on killing bugs...

[asha2003]

yesterday the kids in my class wanted to step on some ants that hang out by the window. i see this all the time. i can't imagine it's instinctual, but perhaps when they see the disdain people have for insects, the fear others express, and see their parents kill bugs, they think it's encouraged.
i explained there is a lot we as humans cannot see, don't know. below the ground somewhere i told them, is an ant colony. we don't know what role these particular ants have in that colony but they probably do play a role. i told them that since they pose no threat to us, why not just let them be?
i also feel but did not add for fear of sounding religious and offending someone, that all living creatures, even the smallest bug, contains a life force. we cannot creat that, the thing which makes bugs crawl, or fly, move, eat, so why take away what we cannot give back?
i understand that if an insect is a threat to ones well being, then acting to keep out of harms way is necessary. but to kill bugs for sport is wrong to me. i catch bugs indoors and set them free outside. some may find that extreme. i just respect life.

[veggiewriter]

I try my best to avoid stepping on ants/spiders/flies, etc when they're outside. After all, that's their home, and they're just doing their 'jobs'! When they're inside, I usually scoop them up and transport them out (though, when I do this in the winter, it might not really be much of a kindness). I don't really believe that insects suffer when they get squished (I get that from what people have told me--haven't done the research myself, sorry) but I just am not comfortable killing things if I have other options. I'm sure I've swatted at mosquitoes and killed them before, and I do bat at wasps and yellow jackets when they're in the house, trying to get them out the door, but I don't just randomly stomp on bugs.

Who was it that said (paraphrased): Teaching a child to spare an ant is as important to the child as it is to the ant.

[mountainvegan]

I don't know who said that, veggiewriter, but I like it - so true.

[Cissy]

That's an awesome quote veggiewriter.

I do my best not to kill bugs. I put them outside whenever possible.

[vegancherrypie]

I agree with that, asha. I ALWAYS try my best not to hurt the bugs, inside or out. I'm always the one in class screamning not to kill the bee in the room while making up a paper cup quickly so I can catch it and let it out the window :) (I've done that lotsa times). I don't see why people are so intent on killing bugs that aren't even bothering/hurting them! Like, once in one of my classes there was a moth caught in the blinds and a couple people were getting distracted by it. Someone raised their hand and asked the teacher if they could get up and kill it. The teacher said no, just pay attention, and he would kill the moth later...so when the bell rang I went by the curtain and waited a few seconds till the moth came near me, then put my hand over it and slid a sheet of paper between my hand and the window and let the moth free outside. Can you believe I got a detention for that?? It's especially shocking since just that class the teacher was going on and on how we need to respect life (I go to Catholic school). I guess that only applies to humans, of course?...!!

Cassie

[dk_art]

Can you believe I got a detention for that?? It's especially shocking since just that class the teacher was going on and on how we need to respect life
--------------------


YOU have to be joking! What an utter joke that detention was then ..... that's really pathetic!

I don't understand people whose first reaction is to kill a puny powerless creature just because it's there. It only takes 5 seconds to catch and let go.

[veggiewriter]

I hope, vegancherriepie, that you and your parents contested that detention! I would've been so angry! Sad, that in this day and age anyone would consider something as innocent and compassionate as letting a moth out to be 'unruly.' Especially if you waited until after class to do so! Don't they have some gum-chewing, gang-banging hoodlums to send to the principal's office or something??

And, you know, I'm trying to find the author to that quote, but I can't find it (I'd copied it down on some scratch paper, but who knows where it went!).

[vegancherrypie]

Yeah, you should have seen the fuss I made when he told me I got a detention for that. Utterly unfair, but the teacher who gave me it think's he's God, or, at least, so holy and always correct that he's up there near him, so he didn't really care what I had to say. Oh well, I usually procrastinate to do homework till it's really late so I was kind of thankful I got an hour where I was made to do it anyways...detentions don't upset me. :)

Cassie

[sushi8kat]

The way I think of it comes from something my sister said... "all that little bug has is his life. That's it.. so why take it from him?"
I just feel like we don't have the right to decide if that bug should live or die from the force of our will, especially if they haven't done anything to us.

Another good quote about not hurting insects by Mark Twain:
"A true man neither steps on a worm nor triffles a king"

meaning that we are all equal, and the right thing to do is treat everything with the same respect.

[lighthouse25]

My boss told me to kill a roach today and I ignored her!

Life is life, no matter what form

[zoebird]

at my catholic school. detention consisted of sitting in a chair and staring forward (sitting in a particular way too, and i always sit in a lotus-like pose, no matter what), so it was a big waste of time.

i had a teacher who gave me detention for the most ridiculous reasons. made me crazy. i never went to detention. I would go straight to the principal's office, plop the detetion slip on her desk and tell her exactly what happened and why i refuse to go to detetion.

I got detetion at least every day for the most common offense "wrong place, wrong time"--one time i got it while waiting in the hall, after school, to meet with another teacher. She was in with another student at the time, and the teacher who always gave me detention said that i was eavesdropping on the other lesson, and that to be nice i should not hang around the room. I told her my meeting was next, and that i wouldn't know when to get there if i didn't pay attention to when this meeting was over. She gave me detention.

