• Responding to email notices you receive.
    **************************************************
    In short, DON'T! Email notices are to ONLY alert you of a reply to your private message or your ad on this site. Replying to the email just wastes your time as it goes NOWHERE, and probably pisses off the person you thought you replied to when they think you just ignored them. So instead of complaining to me about your messages not being replied to from this site via email, please READ that email notice that plainly states what you need to do in order to reply to who you are trying to converse with.

  • IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!! About the Google Adsense ads being displayed

    =====================
    Posted 08/15/2025
    =====================


    Yeah, I know. They are a pain in the butt. But they pay the bills to keep my server running. Just a fact of life, I am afraid.

    Want to get rid of them? Simple. Just become a Contributor level member or above and they will be gone. -> Please click HERE."

    Is that too much for me to ask of you to keep this site running? Well, sorry about that. I too wish I could get everything for free. But alas.....

    =====================
    Addendum: 01/10/2026
    =====================


    Google Adsense ad revenue for December, 2025 was just $30 over the cost of the lease for the server running this site. So, in effect, the money providing the incentive for me to continue running this site is coming SOLELY from the paid memberships and sponsorships here. Which honestly ain't much....

Anniversary of paid membership requirement for posting classifieds....

I wasn't really disputing your statement, Gary. I fully believe that you paid the $$ just to advertise.
For what it's worth, though, I would probably pay the $25 just to keep the ability to edit my posts - even when I look them over before submitting, I still manage to miss things that I want to fix (I think it is because I know what I mean, so that is how I read it)
 
Thanks for the reply.....

WebSlave said:
So what's stopping me? The usual resistance many people have against change of any kind. I expect a portion of people there would resent this change, and I'm just not up to yet another hassle and headache.

Know what I mean?
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah. I figured there'd be another wave of people saying "I'm mad" if you did anything like that, but it is a possibility. It may be more of a headache than it is worth...and maybe not anything that would benefit THAT site. I was just wondering if it could be used to reduce the size/expense/headache of this site.


WebSlave said:
This site will always be offering classifieds. The only question at this point may be whether it will require a paid membership or not.

The wrinkle with considering the change is what do I do about the currently paid memberships? If I have to consider facing 200 people asking for full or partial refunds, then that workload to shoulder plus the hit to the pocketbook would create quite the headache, and quite probably change my mind on the spot.
Click to expand...

A possible solution MIGHT be (and remember - I'm not pretending to know any answers) is to make the classifieds $5 per year so more people are LIKELY to post even if they only have a snake to sale or two. People that have already purchased can have their account extended under some type of pro-rated system. In other words, if I paid $25 today and you make it $5 tomorrow, you'd extend my "paid" notice 4 more years. That may be difficult to keep records or code - I have ZERO clue on that. After a couple of years, if this didn't work, you could either increase the price or make it free with no refunds required. Still, this may or may not help traffic, but it certainly won;'t directly assist the site in becoming financially self-sustaining. Sorry. :( Just a small idea....

ONE THING I do have a question about, though. Sorry if this is answered somewhere else, but what is the reason you maintain two completely separate classified sections? Is there any reason you don't just dump the one used less (or the one YOU like the least) leaving only one system. It's simplify browsing the classifieds, but I don't know how that would change YOUR work load. It should bother many reasonable people MUCH if you cut it down to only one system....but I might be guessing wrong there!

$25/$5/whatever - I plan to use them this season as soon as babies start popping out. I appreciate the service you DO offer for such a reasonable price - even with the current system. It is JUST a shame that the traffic decreased so much with the pricing implementation.

.....and fauna DOES have a rather unique group of regular posters...and an even more unique TONE of posts than other sites. Good or bad, it is unique. :)
 
Rich,
We obviously remember things differently and I have no desire to go back and create a timeline to prove things either way. It really doesn't matter anymore. However, there is one point that you seem to repeatedly misconstrue, and that is my reason for backing away from Fauna.

You seem to think that it was because of the Pay to Moderate program being initiated, as opposed to having all members given the ability to assess points. That is simply not true.

Mike Greathouse said:
Sometime later, you then adopted the "Pay to Moderate" program which only bolstered that perception. The problems with that program have already been presented in this thread, and I will not elaborate upon them further.
Click to expand...
WebSlave said:
Yes, this is when you parted company here yourself, Mike. Feeling that I should have allowed ALL members to have the power to grant warning points. Something I still believe would have been an incredibly stupid error on my part.
Click to expand...
Please refer to the quote below. I actually commended you on implementing some form of order here. I simply felt it should go one step further and that you and the "Super Moderators" should look at the small group of individuals who were actively trying to harm Fauna, and do something about it. You may recall, that at the time, there were numerous threats being made and personal information was being posted by a few individuals. Based on the comments that I received from other members, I was not the only one who felt this way.


