Just a quick note to say that a few of the members who have expressed issues on this subject clearly had ulterior motives.
For those that may not know, this isn't the only forum on mantises on the internet. A not so subtle attack has been attempted by members of another forum. Loyalist members of their forum (including management) have done their very best this last week to make the most of an opportunity.
They have gone to extreme lengths to attack the moderators of this forum for a video I posted on Youtube. Instead of making the video the issue, certain "members" focused on the moderators here and the management of our forum. This doesn't include everybody in oppostion to the video of a mantis eating a fish. I respect the opinions of others and value their participation in our community despite our sometimes differences of opinion. I do, however, have no respect for those who would attack our community and seek to divide not just our community but the hobby itself with sensational claims. This has always been the most successful mantid forum on the internet and remains the best source for information on the subject. There is clearly a vested interest by some to replace this website. Perhaps they will succeed some day. I'm not interested in control or games. It is no secret that endless dedication to a cause yields results. Me? I'm just interested in mantises. I can say the same for the moderators here and nearly all of the membership. We have no reason to compete or join their forum and PM their members seeking to steal them away. I think I can speak for many and say we don't care or have time to care. We do this because we have a passion for mantises and
their nature and nature in general.
It should be pointed out that certain members have been granted more freedoms to express themelves here than they would have been allowed on any other successful internet forum. And as I said before, the words they type are a reflection on themselves. For those that may not see through the mud that's been slung here in an attempt to steal members from our forum (over to theirs) and their vain attempt to divide the mantis hobby into American vs. European, this message is for them and you, and it is simple...
All are welcome here.
I want to thank our moderators (Orin, Rick & Ian) for taking a good portion of the brunt of this attack against our community and handling it professionally. Lastly, I want to say thank you to the members that respectfully voiced their opinion on a "controversial" subject for the sake of personal conviction and argument (and not ulterior motives). We will leave this thread open for another moment or two and be moving on shortly. These things happen from time to time. It would be easy to hide the truth or delete chosen posts or the thread entirely, but we've gone through this as a community and will conclude it as a community. What happens here surely isn't the beginning or end of anybody's life (and certainly not the beginning/end of the hobby itself), but I feel some obligation to reveal the entirety of what we've all been dealing with here.
For the record, nobody has been banned or even given warn points...but then, the thread isn't quite closed yet.
To suggest that the forum is falling apart is ridiculous. With exception of a few people with ulterior motives, the same people threatening to leave have a history of doing just that.
And with that, now I'm off to feed a hundred or so mantises..."fruit flies"!
