An open letter to all you bug squishers

[Good Old Neon]

Why do you do it, what makes a person go out of their way to kill an insect (or anything for that matter) that poses absolutely no threat? Example, I was just walking down the hallway at work, my manager was walking ahead of me, he passed a spider crawling across the floor, rather than just continue on, he stopped, walked back ten paces, and before I could protest, stepped on it, which, WTF? Why? Maybe I’m being overly sensitive here, but we - along with every other creature we share this planet with, fuck, even more than that, existence its very self - only get one shot at this whole life thing, why would you so thoughtlessly rob another life form of that experience?

 

Edit - I'm telling your mothers.

[buffy3kins]

Well, for one reason people kill bugs is to aviod getting the diseases they spread. That supposedly poor helpless little spider could have been poisonous. I'd rather squish the spider than have it bite me and make me sicker than hell or even kill me. Think of it as a matter of the survival of the fittest.

[plasticeyeball]

how do you know what kind of spider it was. you can't be sure that it caused absolutely no threat. i would have stomped it too. then i would have picked up it's dead carcass and scared my kids with it. (or nearest female co-worker if i was at work)

 

(this was directed at neon)

[bleedorange]

I don't go out of my way to kill anything, but if I go to give my daughter a bath and there's a spider in the tub, I'll get a wad of tissue and kill it and flush it down the toilet. If I see a roach in the house, I'm not going to attempt to shepherd it out the door, I'm going to get rid of it the easy way.

[plasticeyeball]

you don't show it to her after you squish it? that's the best part.

[Good Old Neon]

Well, for one reason people kill bugs is to aviod getting the diseases they spread. That supposedly poor helpless little spider could have been poisonous. I'd rather squish the spider than have it bite me and make me sicker than hell or even kill me. Think of it as a matter of the survival of the fittest.

 

Ok, but you - a potential disease carrier - pose more of a risk to my survival than 99.9% of the other life forms on this planet, and yet, if we were to meet, I would, somehow, find it within myself to allow you to go right on existing – unless, of course, you’re really fucking annoying. Though, even if you were or are, you know, annoying, rather than drop an anvil on your head, I’d probably just think mean thoughts about you.

[PopTodd]

I don't go out of my way to kill anything, but if I go to give my daughter a bath and there's a spider in the tub, I'll get a wad of tissue and kill it and flush it down the toilet. If I see a roach in the house, I'm not going to attempt to shepherd it out the door, I'm going to get rid of it the easy way.

 

Pretty much.

Although, everyone in my family does try to take spiders on a piece of paper and release them out the front door, whenever we can.

As to going out of our way to kill a bug. Never. Unless it's a roach. Thankfully, I haven't seen any of those fuckers in a long time.

 

EDIT:

Ok, but you - a potential disease carrier - pose more of a risk to my survival than 99.9% of the other life forms on this planet, and yet, if we were to meet, I would, somehow, find it within myself to allow you to go right on existing – unless, of course, you’re really fucking annoying. Though, even if you were or are, you know, annoying, rather than drop an anvil on your head, I’d probably just think mean thoughts about you.

 

And, I take care of my family first. Before any bugs, thank you.

[Winston Legthigh]

only get one shot at this whole life thing, why would you so thoughtlessly rob another life form of that experience?

Typically I leave bugs alone.

When the wife points out a house centipede with terror in her eyes, I weigh the risk/rewards. Being "the man" outweighs any sort of karmic balance I may be fucking with. So, I don't thoughtlessly kill it - I put a lot of thought into it - such as whether to use a rolled up magazine, or to fetch the fly-swatter.

 

Flies are another matter - I will seek and kill them, if they've let themselves into my house, without prompting from the wife.

[Guest Jules]

Other than humans, I kill all beings that enter my domain uninvited. Squirrels and mice included.

[M. (hristine]

What about vacuuming with the crevice tool. Is that bad karma?

[plasticeyeball]

depends on what you mean by crevice tool.

[M. (hristine]

[ikol]

Ok, but you - a potential disease carrier - pose more of a risk to my survival than 99.9% of the other life forms on this planet, and yet, if we were to meet, I would, somehow, find it within myself to allow you to go right on existing – unless, of course, you’re really fucking annoying. Though, even if you were or are, you know, annoying, rather than drop an anvil on your head, I’d probably just think mean thoughts about you.