Mike Greathouse said:
Rich,
While I agree with you completely and I applaud your efforts to increase the level of moderation via the new program, there is one issue which would seem to need to be addressed by senior management.

There are a handful of individuals here (names are not important as everyone knows who they are) that contribute nothing to this community other then a high level of disruption. They have been given all of the rope in the world and have used every strand.

They are demeaning to the members here and to the site itself. Although the entertainment level is occasionally increased, it is my belief that they very likely, prevent other more well intentioned members from participating here.

Sometimes you just have to make a stand and take out the trash.
Click to expand...
It was your reply to that statement, that finally did it for me. It became painfully obvious, that you just didn't care, and that you preferred to have people pay you for the opportunity to moderate your site.

WebSlave said:
So if you all want the trash taken out, then by all means, do it yourselves....
__________________
WebSlave
Click to expand...
My response was as follows:

Mike Greathouse said:
Sorry Rich,
I will not pay you $100.00 for the "privilege" of taking out the trash on your website. There are many other member-friendly sites where like-minded people can discuss reptiles, without all of the nonsense.

See you around....
Click to expand...
Your response:

[/b said:
WebSlave]
That is certainly one of the choices you can make, Mike. See ya....:wavey:
Click to expand...
That was your dismissal of an active member who had contributed an untold number of posts in numerous forums, recruited numerous members, and paid close to $1000 in membership fees, sponsership fees, advertising fees, and donations to help offset the financial burden of this site for you.

You essentially said, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

I didn't....
 
Mike Greathouse said:
That was your dismissal of an active member who had contributed an untold number of posts in numerous forums, recruited numerous members, and paid close to $1000 in membership fees, sponsership fees, advertising fees, and donations to help offset the financial burden of this site for you.

You essentially said, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

I didn't....
Click to expand...


How else was I supposed to interpret your statement: "See you around...."?

So who was being "dismissive" with THAT statement? Weren't you effectively telling me to do it YOUR WAY or it's the HIGHWAY for you?

I'm sorry, Mike. I didn't realize that your comment that you were leaving was a plea for me to beg you to stay.

My comment about "do it yourself" was simply a challenge to take up the baton if you felt that I was not doing the job properly myself, instead of just being a backseat driver. THAT was the opportunity afforded by the WS mods program to everyone. Here's the tools to help run this site. Now SHOW me how it is done. The higher cost membership levels were MY criteria chosen in order to put a hurdle in front of those people who might be inclined to abuse this power if offered for free or at minimal cost. And don't EVEN try to convince me you think that wouldn't have happened.

As for escorting the trash out of this site, would you say that I should also do that to whoever has been identified as being the troll "Shrillomn" and quite likely "Sledgehammer", Mike?

You, like others before you, simply copped an attitude because YOUR suggestions about how to run this site have not been taken up and become the rule for the day.

Par for the course......... :rolleyes:
 
WebSlave said:
Another aspect of this site that few people seem to consider is that I face threats of lawsuits constantly. Where is the money supposed to come from to hire attorneys to defend myself? And what exactly am I paying to defend? Well, I am defending YOUR privilege to be able to post the truth on the BOI and not have somebody with more money then YOU threaten me with a lawsuit in order to remove YOUR words. Now ask yourself, why should this money (which could be significant) come ouf MY pocket that was earned from my reptile business? Tell me, WHY should I do that? This site needs to be earning enough money so that I can afford to protect YOUR rights, otherwise you have NO rights at all to post the information that the BOI was designed to display.

Yes, I CAN afford to fight a lawsuit, because I built up a war chest by taking money from my reptile business and setting it aside. But that needs to be replaced by the income from THIS site. THIS site needs to be self sustaining financially, because it just flat out is not FAIR that I have to use my money in that manner.
Click to expand...

Forgive me if I missed the answer somewhere in the midst of all of this, but how many actual lawsuits has Fauna had to defend against with the funds in this warchest? - excluding, of course the lawsuit from Kingsnake, which was not caused by any member posts made here.

I\'m sure that these would be a matter of public record somewhere.

Thank you,

Mike Gamine
 
Well, sorry, but I DO want to bring this back on topic.

I am trying a temporary trial basis for allowing any registered members to post classified ads, just to see how it goes. My intention is to compensate the paid memberships by increasing the number of bumped and highlighted ads they can have per month, just as soon as I can figure out where the heck that section of code is located..... :rolleyes:

I know it may take a while for any difference, if any, to be noted, but I think I need to at least try just to see what happens. And it can be withdrawn at any time, for any reason, without notice.

Of course, I DO expect spam to be a problem there as well, just as it was in the past before implementing the paid member requirement. No way around that, that I can see.
 
WebSlave said:
Well, sorry, but I DO want to bring this back on topic.

