Australian Tarantula Association

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi,
Just a quick shameless plug here which you might find interesting. As you may have read recently there is a lot going on tarantula wise at the moment in Australia. The discovery of two possible species variants of P. papanuus and P. crassipes; the discovery of a new possible dwarf tarantula species a few months ago and now Brendan Stent's amazing discovery of not only a new species but a new tarantula genus as well! These are exciting times and can I now say how good it would be to see more BTS members checking out the ATA and seeing what we're all about. I've been a member now for a while and as you know Colin Wilson has recently joined us. Some of you might know Mikhail from Russia who joined a few months ago as well. Anyway check out our website at www.theata.org and see what you think. You might even want to join! (and you'd be very welcome!)
All the best

[Colin D Wilson]

Shameless plug or not it's definitely worth popping over to have a look.

One thing that would be ideal would be a continuation of what Brendan (ATA President) has kindly started by posting "for your information" threads on here as well for the people who just want to leave their visits to just one forum, obviously links would be needed within the thread to link to the ATA for any extra info but thats no problem.
Since registering with the ATA a week back i've had a few emails from there asking about the spiders we are allowed to keep here (restrictions are in force in areas in OZ and they don't have the variety available to them) and have promised a picture thread there and also reccomended viewing our galleries, of which a few have come back to me with *WOW* and such like.
A lot of the ATA members apparently visit here but haven't registered, If you're reading this then please do....the more the merrier, and like Nicola says above we can register there too if we wish, after all its the "eight legged passion" that links us all together

[Tom Forman]

maybe I can use tarantula research as one of the reasons autralia should let me move there

[Colin D Wilson]

Get in the queue Tom

[Nicola Dolby]

Hi Colin and Tom,
Yes its true about the laws in Australia being prohibitive towards importing tarantulas: In Western Australia it is illegal to keep tarantulas as pets (a stupid law) and in the rest of the country you cannot keep foreign tarantulas without a special permit, only given really to zoos and research establishments. The reason for this is that due to Australias climate were a foreign specimen to escape the chances are it would thrive, and if it bred it might do damage to the natural ecology of the region it was in. Remember Australians are very proud of their indigenous animals and have every right to be, plus this law isn't just about spiders, its a general one concerning exotics. After the misery the cane toad caused who can blame them. Anyway I'd love to see more ATA members joining us here, and many more of us joining the ATA as well. By the way I did reply to your message Colin, its just sometimes this stuff doesn't work on my phone!
Best wishes.

[Colin D Wilson]

Oh these new fangled telephones sometimes get the better of me too.
Yes i got your reply thanks...be prepared for some questions.

As far as the import into OZ, I caught a program a while back called "nothing to declare" and was amazed at what was considered to be dangerous to thier eco-system.
some fruits (because of the seeds)
Nuts
grain
dairy products from some countries (because of foot and mouth)
fresh vegetables and leaves
some Asian cooking stuffs (Kodri and some flour)

The list was quite comprehensive.

As you said about the cane toad, that was almost a disaster...but what is there to help combat it?? A tarantula thats taken a liking to it as a food item

Never a day goes by without you learning something new in this hobby !!

[Nicola Dolby]

I know Colin. But in a place where they've found rat skulls at the bottom of sp. Sarina burrows and the S. plumipes has been known to cart off small ckickens, anything's possible. Another victory for the great tarantula species'.

[Mark Pennell]

Nothing wrong with this shameless plug, I have been a member on the ATA forum since March 29, 2006.. yet always forget to drop by and have a look at whats going on down under.


I think I need to add a direct link to the ATA from here with the other recommended places.

Regards
MArk

[Nicola Dolby]

thanks Mark,
thats brilliant!