There is no doubt that herps have been legally collected from Mexico. Why would those collecters have felt the need to retain documentation when there was no way to know what future restrictions would occur?



Case in point. I have collected legally collected L. alterna from the roads and right of ways since 1996 and I have no documents that would prove it. Why would I have them when all that was required was for me to purchase a non-game non-resident license. Those licenses could be purchased by anyone at any Texas Wal-Mart, Ace Hardware and many other places. As long as you weren't commercial collecting(ie. less than 25 total specimens) you didn't have to report your catches. Heck I think up until the early 2000's one didn't even have to report commercial take, although I could be wrong about that because I have never commercially collected.



It became illegal to collect from Texas' roads and right of ways in 2007 and who has documantation now that would prove one's alterna were legally collected? The answer is virtually nobody. Yet this year alone there will be literally thousands of hatchling graybands produced that descend from stock legally collected prior to 2007. If the road collecting ban holds, I could see similar claims of illegal origins being leveled against alterna breeders 20 or 30 years from now.



It's true herps have been taken out of Mexico post regulation. This is proven by several documented convictions but there is no basis for blanket statements to the effect that all, or even most, captive born Mexican herps in the hobby today descend from illegal stock.

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