bobbob1313 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Cockroaches are fucking creepy, and I will kill them without any questions. I let anything else go. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ikol Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 True, but as you pointed out, a spider, insofar as I’m aware, will kill only what it intends to eat So did Jeffrey Dahmer. 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. Better for whom? Besides, it's the animals' fault. They're the ones that had to go and evolve into sentient beings. And something tells me they'd do it again if we weren't here. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caliber66 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 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.So have all the spiders that have bitten me over my lifetime intended to kill and eat me? I will kill any cricket that I can find within earshot of me when I am trying to sleep, and my conscience is clear on that count. I have no problem killing earwigs, silverfishes, centipedes and mosquitoes on sight, but I try to be more gentle with other arthropods. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Live and let flies. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Crickets live with impunity in my house, though last night I came out into the sunroom and hollered at them to chill out with their infernal wing scratching. They were only quiet for a while. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 How the fuck does one cricket's legs make such a racket. I wondered this most recently while camping next to a cornfield in Indiana. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
watch me fall Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Cockroaches are fucking creepy, and I will kill them without any questions. People like to call them palmetto bugs in South Carolina. As if that makes them any less disgusting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flea Bit Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 My exterminator is my best friend. He's pretty cute, too. Can you send him my way then...my friend found this on her kitchen floor this morning... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Edie Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I only kill mice, and mosquitos when they are buzzing in my ear at night. Otherwise, I shepherd them out of my house. Fortunately we don't seem to have mice in our new place -- and there aren't any cockroaches either. They would also be on death row. My former husband's boss grew up in Montana and was such a hunter that he would kill anything any time -- even while snorkeling in the Caribbean, he insisted on taking a small harpoon and ended up killing an angelfish (which mate for life as I understand it). He didn't DO anything with it -- it couldn't be eaten, and he didn't want to stuff it or whatever -- he just killed it because he could. That is sickening in my opinion. Also, I had never heard of killing lightning bugs like that Quote Link to post Share on other sites
remphish1 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I had a fly that kept flying near my face when I was sleeping and woke me up a few times one night. I want on a war of sorts with critters in the house after that! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caliber66 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Can you send him my way then...my friend found this on her kitchen floor this morning...WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
M. (hristine Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 The closest I've ever been to torturing insects was snatching flies out of the air during high school study hall and tying a strand of my very long hair around their tiny flynecks and watching them fly round and round. WHAT THE FUCK IS THATDitto. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Can you send him my way then...my friend found this on her kitchen floor this morning... I saw one of those on the sidewalk of a strip mall when I was 15. I ollied over it on my skateboard. True story. Another time, my wife and I stayed in a cabin in Talladega National Forest in Alabama. There were numerous baby scorpions running around in the cabin when we got there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Also, I had never heard of killing lightning bugs like that This stuff doesn't exactly grow on trees you know. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 The closest I've ever been to torturing insects was snatching flies out of the air during high school study hall and tying a strand of my very long hair around their tiny flynecks and watching them fly round and round. Damn, that's badass. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Dude Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I kind of wonder if spiders suffer, and if there's anything going on in their little brains or are they essentially killing / eating / web-making / spawning little robots. I suppose if I knew the degree to which they experienced pain, suffering, and loss, I would take way more issue with killing them. But as it stands, killing a spider is essentially the same as killing a mosquito, a housefly or stepping on a dust mite and I'm fine with that. I'm relatively certain more evolved animals do suffer, some quite a bit more than others, and cows and pigs probably suffer quite a hell of a lot, but that doesn't really stop me from ordering a bacon cheeseburger when the urge strikes me. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I kind of wonder if spiders suffer, and if there's anything going on in their in their little brains or are they essentially killing / eating / web-making / spawning little robots. I don't know. When I was a little kid I spray painted one of these blue. It died pretty quick, but it didn't seem to suffer. It twitched once or twice and then stopped and after a few days it either fell off its web or something came along and ate it. We get lots of garden spiders every fall, and I think they're quite beautiful. The spray painting incident is not something I'm proud of. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 I don't know. When I was a little kid I spray painted one of these blue. It died pretty quick, but it didn't seem to suffer. It twitched once or twice and then stopped and after a few days it either fell off its web or something came along and ate it. We get lots of garden spiders every fall, and I think they're quite beautiful. The spray painting incident is not something I'm proud of. Once, while crawling out into the light after traversing a darkened drainage pipe, I ran face first into one of those beauties. I think my 12 year old heart came about as close to heart failure as a 12 year heart can or could. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I know quite a few people that would never kill an insect or any other living thing, yet they'll devour a steak no problem. I suppose killing lifeforms is alright as long as someone else is doing the killing for you . Quote Link to post Share on other sites
cryptique Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Better for whom?Flora. Fauna. Earth. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 I know quite a few people that would never kill an insect or any other living thing, yet they'll devour a steak no problem. I suppose killing lifeforms is alright as long as someone else is doing the killing for you . Yeah, well, I’m a vegetarian, so, in that regard, I’m consistent. With that said, my original post was not directed towards meat eaters. Though I made the decision to stop eating it, I do not pass judgment on those who do. Eating meat is fine, I’m more intrigued with whys surrounding an individual’s decision to go out of his or her way to put an end to the existence of something that is not, by any measure, doing them harm – in this case, a harmless, non-threatening, non-poisonous house spider. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bleedorange Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Since I lack any training in entomology, any spider that comes within my presence is harmful, threatening, and poisonous. EDIT: Nor arachnology. I figured entomology covered everything. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Good Old Neon Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 Flora. Fauna. Earth. Agreed. I’m sure our presence is indirectly beneficial for many animals, birds, etc – but on the whole, I agree that the planet, from a non-human centric perspective, would be much, much better off without us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jff Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 after traversing a darkened drainage pipe. How long did it take to get rid of your raging case of head lice? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 I'm embarrassed to say that just the sight of most spiders causes my scrotum to crawl up inside me so the idea of sheparding them outside seems unrealistic. I certainly don't go out of my way to kill anything and do feel a little twinge of regret about it. From a macro view though, clearly insects are winning when it comes to evolution. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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