The thread pretty well established that most of the respondents didn't think it needs to be a "versus" issue, and I agree. We take an animal into our lives, and it's my hope the animal now has a forever home. The appeal that animal has for us personally is the deciding factor, especially a hobby species like a snake or fish. (I'm differentiating from things like dogs and cats, some of which are adopted in spite of, or even because of, having a, ah, challenging look about them. Animal lovers don't like to think a "less" appealing dog will have to be euthanized because it wasn't attractive enough to be adopted quickly.)
In the case of species like Eastern Kings that are not in need of every breeding effort just to keep them from extinction, we have the luxury of selecting them using any criteria that suits us as the future caretakers of a given specimen.
I favor locality-specific animals because I derive added enjoyment from knowing that nature produced such eye candy. I can't argue that I cherry pick from the available pool of locality stock when I'm the collector, and from the available offspring when buying from a breeder. Once I have my breeder pool, I typically continue to select for the qualities I value as the generations pass, until I've refined--or corrupted, depending on your view--the descendants into my desiderata. Tony made an important point when he mentioned that visibly expressed traits in animals from diverse localities may not reside on the same gene loci, and crossing animals from diverse localities might not produce the desired results.
It's also important to consider the effect of releasing back into the wild animals carrying genes from distant gene pools. I suspect that most states discourage releases from captivity anyway, for fear of releasing pathogens along with the snakes, but even snakes that are safe to release are perhaps best repatriated with their founding gene pool.
After subjecting those of you with altogether too much patience to this, I now admit that, if I have the opportunity to obtain specimens I like that are non-locality specific, I don't hesitate, especially when they're from distant regions--something I won't be collecting and working with from the wild myself.
The snakes we keep are, for the most part, pets. We can favor locality over appearance if it brings us greater enjoyment, but I know I'm looking forward to Keith's anticipated breeding of a thin-banded, bright-banded non-locality pair next year.
I remember the days I found my Eastern Kings in the New Jersy of my youth--the light, the smell, the breeze on my skin. A brilliant, sunny June day, a close, overcast August day, a rain-washed morning under a breaking stormy sky. Other days, other snakes, other memories. When I take my hatchling Eastern into my life, it will be a touchstone to those memories, and I know I'll pick one that has the look of the wild Kings in my mind's eye--that will most likely be the deciding factor.
