Posted on 04/14/2018 11:44:29 AM PDT by bgill
An unusual problem at Saguaro National Park requires an unusual solution to stop it. Cactus poaching; a lucrative crime that's caught the attention of the national park service. Chief O'Neil says even small saguaro can fetch a hefty bounty. "We understand that they sell for about a hundred dollar a foot, so this little guy is worth four or five hundred dollars," said O'Neil referencing a rather young, albeit 40-year-old saguaro. "We're looking to microchip cacti that are most likely to be taken," said O'Neil.
(Excerpt) Read more at abc15.com ...
Good, I hate those cactus poachers.
Stick it to the cactus poachers.
This will actually work until they prosecute the first poacher, after which everyone will scan for them.
If they’re not already, since this was publicly announced.
They're probably breeding them so I'd call it "reforestation".
Not a bad idea. But I am sure the Leftists who run this country would rather microchip ordinary, honest, law abiding citizens (especially if they own firearms).
Nevada used helicopters to search back yards for illegal cacti. Photo evidence.
As a Midwesterner, it has always seemed ODD to me that one might WANT sharp, prickly things in your landscaping!
Yucca? Cactus? Rattlesnake Master? Maybe they’re beautiful to some, but give me an English Garden with lots of Cabbage Roses, Lavender, Daisies, Lilies and...and...and, any day over sharp, prickly and boring green! ;)
What terrible reporting. How are cacti poached — do they have to dig up a root system? And who is the customer for poached saguaro cactus?
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>> “And who is the customer for poached saguaro cactus?” <<
Las Vegas casinos, and wealthy home owners.
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Tucson is now full of artificial cacti.
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Succulants don’t have particularly deep roots, and they re-root easily.
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Some of them can be delicious.
Pricks all of them
That’s actually a big part of the problem. Saguaro’s are very sensitive, if you don’t transplant them correctly (part of which is re-orienting them, whatever side was north to start needs to be north in the end) they die. So a lot of this poaching is really just killing very old very slow growing plants. Legit saguaro purchases are very expensive, though getting rid of them can be quite lucrative, my boss was having a tree removed and the company offered to take the tree for free and give him $400 if he let them have his 10’ saguaro. Lots of paperwork, but a good deal.
My mom’s roses drew a lot of blood off of me and dad.
So they actually have to dig them out? I imagine they have to wrap them in quilts or something in order to dig them and put them in a truck.
Don’t worry, National Park Service, I’m not planning a similar heist. I’m an east coast granny with no cacti around, but I do love plants and know how easy it is to lose one if you truncate the roots too badly.
That's interesting to know. Maybe that's what my Christmas cacti houseplants need. I try to rotate them regularly near the windows, but some of them conk out.
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