Scum of the earth!

[strangebrew]

My commiserations man.

Wow, you've had a bad run of luck. First the black death and now this!

Can people see over your fences from ajoining properties? Because it's about that time of year when the silly season is in full swing and low-lifes are checking for pot. It's truly amazing what can get stolen from where.

[_e_]

Strangebrew-

These were the plants that weren't infected with black death i.e they were newer and bigger and healthier then the other plants that were effected by black death...

The ones that had disease were inside under lights, and the others were outside.. There were some of the diseased specimens outside however the perps decided that they werent worth stealing and left them behind.

Hebrew- thanx mate, ill prob grab a couple of the grow tips i gave u back, as i have none of that strain left...cheers

p.s strangebrew- there is absolutely no visibility from adjacent land or the street where my cacti live... it is right under my back verandah where they get half full sun, half filtered sun, and are protected from rain....

***E***

[ 23. April 2005, 11:51: Message edited by: min(E)rval ]

[Torsten]

minerval - this is outrageous!! I hear about alot of cactus theft from collectors, especially outside the ethnobot community and as pointed out above there are two distinct types of thieves. One is the lazy collector who will take a pup or two off each variety. If he is unscrupulous he might even chop the tip off your prize specimen. In general he will take small propagating amounts. The other type is the non-collector who just wants to get out of it. He'll take whatever he can. If transport is a problem he'll chop them at the base, but if he knows a little about how cacti grow then he'll probably take the root as well. He may even try to chop the cactus at the base and fail, not realising they have a woody core that your average hunting knife doesn't quite cope with.

It seems to me that your thief is not the collector type and also not in the ethnobotany community. He is someone who does not appreciate plants and the caring connection collectors have with them. he probably tried to chop the trunk off, but failed so he took the whole thing (with as little root as possible).

I think the thief is someone who heard about your cacti from an ethnobot friend, or he may be from the party community but with no connection to plants (just enough to know what the cactus can do).

Cactus thieves are our greatest worry here at Wandjina, which is why we NEVER leave the place unattended. After years of talking to collectors and cactus traders it is obvious that most don't sell Lophs because of the legal ambiguity, but because ALL of them have had their facilities broken into purely for the theft of Lophs. Arizona cactus garden in windsor used to grow lots of them until one of their dry tunnels was shredded so the thieves could gain access to the loph collection. He lost almost 10K in Lophs (incl all his seed stock), but also had 3K in tunnel damage. It made him more weary of ethnobotanical collectors than of normal cactus heads.

I always urge people to take pics of their cactus collection for exactly this situation. When the thief realises how little effect he will get from the Lophs he will be tempted to sell them and that is always a good opportunity to catch him.

As for your refusal of donation I think you are being silly. Sharing is what this community is about and you have done your fair share of that too. When you do good stuff for people it doesn't always come back to you from the same folks. often it has to go much more complex circles. So I hope you will accept the offers presented to you. if you end up not falling in love with the new babies then you can always give them away later.

So what was this blue cactus? Anyone got a pic?

[Torsten]

Forgot to mention - black death is not systemic. It appears to be air borne or water borne and susceptibility seems to be triggered by pH, nutrients and climatic conditions.

Some strains are more prone to it than others, but if you are talking cuts of the same seedgrown specimen, then they are all the same in terms of black death susceptibility.

[_e_]

T- the plants stolenw ere from different genetic source then those with the black death... they had not shown any signs of disease, however were added to the collection 3 weeks after the initial 'plague' had been quarantined...

The reason for me not wanting to accept donations is that i dont feel turning this situation into a plee for charity is quite what i was looking for by sharing the experience witht he online community.. As i said i will be happy to offer somethign in return for any contributions...

Here is the only pic i could find displaying the source and variety of the bulk of the specimens in question.. The blueing isnt that obvious, however if u go to the gallery and enlarge it you should be able to see the blue/green colour...This colour/blueing intensified the longer the specimen was kept dry.. As it had been dry for about 2.5months it had taken on a considerably attractive blue frosting...

The thing that made me think the people in question were a little 'ethno-enlightened' was that there were plenty of cacti sitting out the back and they only took the ones of special interest... They took the biggest and most 'sacred' that were there.. It must have taken a discerning eye to know that the T.bridgesii var monstrose were more 'interesting' then the other cacti and succulents aroud the place. :mad:

And that they took the tiny lophs over other smaller T.peruvianus and T.pachanoi that were left.

