Absolutely agreed, Damien. Some of us here are better than others at being very tactful and avoiding offending people. Others are determined to make sure the message gets across if there is something less than optimal about a keeper's husbandry and are less concerned with tact. Then there's the majority of us who fall in the middle, sometimes avoiding responding to a post in order to avoid stirring things up but generally trying to share what we've learned and learn what we can.

So far we don't have any members with a public pattern of personal attacks or staff who encourage infighting, and I think most of us truly want to keep it that way. Basically, that means if you feel that others came down too hard on you or that someone insulted your skills or knowledge or something, chances are still very good that the member(s) involved did it not to put you down, anger you, or embarass you, but to help you take the best care that you can of your critters. You can even feel free to say, "I think you were a little harsh on me," or something like it, and chances are that you'll get a positive response.

Most of us have been involved in forums where things turned ugly at some point and we may have even been a participant or target in that, but we don't want that here. This is a community, and a d@mn good one at that, where we learn from one another and support one another and sometimes tease one another, and every now and again someone's feelings get hurt but that's not what we're about here and if it's out of line the person(s) involved will be told so, usually privately. This isn't aimed at anyone in particular, but if you feel it applies to you, take heart: if you stick around long enough, you will be one of us, and we don't put up wit no shiznit.