And that started the rebellion of zoebird against all punishments. Luckily, i always used the line: You really don't want me to go to my parents with this, right? because we'll just take it up with the school board, and if need be, the bishop.

(i was really "in" with the bishop because i did a lot of work with the poor in high school. he always saw me around, and i went to the cathedral, his pastorship/pastorate--and his right hand man heard my confessions--still does). Yes, never did go to detention.

[sushi8kat]

That's a cool story. You sure are a tough broad, zoebird.

[zoebird]

i think other people would use words like stubborn, pain in the A$$, zealot, stuck up, B*tch, bossy, and numerous other explatives. :)

but i like to think i'm tough. lol! ;)

[grain_girl]

Originally posted by sushi8kat
The way I think of it comes from something my sister said... "all that little bug has is his life. That's it.. so why take it from him?"

Such a true and simple statement... Yet, the thought has never crossed my mind. *sigh* We mortals are capable of so much, yet, so often we just can't grasp such simplicity.

[Shay21]

I think Ants have a right to life....they cannot help that God created them as Ants. To me, their life is as precious as mine. When I see one....I trap it in a cup and set it free outside....I live with a meat eater and she HATES when I do this.

[Finlay]

I actually assisted in killing a mosquito (sp?) in my tent while I was on vacation. The person with whom I shared the tent wasn't eager to do it either - made for a hilarious situation: two veggies trying to kill a bug.

[zoebird]

ah, i've been killing bugs all week. They're in my territory, and i can't get rid of them. So, this week, i've killed about 50 flies with my bare hands (And washed those hands continually), and about 15 paper moths. I must need to set new traps.

Now, granted, if it's one or two, and they're not coming back or whatever, then i'm like fine, put it out. BUt in this case, it's just insanity. too many bugs--like an assault on my living space--so that's it! counter-attack zoebird the "fly huntress"!

which, btw, my lazy husband and good friend (also male) said is incredilby impressive to watch. I basicly stand around watching, waiting and then "snatch" and they're done. Heh.

bug killah!

[*sprout*]

I see a bugs life just the same as any other animals life

animals dont even kills bugs when bugs come into their territory so I dont see why humans do

[zoebird]

animals and bugs do kill other creatures (usually other animals or other bugs) that threaten their territory. So do i--if i need too. If i can put them out, i will. if not, oh well.

[Halcyonelle]

I'd seen a slant on that quote a few days ago:

Bradley Miller: "Teaching a child not to step on a caterpillar is as valuable to the child, as it is to the caterpillar".

at: http://www.veganpeace.com/FamousQuotesPages/bradley_miller1.htm

[Sevenseas]

I have come to think (maybe quite naively) that because insects have eyes, they may experience the world in some way. You know, the fly flies around: "there's a lamp, there's a carpet, there's a table, bright colours, dark colours", when it flies around, and all of a sudden this experiencing and seeing of things ceases when somebody kills the fly. This is one fo the reasons I try to avoid killing insects. Another one is the fact that, as far as I know, we don't know for sure, whether insects are sentient beings or not. Therefore: by killing an insect you risk, it's possible that you have just killed a sentien being. This possibility of sentience is a reason why I think we shouldn't be killing insects (and then there's this "experiencing" thing also.)

[Maresche]

Bugs that wind up in my home get one of 3 fates:

Spiders and other useful bugs that don't hurt anyone, get to stay provided their webs in the corners don't get too noticeable.

Flys and other non-useful bugs that don't hurt anyone, get caught under a cup and sent outside.

Bees, wasps and other bugs that could hurt someone either get caught by my husband and shipped outside or killed by me. I am allergic to bees etc so can't have 'em in the house.

[borealis]

I kill mosquitos because when they bite me, I get huge welts. If I get a lot of mosquito bites I feel sick and poisoned. So killing mosquitos is self-defense.

Fleas are not welcome in our domocile because they hurt our cats. We use Advantage on the cats and that takes care of the fleas.

I currently pretty much leave other bugs alone. I have lived in some cockroachy rentals, though, and at those times I became a cockroach murderer.

Spideys, wasps, bees, etc. are transported outside if possible. We caught a huge spidey in our bed the other evening. It had stripes and was so pretty. It went outside to the recycling bin on the theory that it might find insects to munch on there.

I don't like the idea of poisoning insects because a) I have seen bugs sprayed with Raid and it looks like a terrible death and b) I feel that the poison may remain in the environment and harm other beings.

[Cissy]

I don't agree with poisoning them either, especially if you have pets. Same with the glue mice traps. A tip for trying to keep away mice - keep an open jar of black pepper in the area - they stay away, and it's completely pet and child friendly!

[Hollywood]

when i was young my parents set one of those sticky glues traps and a little mouse got trapped in it, I felt really bad and tried to pull it out, and the sun of a b**** bit me.