KEV this is not about you! I just used the absurd quote from the previous poster that included you as an example AMONG OTHERS being the key point. It was an opening statement on a thesis of the current state of herpetoculture and not a personal attack. You must have missed that part, but let me rephrase you are not the SOLE entity I was addressing but you see it how you want. In fact I only used one or two sentences to address the quote of the previous poster, from there I transitioned into a missive on some very real issues that brought the "industry" to where it now stands as a collective.

I think your response has made my point for me, as you do not dispute the nature of how we arrived here but rather revert to rationalization of the "pyramid" model of the morph market and more hyperbole on how YOU achieved YOUR goals as well as tried and true name calling. CUPCAKE...HAHA...clever! This isn't about how YOU achieved YOUR goals, but how the collective herp community as whole has behaved over the last 15 or so years. That behavior in my BELIEF has brought more attention from HSUS and .gov than any other factor including the Burm-Eveglades issue.

You defended yourself and your business from a percieved slight, fair enough since I did reference you specifically and not the OTHERS specifically that are just as much to blame.... and more so in many cases. For that I will appologize to you and the crew at NERD. From here lets keep the discussion to the herp community as a whole since everyone to a certain degree has dirt on their hands, myself included or maybe in my case I have CUPCAKE crumbs on my hands.

As for solutions, well I don't know what options there are other than rethinking how we value our herps and adapting to the changing environment. Bottomline is most "joe/jane six pack" still abhore our animals and have no problem with .gov unconstitutionally stripping us of our right TO LIBERTY AND THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS which for us is keep herps. All simply because they find them repulsive. No amount of education can overcome such irrational fear. Those with open minds can be swayed, however especially when it comes to snakes there is not a lot of middle ground, generally a love 'em..... hate 'em type deal with far more haters.

The numbers are not on our side amongst the general population....not even close! The herp community will have to adapt.

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