I am trying a temporary trial basis for allowing any registered members to post classified ads, just to see how it goes. My intention is to compensate the paid memberships by increasing the number of bumped and highlighted ads they can have per month, just as soon as I can figure out where the heck that section of code is located..... :rolleyes:

I know it may take a while for any difference, if any, to be noted, but I think I need to at least try just to see what happens. And it can be withdrawn at any time, for any reason, without notice.

Of course, I DO expect spam to be a problem there as well, just as it was in the past before implementing the paid member requirement. No way around that, that I can see.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but I don't see where responding to a statement made by the OWNER of the site, in the thread where the statement was made, would be construed as "Off Topic", especially by the owner of the site.

I do however, want to follow the rules here. Should I repost the question in another thread?

Thank you,

Mike Gamine
 
Mike Greathouse said:
Yes Rich, it is all "par for the course"
Click to expand...

Mike, I have great respect for you and I have a question because I'm not that much up on how things work when it comes to IP's and ISP's. I can look them up and such and so can the warning system managers and all the super moderators. Something popped-up. I would like to ask and I'm sure it will be pointed out.
Someone who has always posted through a proxy except for one time on this site. That one time logged the person at 72.187.158.29. Only one other person has ever logged onto Fauna with that IP.

I actually thought that the individuals were the same person but then at this later time they both end up sharing the same IP as each other and nobody else here has used the same one. Would it be to much of an assumption to believe that they are one and the same person?

Thanks,

Dennis
 
Walk of Life said:
I'm sorry, but I don't see where responding to a statement made by the OWNER of the site, in the thread where the statement was made, would be construed as "Off Topic", especially by the owner of the site.

I do however, want to follow the rules here. Should I repost the question in another thread?

Thank you,

Mike Gamine
Click to expand...

And to the other Mike......... Visiting Tampa today are we? This is the IP on your last post... The IP Address is: 72.187.158.29. The host name is: 29-158.187-72.tampabay.res.rr.com..

Guess I would want to get out of Chicago too...... :rolleyes:
 
WebSlave said:
And to the other Mike......... Visiting Tampa today are we? This is the IP on your last post... The IP Address is: 72.187.158.29. The host name is: 29-158.187-72.tampabay.res.rr.com..

Guess I would want to get out of Chicago too...... :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Opps! It looks like someone was trying to be sneaky...and goofed. :NoNo:
 
Mike, mike, mike, mike, mike...

I said this to you a bit back:
Jim O said:
Exactly why proxy servers are not really very good security measures (as I said). They are meant to keep the user "anonymous" and that is perfect for spammers and trolls. A junior high school level hacker will get your real IP even if you use a proxy.

I'm not saying you are a troll (yet), I'm just stating the facts, mike.
Click to expand...

Looking back, I find this post interesting:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=553879#post553879 which directs people to www.BoaGenetics.com which points to http://www.digitalherper.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=135 which is on whose site?

Of course your attention to Boas and Redfoot tortoises is a bit of a giveaway too.

Mike, I'd have hoped for better from you.
 
I am trying a temporary trial basis for allowing any registered members to post classified ads, just to see how it goes. My intention is to compensate the paid memberships by increasing the number of bumped and highlighted ads they can have per month, just as soon as I can figure out where the heck that section of code is located.....
Click to expand...




Rich,

Is it just me or when you go to place an animal for sale you get turtles, tortoises, amphibians but no snakes whatsoever?

Thanks
 
The BoidSmith said:
Rich,

Is it just me or when you go to place an animal for sale you get turtles, tortoises, amphibians but no snakes whatsoever?

Thanks
Click to expand...

See if it works now. Are you trying the forum based classifieds or the photopost classifieds?
 
The photopost classifieds. The forum based worked just fine.

Thanks!
 
Jim O said:
Mike, mike, mike, mike, mike...

I said this to you a bit back:


Looking back, I find this post interesting:
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/forums/showthread.php?p=553879#post553879 which directs people to www.BoaGenetics.com which points to http://www.digitalherper.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=125&t=135 which is on whose site?

Of course your attention to Boas and Redfoot tortoises is a bit of a giveaway too.

Mike, I'd have hoped for better from you.
Click to expand...

It gets better Jim.

Here is a series of IP logs from Mike Greathouse, Shillomn, and Sledgehammer.

