>>I apologize if I came off a little strong. However, you must note that making suggestions of poaching is a serious issue that I don't take lightly. Anyone who knows me would understand that I don't condone such things, and I took it as a personal affront that you would suggest that this situation was similar to someone smuggling a Cites III animal out of the country. I feel it safe to say that most people would take your comment with indignity, particularly when you did not care to even ask the nature of the situation before making such insinuations, and without knowledge of the particular species in question. While I was not certain of the species when posting, I felt quite confident in my keying prior to posing. The additional information I left later gives you a better sense of the collecting situation.
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>>Please note that generalized comments that are pointed and accusational in nature can be very dangerous, and few people are likely to take them well.
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>>I apologize for the direct nature of my comment back to you. However, I emphatically deny your inappropriate insinuations.
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I wasn't insinuating anything. A lot of people don't know that many carnivorous plants are threatened in their wild habitats. If you think that it's inappropriate to point that out, then that's not my problem. As for me, I don't live in an area where carnivorous plants live, so there's not much I can do one way or the other about preserving them or their habitat.
Taking an endangered or threatened plant home is no different than taking an endangered or threatened animal home, no matter how many borders each crosses. If you live in North Carolina, why pay for a venus flytrap at the store when you can just dig one out of the bog for free? If you're going to the Amazon, why not take a few frogs home for the trip? The end result is the same. A threatened or endangered species was removed from its natural habitat.
If you thought I was pointing the finger directly at you, then you are mistaken. It was simply to let people know that it's not OK to go outside and dig up any carnivorous plant.