T-this doesnt mean it is someone that is a part of THIS community, more someone who has done their homework, or hungout with myself for a while

Peace

***E***

[ 24. April 2005, 03:09: Message edited by: min(E)rval ]

[jasemateau]

pigs!!!!!!!!!!!

i hope they eat just a little and get sick.

or better still have a really bad trip and get the edge of their whole being and realized they really are the scum of the earth and leave them on your door step!!!!!!!

as a unspoken plea for redemtion from mescalito.

(the god, not our mate within this forum )

power to you brother!!!!

jase

[nabraxas]

Once someone has violated you thismuch, whats stopping them doing it again and worse? MinE--hope you can do something to make yourself feel more secure, a dog isn't a bad idea.

it's no good to feel vulnerable.

bad news indeed.

[_e_]

yeah last night was real shitty...tlk about restless sleep lol, there wasnt a dog bark, shoe scuff, house movement or banging water pipe that i didnt ultra perceive as something it wasnt....

And theres no way id get a dog living here.. It would be cruel, we have a tiny yard that is fully concreted...

I think we are going to run some bell lines

EDIT: (OOPS DID I SAY BELL LINES??? what i meant to say was 'GLASS' lines ) and bring anything that is of worth inside into a grow room....

cheers for your thoughts guys.

peace

***E***

[ 27. April 2005, 03:32: Message edited by: min(E)rval ]

[apothecary]

I think I should say that you gave those things a home for a long time, took care of them, and continue them.

Of that you can be proud.

[mescalito]

Shitty news there E

I had 3 grands worth of tools stolen from my work van in the driveway at home while I was at the club drinking with some friends.I remember being pissed off, suspicious and overtired.Most of these fuckers will come around at night too so one tends to get a bugger all sleep.

My advice-go out and invest in some sensor lights and get a mate/sparky to fit them for ya...the brighter the better.

Shame rabbit traps are out of the question.

[bsm2wr]

Commisserations, tho' I don't know you m8y.

I'm saying- take this thing into your heart and remember it well 'cos there's enough shitty people and shitty things going on all the time.

peace out

[Flip]

I am VERY SORRY to hear about what happened.

Please take heart that this is not the end

Those that are that so disrespectful and selfish will dig their own graves.

HARSH BAD TRIPS not withstanding.

I've had plants and other assorted things taken in the middle of the night as well.

It strikes very deeply, for something like this to happen.

In my case, I'm sure that the potted Sago Palms theft was motivated

by a quick profit afforded by it's sale.

as we're the other items

In your case, I tend to also think...

That it's a friend of a friend that has a interest in profit over cultivation

working with at least one other are your culprits.

No interest in cultivation but extraction and profit.

Perhaps retaining the tips (they would be hard to prove as yours).

I'm sorry to say that, but you may also look at the local dealers

vs just cacti or entheo people.

someone (and their friends) that has a bit of extraction know how

and a history of selling drugs for profit / gratification.

Perhaps you can ask your neighbors (if you live in a slightly urban area)

to see if they witnessed anything.

can you follow the dirt tracks (from the uprooting)

and see if you can gain some info from footprints, tracks and or ANYTHING

that might help ID these people

I hope that you recover what it yours to care for.

[Amulte]

The morning glory and HBR are said to aid, guide and provide info on lost items.

In my experiences it works if you believe it does.

im starting to fear for my plants now. i thought i was safe one story up but after smogs got ripped off one story up i dunno! i do hate to say it but i was unaware the theft of plants/cacti was so common! think i might move to a higher story up.

this is all rather disenchanting

Love, Peace & Empathy E dude!

[Benzito]

It's great to see all the support for E! Keep your head up.

Well, I spoke to my two new housemates and clearly explained why they can't tell anyone about my plants, and hopefully that should all be OK now.

But, on Saturday night someone stole a bike from our new property! In the backyard, in a spot that required snooping, and only 2 metres from my cacti garden. Now I'm so paranoid!

We haven't even finished moving in yet and we are already getting stuff stolen.

Hopefully my babies will be OK.

[crazydrmike]

I had two peyote and a trichocerus scopolicaulus stolen... But if thats not bad enough, the theves entered my house, and bedroom to do so while i was out.

I was living in denmark, a small town in the southwest of WA at the time and being a small close-knit community it was not uncommon to leave the house unlocked up before going out.

The lophs were so small that they would have produced no effect at all wen eaten, and I'm guessing they weren't trying to grow them as they left the roots behind in the pots. Fukwits, thats all I can say!!!

