>>Whatever was done multi-captive-bred-generations ago is water under the bridge. End result: who here hears of anyone buying WC bearded dragons, or going to Australia to collect their own? It's a lot cheaper and easier to buy one for ten bucks, or get one given to you for free.
>>
>>Incidentally, the same can be said for what was formerly "forbidden fruit" here in the US, like alterna.

All appreciated comments from everyone!

Chris, those are good points too. But what about the Petrosaurus that you can still get by driving a few hours south of the border? Or some of the Mexican Crotaphytus that I know for certain have been collected recently? It really is abominable, IMO, to take so many of the wild-caught Petrosaurus, for example, as Grismer mentioned (1000 taken by one dealer!!).

I'm obviously not against take from the wild (since I breed snakes that descended from wild-caught stock), but I am against several different kinds of take. To list a few: commercial collection, taking subadults and adults (especially gravid females), species or "varieties" (in the Darwinian sense) with a small population or range, species that are endemic to a relatively small region, etc.

Since I did my Suboc book, the road-collecting laws in TX have been in place, and yet, EVERY single person who has told me that they have found a Blonde Suboc since that law went into effect, also told me that they kept the animal. Notwithstanding low prices for captive-bred Blondes ($75-$100) that are relatively common in captivity, I have yet to talk to a person who has allowed to let a wild Blonde go free, even when it is illegal, and even when they can buy their own for much less than what it costs to drive to and hunt West Texas. And every single animal has been an adult -- an adult of an already uncommon-in-the-wild recessive mutation that is found over a very limited range. I have to be honest. That really bothers me. There are lots of Blondes in captivity making plenty of babies whose founding stock were captured 20-35 years ago. And it's not like collectors don't know this stuff. This is the kind of take from the wild that I do not support and really abominate. Its unsustainable and reflects a scarcity mindset with a poor sense of stewardship. Harsh words? Well, maybe but I don't see a justification for keeping rare "varieties" or species at the expense of assuredly hurting populations in the wild.

Thanks again all, for responding to the post.

DR

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