 

You really don't see the logic that human life carries more weight than spiders? This might call for the revival of some form of the embryo dish and burning building analogy. And before I squash a spider, I always politely ask it to leave and give it fair warning that its refusal to leave will carry grave consequences.

[OOO]

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

 

I have the expressed, written consent of the Lord to mess with animals.

[Good Old Neon]

I’m willing to concede the use of the kill with extreme prejudice option where and if, a.) the safety of others is threatened, which, outside of allergies or really mean, poisonous hombres, is pretty rare. I don’t see the point in killing something where other options exist, i.e. – showing it the door, temporary custody and release, intense negotiations, and/or whatnot, etc etc etc, and b.) forceful “eviction”, up to and including death, where cockroaches and other potential disease carriers is concerned, or when faced with insects that view your house not as a home, but as a scrumptious, very expensive meal.

[Good Old Neon]

You really don't see the logic that human life carries more weight than spiders? This might call for the revival of some form of the embryo dish and burning building analogy. And before I squash a spider, I always politely ask it to leave and give it fair warning that its refusal to leave will carry grave consequences.

 

Of course, I was (only roughly half) joking.

 

What about vacuuming with the crevice tool. Is that bad karma?

 

That depends – a full vacuum cleaner bag has the potential to provide a few months sustenance for any insect fortunate enough to find itself within the belly of that beast. An empty bag, or one of those futuristic vacuums that use cyclonic action, the suck of which is similar to that of a black hole, probably amounts to a veritable death sentence.

[ikol]

The same spider that you're losing sleep over squishing will routinely capture insects, tie them up, inject them with a paralytic, liquefy their insides, and drink them all without remorse. Now usually I'm against the death penalty, but carrying out a life sentence, in addition to being super creepy, would require providing the serial killer with more victims to eat.

[M. (hristine]

I watched in horror while wasps dined on my fat swallowtail caterpillars like so much raw hamburger.

 

I still capture and release them if I find them in my house.

 

I spit on earthworms and tuck them under damp leaves if I happen upon them struggling across dry pavement.

 

I have also been known to fish with them.

[bjorn_skurj]

As a Scorpio, I consider it to be bad juju to kill spiders - it's an arthropod thing. Insects, while still arthropods, will get killed if they are trying to get my blood or annoy me when I am trying to sleep.

[Good Old Neon]

The same spider that you're losing sleep over squishing will routinely capture insects, tie them up, inject them with a paralytic, liquefy their insides, and drink them all without remorse. Now usually I'm against the death penalty, but carrying out a life sentence, in addition to being super creepy, would require providing the serial killer with more victims to eat.

 

True, but as you pointed out, a spider, insofar as I’m aware, will kill only what it intends to eat – with the exception of those unfortunate insects that find themselves trapped in its web, long after he or she has moved on to ply his or her silky wares elsewhere. We, on the other hand, often kill for sport, without provocation.

 

With that said, I have, on more than one occasion, come across remains around which was etched a tiny little chalk outline, surrounded by an assortment of uniformed, coffee cup holding insects.

[watch me fall]

My exterminator is my best friend. He's pretty cute, too.

[jff]

you don't show it to her after you squish it? that's the best part.

 

Why not just take her hand and make HER squish it? Then make her put it in her own mouth.

[cryptique]

You really don't see the logic that human life carries more weight than spiders?

I don't. But then, I don't really like humans. The sooner we die off and leave this planet to the animals, the better. Assuming we haven't driven them all to extinction first.

 

 

I never kill spiders intentionally. I try not to kill anything, but I make an exception for mosquitoes.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Good thread. I am brewing up a long-winded response.

[ih8music]

the only insects I will not kill are daddy-long-legs, ladybugs & rolly-pollys, 'cause when I was a kid I thought they were "nice." Anything else in the house is fair game - although a fly trapped at the screen door will almost always be let free.

 

Outside of the house, I'll only kill insects if they're a nuisance or a potential nuisance (e.g., ant hill or wasp nest too close to the house).

 

Although I will admit that when I was a kid one of our favorite summertime "games" was taking a whiffle bat to fireflies... as cruel as it may sound, if you've never done it, you're missing out on nature's little fireworks show.