# WTF!? Daily Mail Story



## Nick Masson (Nov 8, 2010)

Anyone else see this today 

Smuggler caught at airport with 261 Mexican tarantulas shoved into his luggage | Mail Online

What a :censor:


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## DannyB (Nov 8, 2009)

The comments at the bottom are a joke! 'Its bad enough that these live in mexico without bringing them in to europe as well' thick as s.....well you know what im saying.


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## Nick Masson (Nov 8, 2010)

DannyB said:


> The comments at the bottom are a joke! 'Its bad enough that these live in mexico without bringing them in to europe as well' thick as s.....well you know what im saying.


Yeah noticed that, the american guy? Figures! Could feel my blood boiling when i was reading it the first time :devil:


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

DannyB said:


> The comments at the bottom are a joke! 'Its bad enough that these live in mexico without bringing them in to europe as well' thick as s.....well you know what im saying.


I liked the comment from 1eyedkitty.

I bet she's a looker!!!!!!!


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## Kamike (Aug 3, 2009)

LOL @ Flesh eating centipedes 

Hopefully this means one less smuggler if they they give him a harsh enough punishment


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## Hedgewitch (Feb 12, 2008)

DannyB said:


> The comments at the bottom are a joke! 'Its bad enough that these live in mexico without bringing them in to europe as well' thick as s.....well you know what im saying.


My goodness, stupid comments on a Daily Mail article...:whistling2:


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## callum b (Sep 8, 2008)

Shocking stuff. It does worry me how common this kind of thing seems to be though. How likely is it that some of my scorpions or your T's etc. were brought into the EU this way?? 

Got to love Daily Mail readers though. Always straight in there with the intelligent comments.


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

Am i the only one wondering why it was all just red knees? :S

Im also amazed that only 10 died on the trip! Shows how robust inverts can be i guess.


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

Hope it wasn't Sven on his way home.


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## Nick Masson (Nov 8, 2010)

RandomDan said:


> Am i the only one wondering why it was all just red knees? :S
> 
> Im also amazed that only 10 died on the trip! Shows how robust inverts can be i guess.


There must be a big demand for them & so this trip was obviously very species specific


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## Lucky Eddie (Oct 7, 2009)

Nick Masson said:


> There must be a big demand for them & so this trip was obviously very species specific


Or is that the photographer only picked the prettiest to take pictures of? Or the fact that the general public still perceive B smithii as the archetypal tarantula?

It seems strange in this day and age of captive breeding that that was the best selection the perp could think of.

And I'm not condoning his/her actions BTW before anyone jumps at me.


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## Nick Masson (Nov 8, 2010)

Lucky Eddie said:


> Or is that the photographer only picked the prettiest to take pictures of? Or the fact that the general public still perceive B smithii as the archetypal tarantula?
> 
> It seems strange in this day and age of captive breeding that that was the best selection the perp could think of.
> 
> And I'm not condoning his/her actions BTW before anyone jumps at me.


Yeah i was thinking along those lines aswell. Could well be that the smuggler was just some random who was sent to do someones dirty work & was told to just look out for the orange & black ones? But yeah surely theres plenty captive breeding going on nearby??? Anyone know if there are any restrictions/difficulties in owning T's in Scandinavia?


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## Xx-lilith-xX (Sep 2, 2011)

That is disgusting! makes me so angry, give them all to me ill take care of them lol :2thumb:. Xx


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## GRB (Jan 24, 2008)

Xx-lilith-xX said:


> That is disgusting! makes me so angry, give them all to me ill take care of them lol :2thumb:. Xx


Supply demand. 

Why do you think I keep urging people to think about what they are doing and stop going on about how 'addictive' owning arachnids is? 

It's rediculous, people join here and all they get are people going on about how great it is to own 50, 60, 100+ tarantulas. Hardly anyone seems to buy _only _CB and of course a percentage of WC will be of questionable origin. And of course, 'CB' is just a label and unscrupulous sellers can lie regardless. 

It's one thing to lament the illegal trade, but another to sit back and condone the 'legal' trade that, frankly, cuts a lot of corners as well. The difference between 
smuggling and legal import is usually just some paperwork, so I don't always agree that smuggling species x is any worse than legally importing the super rare species y.

