I didn't stumble upon it until just now. Guess I have to put in my 2 cents worth - well maybe more like $20 worth, lol!
Personally, I only want wc in my collection for new bloodlines or new mutations. I only have 1 wc now - he has a little white patch on his neck. I do plan to catch some wc from the locale of the original bloodreds to see if they have the ability to deepen the red on our cb line.
That said, lots of posters made some good points, pro and con. I like to try to think about it from a logical / biological standpoint rather than on an emotional level. Some thoughts I have to agree with from previous posts, such as: in my experience and observations, corns are not social enough or mentally equipped to really appreciate our concept of freedom, and probably prefer secure and well fed to free. Of course nobody can read their minds, but we can only guess based on observation, and as mentioned before, what is already known about brains and mental /emotional ability in humans or other higher animals.
In most areas where corns are commonly collected, they are found in artificially large numbers because of agricultural use of the environment. Corns, like rats and mice, seem to do unusually well in those semi developed areas. They are actually quite plentiful in some of the more densely inhabited areas of the Florida Keys - we saw them under paper plates and trash right in the weedy area next to the road! So collecting pressure is unlikely to be a threat to most populations, although there are still areas where they are protected for various reasons and can't be collected in.
Although wc can often adapt easily to captivity, I do think cb is a better choice for the average person. That is because a breeder familiar with their own bloodlines can often predict behavior, possible health problems, or hardiness, and try to match the right snake with the right owner, much like good purebred cat and dog breeders might do.
BUT - there is one reason nobody has mentioned why a wc can at times be preferable. I have heard this discussion among some of the "old timers" numerous times the last few years. In recent years, the cb market, with its morphs and "investments" (more in boas and pythons, but corns to some extent too) has changed the way many young people enter into the hobby. When I was a child, most newbies caught their first few reptiles in the wild, often learning much about the habits and environment it came from during the experience. We were amazed by its natural beauty, behavior, and the way it lived in its environment. Many times, kids would be allowed to keep it only for the summer, and have to release it where they found by fall. Then they might catch a new one next spring. It did foster a differnt kind of attitude. Now, many kids (or other new owners) only want to know how big the plastic box should be, and what is the hot new morph that will sell the best. I am certainly not against this - it is how I make my living, lol! But the disappearance of the "old ways" is sad, somehow. I am personally very happy to have a full palette of colors to "paint" my corns with, and I was never much of a hunter anyway. But I surely can't decry the person who goes out into their habitat, learns more about them there than most of us breeders will ever learn from plastic boxes, and keeps their small collection (not thousands for sale, I don't care much for that myself) for their own enjoyment. Of course, I am assuming that they did not have to break laws or destroy populations or habitat to collect them. And unless they happened to find them in their own backyard, I can almost guarantee that those who hunt only for their personal collection will spend more to catch them than they would have to just buy one at a show!
Sorry - I know it is almost a whole book, but it was a really long thread and very thought provoking.
