I do my best, but sometimes I do it. I've always felt bad about it though, even before I became a vegetarian.



With phobias and stuff though it can induce a fight or flight response, I get that with massive moths and sometimes have to kill them and then feel really sad and guilty afterwards.

So I've been VERY anti-killing bugs for years, but this year has been HORRIBLE with flies. I mean, 11-15 in the kitchen at once. Other bugs don't bother me, I'll take spiders out in a cup, but flies MUST DIE. They buzz me and don't leave me alone. If I could just take them outside and let them go, I would, but I can't.

Generally if it's harmless like a spider or a fly I leave it alone or shoo it outside- it does bother me when people kill things just because they are in their house. I used to keep a butterfly net on hand for moths and most flying things, was quite handy. I usually let spiders stay because they get rid of the biting bugs.

About the only things I will kill are mosquitoes and fleas etc, because they are actually causing discomfort and risk of disease to the humans and kitties of the household. But I am still not happy with doing that.

Like another member who posted in this thread, I have really bad panic attacks when it comes to my insect phobia. However, this really only flares up when the insect comes too close to me, as in less than a foot from me, especially if I'm bare-footed. There are several daddy long legs up on the ceiling with me as I type this, and I won't kill them because I've seen them catch cockroaches for me. C: Though I might try that tip someone else posted about catnip leaves for that purpose.



My problem lately is crickets though. They jump around, are generally huge, and always seem to find me whatever room I'm in. So catching them is nearly impossible. Anyone else dealing with crickets lately?

I never kill spiders or bugs on purpose. I've always been an animal lover and I never did it before I was vegetarian.



I got so down the other night, I went for a walk after it had been raining and there was some sort of snail convention going on in the village. The road I live on has no streetlights and there are fields on one side and a forest on the other, so the ground is absolutely pitch black unless a car is going past with its headlights on. I was shining my iPod at the ground so I could see where my foot was going but I had to step out of the way suddenly when a car came round the corner and I stepped right onto a snail. When I came back up the road, there was a group of other snails all around the dead one and I couldn't get it out of my head that they were mourning. It was horrible



On the plus side I saw an albino slug that night. At least, a pure white slug. I've never seen that before and it was really cool.

I've stepped on a snail before, Worzel, it's horrible isn't it?

The last bug I killed was a paralysis tick with it's head in my chest. I'd rather not let a paralysis tick have it's way with me. >____<



Anything else i'll take outside. If an ant is crawling on and biting me i'd still rather pick it up and put it down than smash it. Killing bugs is horrid.

I think snails eat dead snails. Scavengers aren't they? So don't feel too bad! It's difficult not to step on snails accidentally at times.



When i was younger i used to kill things like worms and slugs.... i was strangely fascinated by putting salt on slugs :



These days i won't kill anything deliberately! Even if someone mentions that they killed something, i'm like "what??!.. why???!!!". I always remove things like moths from my house and put them outside, as they usually die inside. I usually leave spiders, as they do no harm. I do swat flies away from my face with my hand if they're bugging me, but i don't swat them to kill them, and usually try to guide them out of the house. We have a lot of snails in the garden, but also tomato plants and other plants, so every now and again we do a slug and snail relocation. We collect them in a decomposable container and take them to a park nearby.



So, yes, it does bother me. I think they're amazing. They've been on earth a lot longer than we have, and will be here when we're long gone.

I've never liked killing bugs, ever since I was a young kid. It always horrified me when other kids would stamp on bugs, cut worms in half squish spiders. Even now, my friends still kill bugs if they come near, I always say, 'but why, they don't hurt you' only to be replied with, 'yeah, but they're weird and I don't like them.' That's not an excuse to end a life!



I put things like spiders outside, I know they're better off staying inside, but if I don't put them out, they end up being sucked up the hoover or killed.

I'm okay with bugs in general, but spiders over the size of my thumbnail send me into a wired panic. If I have NOTICE that they're there, I can generally screw up my courage enough to take them outside, but if one startles me (like the big solid black one that DROPPED ON MY HAND LAST NIGHT while I was typing - and it was HUGE) - my instincts takes over. I felt bad afterwards but really, I didn't even think, I just screamed and flailed and grabbed a book...



I am a bad, bad vegan. (hangs head)

It doesn't 'bother' me because I understand the mentality and I can't afford to respond to the death of an insect in the same way I would a larger animal. We can't go without accidentally killing some insects in our lives and I'd have an emotional breakdown if I grieved over every insect that was killed by a human.



