until their prices go up in the pet trade. Heck, the Iguana I own was given to me by someone who didn't want it anymore, and it isn't an uncommon trend. The Arachnid Hobby is not the main offender by far! Anyway, kinda off topic, but as a former ill-supporter of this hobby, I can see the hobby's side of it now, and wish to make it clear.

Pauly

 

[Wade]

veering off topic...

Paul-

One huge problem with the shutting down of iguana breeders/farms (I'm active in the herp scene and am familliar with this argument). Shut down the iguana farms, and you'll increase the demand for wild caught iguanas. Period, end of story. Although I agree that 99% of the iguanas sold are to people who have no business getting one, at least they're being produced in a sustainable way and in the country of origin. I'd like to see this happen with other animals, where the local people treat their wildlife as a valuable resource rather than disposable nuisance.

The solution to the iguana problem needs to come on the buyer side to have any real effect. People need to realize that there are other lizards that make much better pets.

Wade

 

[Paul Day]

Well I certainly agree with that. I didn't mean to say "ban" rather restrict the amount of breedings, as I think there are too many. Of course that's better then wild caughts...

But I certainly agree that people need to know that Iguana's, while cute when little, REALLY are not the best pets for the casual exotic pet hobbyists.

Pauly