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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Poec54" data-source="post: 39570" data-attributes="member: 3524">It's not negative.  All it takes is one incident to go viral and a ban can go into effect in a matter of days.  We have zero defense against that.  Tarantulas are already banned in some countries (Italy and Australia) and cities (in Germany).  Florida banned a couple species for years.  Most bites involve handling, same for escapes and injuries to spiders.  Handling is an old school approach that a number of people are refusing to be a part of today.  In today's legal/political climate it's a risk.  Nothing happens in a vacuum anymore. Decades ago when I was in college, I used to do slide show talks on tarantulas for elementary schools in the Detroit suburbs.  It's great for kids to see tarantulas in a positive light.  By the same token, seeing someone handle one encourages them to do the same, and that's not a good development.  Today there's far too many people handling species they shouldn't, and posting pictures and videos.  The hobby's not about that.  In spite of what you tell an audience, the fact that you handle them gives some of them the green light to hold any tarantula they want.  They're not going to remember the details and warnings...you did it, so it's okay.  What should be encouraged is treating them like the wild animals they are, giving them a cage to consider their own, respecting their space, and not periodically grabbing them to 'bond' with or show off with.  They deserve to be treated with more respect. I've had tarantulas for over 40 years; these are the golden years, there's so many species available.  The good and bad is that most of them are tropical, which means nervous and/or defensive.  This is the absolute worst time to be promoting handling.  In the 1970's people were buying w/c adult B smithi for $10 and handling them.  Back then, bans weren't a possibility.  A lot has changed and the hobby's full of fast species that race out of cages and up walls; a number have much stronger venoms than the proverbial 'bee sting.'  People go to emergency rooms today from some bites.  The age of innocence is over.  Now we're looking out for the future of the hobby and whether we'll be allowed to keep these animals.  People need to understand that what they do could take down the hobby.  Whether someone has good intentions or is reckless, the end result is the same.</blockquote>

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