[Qhorakuna tantani]

Very sorry to hear about your loss minerval. All I can say is that hopefully karma gives them what's coming to them. Maybe you would benefit from one of those cheap door entrance detectors like in supermarkets and such and hook up the buzzer to the inside of your house. This would be a little less conspicuous than the string lines and you could turn it off during the day when people will be walking past it frequently.

Good luck finding the culprits and hope you're feeling better and more secure soon.

[incognito]

i recommend keeping ur loved ethno plants at ur parents place(if they are cool with it,would they even know what they are??)or a trusted family members house,when u r sharehousing,,,im soooo glad i dont hafta go through the sharehousing thing anymore, i had my share of nightmare experience, just remember,one person tells two people,two tell four then b4 u know it the whole neighbourhood knows u r keeping psychoactive plants!!!!good luck with it anyways guys!!!

:cool:

[smogs]

heh heh been there done that jono

ill share share accom horror stories with u 1 day.

i ended up outa pocket sevral hundred bucks

[macro]

I'm late reading this, but that is terrible Minerval. Can only hope the thief reconsiders their actions and comes clean. Good luck.

[Benzito]

Any progress E?

You getting any closer to catching the culprit?

[_e_]

absolutely nothing!!!

I have come to grips with the fact that i will never see my babies again, and that we were violated...

now i just have to get back to some kind of head state that allows for new people to be welcome in our house, and i need to get over my anger and insecurity....

This was a kick in the guts whilst we were down for the count, we have had a lot of bad shit happen to us in the past 8 mths, one after the after... some pretty scary and heavy shit, as well as some downright unluckiness...

I suppose we are just trying to find some flow in amongst all the crap that keeps beating against us... This theft just showed me that there was more to come, and not to try too hard to plant my feet in the ground just yet...

There must be a message in amongst all of this, i suppose when we have healed we can try to understand... until then we are just focusing on 'being' which has been hard of late.

peace all and thanx for your support,

***E***

[Amulte]

you know i think your cool dude, so dont take any offence at this please.

ive told you im more into the spiritual side of things, and all this bad stuff happens to you but it appears you have done nothing wrong but who knows.

long dribble short, there are some kindly rituals to rid yourself of bad things thats maybe around you so long as you have the purest of intent. which i believe you do. i can asist you and supply you with texts in order to teach you these shamanic rituals. my libaray is huge.

you dont deserve to suffer man. EDITED because i sounded gay.

Peace dude

[ 29. April 2005, 06:16: Message edited by: Amulte ]

[Flip]

Sorry to hear tthat there is no good news

(deep breath)

You may want to start quietly asking around who has

mescaline in about a month or two...

They're VERY likely to be your people.

it'll likely be impure (off white, tan/brown)

they'll be selling it to their circle of friends

and I'll bet you my paycheck they'll be growing new tips.

Again, I'm sorry to hear about all of this

it's bugged me and I've been thinking of how people can

better safeguard valuable collections

I guess the first line of defense is Discretion.

[ 01. May 2005, 10:00: Message edited by: Flip ]

[Rev]

Torsten:

as pointed out above there are two distinct types of thieves. One is the lazy collector who will take a pup or two off each variety.

I think wandjinas got the right idea anyway. Too many botanical gardens are just asking to get stuff stolen (incl seed) cos they dont provide any other way for people to access plants.

I reckon all botanical gdns should run a nursery to sell the plants they display.

my condolences minerval

please PM me when/if u move house to a fresh location and im sure i can help u out in some ways with bits off my collection

Only 3 non family people have seen where my collection is and i trust them greatly. I dont intend to show anyone else ever.

I think it is far better this way and if i want to show cacti i can use the internet or take plants to meetings for display

Its a pity but they are your babies after all and you have to look after them as such

[ 02. May 2005, 17:48: Message edited by: Rev ]

[Amulte]

nothing is sacred. a mate of mine had his shed broken into. now normally you would think they were after tools, but they went straight for the smelly door that leads to under his house. grabed his sled hammer on the wall, smashed the door down and proceeded to ransack his smoke and half of one of the rooms he lets mary stay in. all in the space of an hour during broad daylight.

he says he got off lucky cuz only about 7 - 10 grams of goods were taken. he blames this kid he has seen hanging around. helped him put up steel bars welded and 12 6 inch dyna bolted into the brickwork up either side.

but only gos to show nothing is sacred anymore how total strangers can suss out a 30yr old man with a wife and 6month old to have nice things under his house?? loose lips sink ships but when they're tied the flags have flyed.