bugs

[margene]

I have made moral choice not to kill bugs. Sending them back outside instead. Yesterday I was at an elderly man's house. There was a wasp flying around. He told me to spray it with bug spray as he is ill and can't do it himself. So I picked up the bug spray and sprayed the wasp. Now some of you might think I'm crazy and I don't judge people for killing bugs but I question how easily I went against my convictions.

[Zoe Girl]

I don't kill bugs often but it is natural reaction to swat a mosquito that is biting me! I was on retreat and they had a 'bug sucker', it sucks the bug into a chamber and then you can release it outside. A pretty retreat thing to do. However a wasp that could do harm to this man if it is inside his house seems like it needs to be handled. Some people have big reactions to wasp stings, most people have pain. I am sure being elderly he would have even a harder time with a wasp sting.

So I totally understand it, and I don't squish bugs

[catherine]

I have made moral choice not to kill bugs. Sending them back outside instead. Yesterday I was at an elderly man's house. There was a wasp flying around. He told me to spray it with bug spray as he is ill and can't do it himself. So I picked up the bug spray and sprayed the wasp. Now some of you might think I'm crazy and I don't judge people for killing bugs but I question how easily I went against my convictions.

Don't beat yourself up! It's not a failure in my mind. In my mind an example of a failure in this case would be to be overly dogmatic in your conviction. Sometimes you have to discern what's best. Life is not black and white.

An example: a few years ago I was a die-hard vegetarian and hadn't eaten meat in years. After my nephew got married, we were spending the next evening with my brother and SIL and had plans to go out to eat. But bad weather intervened, so my brother said, "Hey! I have some filet mignon in the freezer! Let's just eat here!"

Had I been excessively dogmatic about my convictions I would have stated my vegetarian principles and maybe just taken the salad and the vegetable, which would have made my brother and SIL feel bad. Maybe they would have felt compelled to try going out in the storm to please me. In any case, I felt that the better option was to keep my sanctimonious mouth shut and enjoy the steak and the wonderful company, which I did.

So, in your case, what were your options? Tell the elderly man that you did not plan to kill the wasp? Cause him anxiety? Try to trap the wasp and release it humanely? How long would that have taken? Would that have detracted from your visit? I think you put all those factors into your mind and made the right decision.

[LDAHL]

I don't kill bugs often but it is natural reaction to swat a mosquito that is biting me! I was on retreat and they had a 'bug sucker', it sucks the bug into a chamber and then you can release it outside. A pretty retreat thing to do. However a wasp that could do harm to this man if it is inside his house seems like it needs to be handled. Some people have big reactions to wasp stings, most people have pain. I am sure being elderly he would have even a harder time with a wasp sting.

So I totally understand it, and I don't squish bugs

We can't live without killing. We devour other plants and animals. We seize their habitat for our use. We exterminate crop pests and disease vectors. Even a great advocate for biodiversity like E.O. Wilson has opined that the extinction of Aedes aegyti would be a good thing.

It's simply the reality of life.

[catherine]

We can't live without killing. We devour other plants and animals. We seize their habitat for our use. We exterminate crop pests and disease vectors. Even a great advocate for biodiversity like E.O. Wilson has opined that the extinction of Aedes aegyti would be a good thing.

It's simply the reality of life.

Yes, but we can approach that reality with indifference or we can approach it consciously.

[iris lilies]

I love daddy long legs spiders and try my best to preserve them and their webs when they are in our house.

Many people are terrified of spiders. If my friend, terrified of spiders, asked me to swat a Daddy long legs in her house I would likely do it although I might ask her if it was ok with her if I escorted him outside.

Her house, her rules.

[CathyA]

I don't think I could have done it. I would have told him so, and then maybe found an empty jar to catch it in and set it loose. But don't beat yourself up. It brought up an issue that maybe you needed to think through more..........
I find it very hard to make through a day, without accidentally hurting something. But to be honest, I will kill things like ticks and mosquitoes.......so I guess I'm sort of a hypocrite. I guess we all have to figure out where we draw the line.

[pinkytoe]

The only insect I have no qualms about killing (but not with pesticides) are cockroaches. DH knows when I have that particular scream that one is about as they scare the heck out of me. The last one I swatted and watched swirl down the toilet and then had an odd remembrance of the book Metamorphasis by Franz Kafka about a man who became a cockroach. I get philosophical about these things. Just assuming we must dominate and kill other beings doesn't feel quite right to me.

[creaker]

The only bugs I won't abide by in my house are house centipedes. Even flies I will at least attempt catch and release outside, but the house centipedes are immediately squished.

[iris lilies]

The only bugs I won't abide by in my house are house centipedes. Even flies I will at least attempt catch and release outside, but the house centipedes are immediately squished.
Cruel you are to remove your cat's playthings. Well, perhaps you dont have a cat, so it is alright then.

we have a few of those silverfish thngs and they dont bother me much.

[ToomuchStuff]

What would your convictions have said, if you went to try to catch one that someone was allergic to?
Your house, your rules, but isn't the rule someone else's house, their rules?

[Xmac]

I have made moral choice not to kill bugs. Sending them back outside instead. Yesterday I was at an elderly man's house. There was a wasp flying around. He told me to spray it with bug spray as he is ill and can't do it himself. So I picked up the bug spray and sprayed the wasp. Now some of you might think I'm crazy and I don't judge people for killing bugs but I question how easily I went against my convictions.

When you questioned, what did you discover?

Maybe your intentions need time to grow?

You said you don't judge people who kill bugs, do you extend that same courtesy to you?

Wasn't it also a moral choice to help out the old man especially dealing with an insect that stings?

I see convictions as life sentences of suffering. When I became vegetarian it was not a choice.

[margene]

Thanks everyone for your input. Xmac you said when I questioned what did I discover? Well I think my need for acceptance trumps doing what I feel is right.

[jp1]

I think for me the question would be whether there was an alternative that would have been acceptable to the elderly man (ie, get the damn thing out of the house) that didn't involve killing. You were there and he asked a favor. If you hadn't been there (and assuming him capable) he would have ended its life himself. You were just his agent. If you could have opened the window or door or whatever and gotten it out without killing it that would have been appropriate despite his request. Otherwise it seems relatively fine to me that you followed through with his request even if it was against your morals. The alternative would have been to say no and leave him to stress about it until someone else came to visit that was willing to assist him.

Personally, given the gazillions of bugs in the world I wouldn't hesitate to kill one in that particular circumstance. A massive dose of roundup on my lawn or garden? No. One specific bug that managed to find its way indoors? Not an issue for me.

[creaker]

Cruel you are to remove your cat's playthings. Well, perhaps you dont have a cat, so it is alright then.

we have a few of those silverfish thngs and they dont bother me much.

I have to balance between the cat's playthings and my daughter's screams :(

[Tenngal]

I kill things that are a potential threat......bugs that sting inside my house or buzzing my porch are a threat. Same with snakes, if harmless they can go on their merry way, if not and around my house, off with their heads. Seems to me he felt threatened by the wasp and I cannot imagine a way to contain it.