Just wanted to raise an issue with removing habitat (rocks and logs) from the wild.
There is a lot of evidence that this can have devastating effects on reptile communities - especially those close to major human populations such as broad-headed snakes (research from Rick Shines lab has indicated bush rock removal being one of the top causes of decline) in the Sydney region.
Bushrock removal - key threatening process listing | NSW Environment & Heritage
I'm writing this because I came across this ad on APS to swap bush rocks:
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/swaps-5394/swap-bush-rock-logs-branches-198490/
I'm not here to accuse this person of any wrong doing so please don't ark up. But I will point out that the suburb is very close to the Blue Mountains National Park. Regardless of where the rocks were collected people will no doubt claim it's from private property anyway.
Basically I want to make people think twice before buying/swapping for this sort of thing - even from well regarded pet stores as they DO go out and collect wood, scorpions etc to sell. I myself use bark for my own personal collection and I justify this because it's not a long lasting shelter in the wild compared to rocks and logs. I urge people to only collect what's necessary for your own personal collections if you feel the need to use natural hides and never to take from protected areas as these are designated sanctuaries for fauna to thrive in. But keep in mind even on private property those shelters are used by native wildlife so keep your impact minimal.
I'd also like the APS mods to have a think about what kind of stance they take on this topic, I was surprised to see this ad was allowed - once again I'm not making any accusations, but if it was up to me I wouldn't encourage trading of these resources.
There is a lot of evidence that this can have devastating effects on reptile communities - especially those close to major human populations such as broad-headed snakes (research from Rick Shines lab has indicated bush rock removal being one of the top causes of decline) in the Sydney region.
Bushrock removal - key threatening process listing | NSW Environment & Heritage
I'm writing this because I came across this ad on APS to swap bush rocks:
http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/swaps-5394/swap-bush-rock-logs-branches-198490/
I'm not here to accuse this person of any wrong doing so please don't ark up. But I will point out that the suburb is very close to the Blue Mountains National Park. Regardless of where the rocks were collected people will no doubt claim it's from private property anyway.
Basically I want to make people think twice before buying/swapping for this sort of thing - even from well regarded pet stores as they DO go out and collect wood, scorpions etc to sell. I myself use bark for my own personal collection and I justify this because it's not a long lasting shelter in the wild compared to rocks and logs. I urge people to only collect what's necessary for your own personal collections if you feel the need to use natural hides and never to take from protected areas as these are designated sanctuaries for fauna to thrive in. But keep in mind even on private property those shelters are used by native wildlife so keep your impact minimal.
I'd also like the APS mods to have a think about what kind of stance they take on this topic, I was surprised to see this ad was allowed - once again I'm not making any accusations, but if it was up to me I wouldn't encourage trading of these resources.