Still, I have developed an affection for them. I don't intentionally killed insects or spiders either.

I only kill those that wish me harm.

There's a big difference between accidentally stepping on some nearly-invisible ants when you're walking, and slamming a book down on a spider just because you don't like them.






They don't *wish* you anything, they just want to be left alone to live their little spider lives in peace.

Spiders doesn't hurt me, so I don't kill them.

I "escort" the bugs outside. ;D

I prefer not to kill anything, with the exception of fly's,mozzies and cockroaches that cross my path.

Spiders don't carry disease AND they kill all those damn things, too. Let the spiders live?

I think a few of you guys are practicing Janism and don't even know it .



Janists are awesome by the way .

Absolutely .

If I didn't think white lies were necessary for a peaceful life, I would totally be a Jainist.

I try not to kill anything intentionally. I'm scared of spiders and not too keen on any bugs or insects of any kind coming near me but I'll either leave them be or trap them to release outside.



It does bother me when other people kill them. I was on a bus the other day and a wasp was onboard. It wasn't going near anyone really, just battering itself against a window trying to get out when the nearest old lady rolls up a newspaper and hits it BAM!. That didn't kill it so BAM BAM BAM she went again before it fell to the floor and she smooshed it with her boot. I just got this huge jolt when she done it, just seemed so brutal toward a wee thing that was doing no harm. I don't even like wasps but it didn't deserve that.

Jainists believe that plants have 'souls' make an effort to avoid 'injuring' them. The difference between plants and insects is that insects have a nervous system and thus, we have a reason to believe they are sentient.



If insects are sentient, they aren't "less" sentient than cows, chickens and pigs are. I don't understand why some veg*ns behave as though they are simply because they're smaller than cows, chickens and pigs are.

Janists eat many vegetables , but avoid potatoes because they are pulled from the ground .



They also convinced Hindus to stop animal sacrafices , and had a great deal of influence on Ghandi ( his mother was a Janist ) .

Unless it's a harmful insect, yes. My friend was talking about how she killed a spider by smashing it's guts out. I don't see why she couldn't have just put it outside.

I get scared when I see roaches, but I do feel very sad when people kill them anyways. ): The only thing I kill are mosquitoes. They attacked me first! XD Anyway, I have no problem with spiders and ect. In fact, I have a spider right next to me right now. I really should dust XD

People in Supermarkets and Shopping Centres freak me out but I don't squash them.



I really, really feel like it sometimes though . ..

The only things on my kill list are the bloodsucking vermin - mosquitoes, ticks, and fleas; I only kill these if I have to.



My apartment is infested with fleas right now (have never had this problem before!) and I am very much looking forward to the upcoming genocide of said critters. My animals are miserable and I am developing a nervous scratching tic. The little buggers got to go.



Other than that, I hate it when people kill bugs like spiders, moths, etc...I love insects inexplicably (I could watch things like ants in the grass for hours) and it infuriates me to see people kill things just because they're larger and stronger. It's not a good mindset.

I don't really kill any of those things... even though i'm really terrified of insects. i felt really horrible a few weeks ago when we killed a giant wolf spider. i know i shouldn't have been, but i was terrified of it.



it never bothered me before when people killed insects, but it does now. I don't really understand how their lives are any less valuable than any other animal's. I have a really hard time with my girlfriend's family. Her littlest brother is 13 and was trying to kill a wasp while we were in the pool. The wasp wasn't bothering anyone, just flying by when he tried to drown it. I saved it. He thought I was joking when I told him to leave the damn thing alone. Her other brother is our age, and if he wasn't going to be my brother in law I would never even talk to him. He's 21 and does things like shoot blow darts at insects and then light them on fire when they are still alive. It makes me sick. It's one thing to kill them, but that is just disgusting. He's like a normal guy, too, with a good professional business job and really polite. But on weekends he goes "hunting" even though all he does is kill rabbits and coyotes and leave them to rot.



UGH I needed to rant a little. Long story short, I don't like killing bugs, and I don't like it when other people kill bugs!

IF I'm outside and see spiders and other bugs I definitely leave them alone- that is their environment after all. It is when they enter my home that I can't seem to control my actions. Many times I'll let a spider be on its way, or try to get it out of the window. But with any other bug that can fester or set up shop in my house...well, I have to be honest when I say I do my best to get rid of them. I honestly don't see it as equal of what factory farms do to animals. I'm not removing the legs of these bugs one at a time. No one is paying me for killing them. It is what it is, that if you don't spray your house for certain bugs they will have offspring and wreck havoc on your home.