IP Address Search for User: "Mike Greathouse"
204.193.127.4 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
207.156.1.11 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.37.100 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.37.209 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.37.224 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.37.24 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.38.190 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.38.92 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.39.172 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
24.164.39.186 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.4.103.211 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.4.106.8 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.4.109.128 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.4.97.132 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.4.98.40 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.4.98.95 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.41.168.107 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.47.193.244 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.47.195.130 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.47.195.95 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.47.197.123 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.47.201.195 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
4.47.202.158 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
65.32.33.63 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
66.0.39.133 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.230.157 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.237.89 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.107 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.146 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.147 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.180 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.187 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.214 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.223 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.231 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.40 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.58 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.210.243.8 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.250.144 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.250.176 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.250.251 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.125 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.136 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.170 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.222 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.46 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.7 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.212.95.98 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.240.29.183 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.240.50.128 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.243.6.124 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.243.6.146 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.243.6.164 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.243.6.201 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.243.6.234 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.243.6.90 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
67.8.67.113 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.32.18 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.32.70 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.32.81 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.33.116 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.34.29 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.35.127 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.35.82 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.36.16 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.36.230 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.36.72 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.37.217 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.38.125 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.38.209 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.38.234 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.200.39.187 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
68.216.137.194 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
71.41.57.154 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
72.17.231.194 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
72.184.102.231 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
72.187.154.123 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
72.187.158.29 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
Click to expand...

IP Address Search for User: "Shrillomn"
207.156.1.11 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.20.71.34 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.100.208 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.101.106 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.101.203 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.102.252 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.103.230 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.107.234 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.11.47 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.117.201 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.12.145 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.12.223 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.125.220 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.125.238 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.15.49 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.65.126 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.67.86 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.7.172 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.85.122 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.85.233 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.88.37 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.91.219 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.93.154 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.94.243 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.99.199 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.99.90 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.142.35 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.173.221 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.27.187 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.36.164 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.47.23 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.60.86 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.26.84.109 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
71.41.57.154 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
72.232.214.186 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
Click to expand...

IP Address Search for User: "Sledgehammer"
206.123.117.115 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.1.233 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.100.226 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.103.235 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.104.171 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.105.33 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.105.47 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.111.80 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.113.69 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.113.88 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.116.212 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.118.198 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.118.239 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.124.216 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.14.232 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.16.177 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.19.149 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.2.6 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.25.177 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.28.85 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.28.9 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.29.238 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.29.91 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.30.99 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.43.194 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.64.254 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.75.68 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.76.210 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.79.227 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.80.11 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.84.171 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.85.137 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.85.208 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.90.114 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.91.105 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
63.21.99.179 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
71.41.101.119 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
72.232.138.138 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
74.208.14.63 [Find More Users with this IP Address]
Click to expand...

You will note that we have TWO IDENTICAL IP matches between Mike Greathouse and Shrillomn, which pretty much nails this down a far as I am concerned. I believe there is an excellent chance that Mike has been behind quite a bit of the trolling on this site for quite a while now. The member name of "Sledgehammer", in my opinion is yet another guise of Mike Greathouse evidenced by the prefixes of those proxy servers used in comparison with Shrillomn, which we already have a positive match. Mike just didn't slip up using that account name as he did with Shrillomn and this "Walk of Life" registration. But what really tipped me off about Sledgehammer were the occasional pats on the back "he" have to Mike Greathouse every now and again. Much like his promoting his websites through the Walk of Life registration.

Mike, I warned you to cut the crap. There was no doubt in my mind all along that it was you, but you just wouldn't give it up. I thought you would get over this eventually and just leave it alone. But apparently not. There is a real good probability that I will copy all this info into a new thread on the BOI, because in my opinion, you are engaging in activity designed to cause strife and conflict on this website, and as such this is very plainly related to MY business running this site. I also want you to know that it is because of what you have been engaging in that I grew suspicious of some odd server loading problems while you had hosted domains on the same server that this site was on. As such, I decided to move ALL the hosted domains on to a separate and isolated server in order to protect THIS one from any games you might be inclined to play with CGI scripting on your domain. That was an EXPENSIVE, but NECESSARY move I had to make because of my suspicions about your abilities as well as your evident animosity towards this site. Honestly, Mike, I really thought better of you.

Yes, I know you can simply register as someone else since you are slick enough to know how to play with proxy servers even when I ban your main account here. But enough is enough, man. Just GO AWAY.
 
Hultman....the man rocks!
Click to expand...

Chuck, I disagree. I really didn’t like the fact the information was there in the first place. I really like Mike and have always respected his point of view but the questions were going to be addressed. As Rich pointed out

WebSlave said:
You will note that we have TWO IDENTICAL IP matches between Mike Greathouse and Shrillomn, which pretty much nails this down a far as I am concerned.
Click to expand...

It would be important to note that of those two matches not a single other member has ever used either of those.

Search 71.41.57.154

* Mike Greathouse 71.41.57.154 [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
* Shrillomn 71.41.57.154 [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]

Search 207.156.1.11

* Mike Greathouse 207.156.1.11 [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
* Shrillomn 207.156.1.11 [Find Posts by User] [View Other IP Addresses for this User]
 
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