- Joined
- Jul 19, 2002
- Messages
- 1,884
It would be very cool if this thread doesn't wind up swirling the proverbial "handling thread drain of oblivion".
I got to thinking about the whole handling thing last night, the more defensive o/w stuff in particular. I personally am o.k. with handling on occasion but to not do this excessively or anything, I do not make a point to do this in front of people as a parlor trick and only will handle the T if it's out and about and decides to venture to the edge of an open enclosure. Sometimes I'll even photograph the occasion. That all aside, the last couple times I've done this, the monotonous questions we've all read on the topic began to surface. I try not to make a habit of justifying myself to ummm...myself *lol* but caved this time. First I acknowledged that I am not doing this for the "freak out" factor as no one is usually present and if anyone I knew were, they would probably give a damn either way. But, why take photographs then? To preserve a very cool moment of course but what makes it cool? Well, the fact that a T with a generally nasty reputation is defying all that most people believe about them by casually and gracefully exploring on my skin. That's when it occurred to me. I've just dispelled one of the common myths about "big nasty spiders", o/w'ers especially, that keeps the hobby in the "creepy, misunderstood, why the hell would you want a spider" category. Even inside the hobby, the reputations of o/w species seems to cause them to be less perpetuated in the hobby than the more cuddly variety of many n/w'ers. I will admit I find it very cool for a reputedly grouchy specimen to become seemingly calm or even curious. I don't mind preserving the moment on film either for that reason. It fascinates me and I personally feel that I've actually achieved something in the way of personal knowledge and possibly for the benefit of the hobby. In short it seems possible that these certain moments are not the doom of the hobby that I often see tham made out to be. There may even exist some slight sliver of potential benefit under just the right circumstances, done by a knowledgable person in just the right setting at the right time.
K, Feel free to express any opinions for or against of course. Please just keep it civil and courteous.
Gary
I got to thinking about the whole handling thing last night, the more defensive o/w stuff in particular. I personally am o.k. with handling on occasion but to not do this excessively or anything, I do not make a point to do this in front of people as a parlor trick and only will handle the T if it's out and about and decides to venture to the edge of an open enclosure. Sometimes I'll even photograph the occasion. That all aside, the last couple times I've done this, the monotonous questions we've all read on the topic began to surface. I try not to make a habit of justifying myself to ummm...myself *lol* but caved this time. First I acknowledged that I am not doing this for the "freak out" factor as no one is usually present and if anyone I knew were, they would probably give a damn either way. But, why take photographs then? To preserve a very cool moment of course but what makes it cool? Well, the fact that a T with a generally nasty reputation is defying all that most people believe about them by casually and gracefully exploring on my skin. That's when it occurred to me. I've just dispelled one of the common myths about "big nasty spiders", o/w'ers especially, that keeps the hobby in the "creepy, misunderstood, why the hell would you want a spider" category. Even inside the hobby, the reputations of o/w species seems to cause them to be less perpetuated in the hobby than the more cuddly variety of many n/w'ers. I will admit I find it very cool for a reputedly grouchy specimen to become seemingly calm or even curious. I don't mind preserving the moment on film either for that reason. It fascinates me and I personally feel that I've actually achieved something in the way of personal knowledge and possibly for the benefit of the hobby. In short it seems possible that these certain moments are not the doom of the hobby that I often see tham made out to be. There may even exist some slight sliver of potential benefit under just the right circumstances, done by a knowledgable person in just the right setting at the right time.
K, Feel free to express any opinions for or against of course. Please just keep it civil and courteous.
Gary