[edit] should add, these are general musings, not a specific response to the quoted


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

Lucky Eddie said:


> Or is that the photographer only picked the prettiest to take pictures of? Or the fact that the general public still perceive B smithii as the archetypal tarantula?
> 
> It seems strange in this day and age of captive breeding that that was the best selection the perp could think of.
> 
> And I'm not condoning his/her actions BTW before anyone jumps at me.


In fairness it at no point said in the artical that they cam from mexico, just that they were mexican red knees.


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## Poxicator (Nov 14, 2007)

RandomDan said:


> In fairness it at no point said in the artical that they cam from mexico, just that they were mexican red knees.


It says they came from Dominican Republic.
Brachypelma are controlled by CITES, therefore exporting them requires the correct paperwork.

This won't be good for the hobby :/


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## Pincer (Dec 2, 2010)

The hobby is ruining the hobby


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## RandomDan (Oct 11, 2009)

Poxicator said:


> It says they came from Dominican Republic.
> Brachypelma are controlled by CITES, therefore exporting them requires the correct paperwork.
> 
> This won't be good for the hobby :/


Fair enough, geography wasnt my strong suit!
It does not say they were taken from the wild either though, i would have thought the daily mail would have been all over that if nothing else than to sensaionalise it.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

i like how it says they discovered tarantulas at his house, like they're drugs lol


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## Bagger293 (Jun 8, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> i like how it says they discovered tarantulas at his house, like they're drugs lol


I like how your mum has commented on the article =]


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## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

GRB said:


> Hardly anyone seems to buy _only _CB


I do. All slings, barring Cedric, the first one, and he's Jacob's.

The thing that utterly stuns me is that anyone who wants to smuggle live animals is amazingly stupid enough to seal them in ziploc bags. And I want to know how the :censor: you GET adults tarantulas into ziploc bags, it strikes me as being incredibly difficult and very tedious. I think the whole thing is bizarre beyond belief.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

Bagger293 said:


> I like how your mum has commented on the article =]


oh god lol
i'm surprised how much she seems to know about them..
the student has become the master :Na_Na_Na_Na:


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

GRB said:


> It's rediculous, people join here and all they get are people going on about how great it is to own 50, 60, 100+ tarantulas. Hardly anyone seems to buy _only _CB and of course a percentage of WC will be of questionable origin. And of course, 'CB' is just a label and unscrupulous sellers can lie regardless


i only buy cb and are quite annoyed at the amount of wc around especsally when there stupid things


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> i only buy cb and are quite annoyed at the amount of wc around especsally when there stupid things


there are lots of reasons to buy wild caught though
opening up lines to make the gene pool bigger
breeding wild invertebrates (and other animals) to release in the wild
some species will not breed in captivity


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> there are lots of reasons to buy wild caught though
> opening up lines to make the gene pool bigger
> breeding wild invertebrates (and other animals) to release in the wild
> some species will not breed in captivity


i still see no need to buy some stuff wc stuff which can easily breed in captivity


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> i still see no need to buy some stuff wc stuff which can easily breed in captivity


exactly, which is the point i was making
buy wild caught animals as they DON'T breed in captivity


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> exactly, which is the point i was making
> buy wild caught animals as they DON'T breed in captivity


well i don't buy wc fullstop as i don't want any diseases comming in and infecting my animals

is there anyone on here that agree's with hmc and gals beeing sold wc?


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## callum b (Sep 8, 2008)

You can buy WC gals?? Whats the point lol??


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> well i don't buy wc fullstop as i don't want any diseases comming in and infecting my animals
> 
> is there anyone on here that agree's with hmc and gals beeing sold wc?


that's just a (word for bad) assumption, not all wild caught animals are disease ridden monsters. yes, you risk parasites with invertebrates, mites and worms with snakes etc, but you also risk that just as much from buying a snake, spiders, scorpions, worm, snail or the like from a breeder or shop



callum b said:


> You can buy WC gals?? Whats the point lol??


thought that too :L


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

callum b said:


> You can buy WC gals?? Whats the point lol??



and hissing roaches 

the thing is by the time they start selling half of them will be cb anyway:whip:

other thigs like g.rosea's and p.emperator which are comman wc annoy me


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> and hissing roaches
> 
> the thing is by the time they start selling half of them will be cb anyway:whip:
> 
> other thigs like g.rosea's and p.emperator which are comman wc annoy me


Grammostolas are slow growing, it is quicker and easier to buy a wild caught adult.
Pandinus and Heteroemtrus being wild caught does make me laugh because male + female + rock = babies. but they are still fished from the wild. i'm glad P.imperator is cites listed.. others need to be, or it'll end up being in a similar situation to the Brachypelmas


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> Grammostolas are slow growing, it is quicker and easier to buy a wild caught adult.
> Pandinus and Heteroemtrus being wild caught does make me laugh because male + female + rock = babies. but they are still fished from the wild. i'm glad P.imperator is cites listed.. others need to be, or it'll end up being in a similar situation to the Brachypelmas


i could get an adult cb g.rosea antime i wanted
p.emperator has been cites listed but they haven't banned them being taken from the wild yet (same with G.rosea) and there still imported evan tho there on cites, them and g.osea where supposed to ben banned from inport last year


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## callum b (Sep 8, 2008)

I personally welcome the day when I can get hold of CB scorpions (other than emps lol). That day will, unfortunately, probably never happen for most species though. 

For me CB trumps WC every time. It means I will probably get an age of the animal I am buying, it will (well should) be parasite free, it will be well acclimatised to captive life and it means one less animal taken from the wild.

This thread has definately gone off topic lol. It's turned into another WC vs CB debate. Yaaay lol.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> i could get an adult cb g.rosea antime i wanted
> p.emperator has been cites listed but they haven't banned them being taken from the wild yet (same with G.rosea) and there still imported evan tho there on cites, them and g.osea where supposed to ben banned from inport last year


that's not how it works though.
the export numbers are limited, but aren't reduced to zero. i would rather have 20 african people who ordinarily wouldn't have a job, out looking for 5 scorpions a day, which earns them enough money to support their family, than to see the nu,bers shoot back up to what could possibly be an uncontrollable level...

is G.rosea listed ? i didn't think it was :L
most adults you will see, even large spiderlings, will be wild caught or captive hatched which arguably, is worse


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

callum b said:


> I personally welcome the day when I can get hold of CB scorpions (other than emps lol). That day will, unfortunately, probably never happen for most species though.
> 
> For me CB trumps WC every time. It means I will probably get an age of the animal I am buying, it will (well should) be parasite free, it will be well acclimatised to captive life and it means one less animal taken from the wild.
> 
> This thread has definately gone off topic lol. It's turned into another WC vs CB debate. Yaaay lol.


eughh it sucks with scorpions. ignorance is bliss though, if you want a scorpion badly, settle with what's in front of you.

it's good though, as the thread has been covered, now we are having a debate which is staying polite.. something strange when i'm involved


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> that's not how it works though.
> the export numbers are limited, but aren't reduced to zero. i would rather have 20 african people who ordinarily wouldn't have a job, out looking for 5 scorpions a day, which earns them enough money to support their family, than to see the nu,bers shoot back up to what could possibly be an uncontrollable level...
> 
> is G.rosea listed ? i didn't think it was :L
> most adults you will see, even large spiderlings, will be wild caught or captive hatched which arguably, is worse


well cb adults are easy to get hold of

and theer's still (imo) way to many emps coming trew when there easilly bread



spinnin_tom said:


> eughh it sucks with scorpions. ignorance is bliss though, if you want a scorpion badly, settle with what's in front of you.
> 
> it's good though, as the thread has been covered, now we are having a debate which is staying polite.. something strange when i'm involved


well all my scorps are cb evan my desert hairy which are very difficult to breed in captivity


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> well cb adults are easy to get hold of really |???
> 
> and theer's still (imo) way to many ec emps coming trew when there easilly bread


there aren't too many (opinion)
i'll hae to find out how many are allowed to be exported


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## callum b (Sep 8, 2008)

What do you mean numbers to shoot up to uncontrollable levels Tom?? Numbers will stay fairly stable without any human interference. It is only when we come along and start nickin certain species that numbers of other animals start getting out of control. Disturbing food chain and all that....


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

callum b said:


> What do you mean numbers to shoot up to uncontrollable levels Tom?? Numbers will stay fairly stable without any human interference. It is only when we come along and start nickin certain species that numbers of other animals start getting out of control. Disturbing food chain and all that....


i would have thought with no restrictions, nothing eats scorpions do they ?
they'd breed and breed and breed, until there are too many?

do explain, as i've got time to read tonight mate


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> there aren't too many (opinion)
> i'll hae to find out how many are allowed to be exported



yes really

for example my local rep shop has always (since it opened) had adult cb g.rosea's for sale and always 2 aswell so when it gets sold it can be replaced and the always have 1.



spinnin_tom said:


> i would have thought with no restrictions, nothing eats scorpions do they ?
> they'd breed and breed and breed, until there are too many?
> 
> do explain, as i've got time to read tonight mate


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjl7L-i6t98&feature=related


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## ducks (Mar 28, 2010)

spinnin_tom said:


> i would have thought with no restrictions, nothing eats scorpions do they ?
> they'd breed and breed and breed, until there are too many?
> 
> do explain, as i've got time to read tonight mate


they've managed to go a few million years without doing that. Populations of most things tend to be self-limiting except under extreme circumstances, and I don't think that we should decide that we are doing the environment a favour by taking scorpions out of it; it's pretty definitively untrue.


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> Meerkat Eating Scorpions - YouTube


emperors are from africa.. in rainforests.
not in the desert lol


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> emperors are from africa.. in rainforests.
> not in the desert lol


please re read what u posted



spinnin_tom said:


> i would have thought with no restrictions, nothing eats *scorpions* do they ?
> they'd breed and breed and breed, until there are too many?
> 
> do explain, as i've got time to read tonight mate


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> please re read what u posted


we were taking about emperors though...
it's in context


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> we were taking about emperors though...
> it's in context


it's unlikely there's nothing that eats emps in the wild


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> it's unlikely there's nothing that eats emps in the wild


quite so..

just thought about people too


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> quite so..
> 
> just thought about people too


did u just send me a freind request in the hope that it would stop an argumant starting.

if so clever idea


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> did u just send me a freind request in the hope that it would stop an argumant starting.
> 
> if so clever idea


naah because we seem to talk a lot

an argument would be good, just haardcore debating :notworthy:


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> naah because we seem to talk a lot
> 
> an argument would be good, just haardcore debating :notworthy:


i would have though (knowing u) that an argument would have started by now and then the thread would end up being closed(like normal).


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> i would have though (knowing u) that an argument would have started by now and then the thread would end up being closed(like normal).


thanks


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## fardilis (Mar 22, 2011)

spinnin_tom said:


> thanks


nothing to ashamed of, just proves your a feirce debater (arguer)




and that i can't spell :bash:


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

fardilis said:


> nothing to ashamed of, just proves your a feirce debater (arguer)
> 
> 
> 
> ...


i try not to though
if you look above or below, about the plant one, you'll see i tried


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## callum b (Sep 8, 2008)

Wish I'd stayed online a bit longer now to answer your question Tom. 

Everything eats scorpions. Birds, meerkats, mongoose, many lizards, spiders, other scorpions, insects....... the list is endless. Basically any animal that preys on insects and arachnids will eat scorpions, especially juvenile scorpions. I'm sure that in the wild something like 90% of scorpions won't make it to adulthood and this is mostly due to predation.


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## lancaster123 (May 20, 2010)

fardilis said:


> nothing to ashamed of, just proves your a feirce debater (arguer)
> 
> and that i can't spell :bash:


as in mass debater??? :whistling2:


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## Nick Masson (Nov 8, 2010)

lancaster123 said:


> as in mass debater??? :whistling2:


Hahahaha :2thumb:


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## TheCraigShaw (Aug 12, 2012)

Lucky Eddie said:


> I liked the comment from 1eyedkitty.
> 
> I bet she's a looker!!!!!!!


My thought exactly!! :lol2:


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## Mutley.100 (Nov 3, 2008)

TheCraigShaw said:


> My thought exactly!! :lol2:


I command you to live . Rise ! Rise ! Muahahaha 

:lol2:


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## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

Blooming heck, how far back was this thread for you to comment on it? It's nearly a year old :gasp:.


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## TheCraigShaw (Aug 12, 2012)

corny girl said:


> Blooming heck, how far back was this thread for you to comment on it? It's nearly a year old :gasp:.


I got here by looking at a current thread regarding a daily mail story..I must have clicked on a related thread!

Utter newbie error! :blush:


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## spinnin_tom (Apr 20, 2011)

corny girl said:


> Blooming heck, how far back was this thread for you to comment on it? It's nearly a year old :gasp:.


when i'm bored, i go back to the first page and read the threads


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## corny girl (Aug 30, 2009)

TheCraigShaw said:


> I got here by looking at a current thread regarding a daily mail story..I must have clicked on a related thread!
> 
> Utter newbie error! :blush:



:lol2::lol2::lol2: Don't worry people have brought up threads that are years old!!!


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