killing bugs

[dyhppy]

does anyone feel that it is morally questionable to kill bugs? at what point is there a distinction between ok and not ok killing?

[JimOfferman]

I generally don't kill bugs... I'll even rescue the occasional spider from drowning in my shower!

Way I see it, they have just as much right to be on this planet as I have.

[Remiel]

/shrug I kill things that try to annoy me (flies) or attack me (wasps, yellow jackets, mosquitoes) or things that may cause damage (ants, termites and anything else if it is damaging my house).

To me there isn't really any morality to it. I do though acknowledge that others believe that there is.

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by Remiel

try to annoy me

Do you kill your friends when they try to annoy you too?

[Restrikted]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

I generally don't kill bugs... I'll even rescue the occasional spider from drowning in my shower!

Way I see it, they have just as much right to be on this planet as I have.

I understand where you come from and I agree with you. But let's look at it from the bug's perspective. If you stuck your head inside a wasps nest, I guarantee they will try to harm you. So we try to kill them when they enter our homes, they try to kill us when we enter their homes. Dog eat dog world.

[ProjectX]

Well insects are like robots to me with a computer brain. Hence killing them is like smashing a laptop. It really doesn't matter. If I could I would eradicate all the insects on this world.

[Rose of Cairo]

I see it like Jim. I think they have the same right to live as we have, and are worth just as much as we are. Just because we are bigger and stronger and able to be more conscious doesn't mean that they are worth less or that we have the right to arbitrarily do what we want with them.

I rescue them when they're in danger, and try never to kill any. Of course it happens that I kill some inadvertently because they're so tiny, but I feel sorry and apologize in this case.

When we enter their house, we're a big danger for them. But the other way around it's not the case, and we are conscious enough to recognize it. I don't mind having them fly around, eat some of my food or live in my house. Why not?

I don't understand why some people are so scared of having insects at home. You won't die because of a few ants running around. And why exactly is it disgusting?? Besides, if you want to get rid of ants, there's a good method: yell at them loudly and regularly. They'll go.

I don't mind them biting me either, a drop of blood for me is nothing, and for them it's a gift of life.

I also find it fascinating to observe them. They're usually beautiful and elegant. Just like snails, I love snails.

[Restrikted]

Originally Posted by ProjectX

Well insects are like robots to me with a computer brain. Hence killing them is like smashing a laptop. It really doesn't matter. If I could I would eradicate all the insects on this world.

All the bugs would be dead, all the animals that eat the bugs would be dead, all the animals that eat the animals that eat the bugs would be dead. If you consider bees bugs, there goes the majority of plants which rely on them to be pollinated, we would be reduced to vegans...Not that there's anything wrong with that. No thanks.

[Rockchick26]

I had an interesting experience when i was a teenager,and this changed how i felt about bugs.

I was probably 12 or 13,and i used to walk around the fields behind our house with my cat,and i would carry a stick. Every time i saw a grasshopper,i would point at it,and my cat would eat it. This was,somehow,a fun bonding thing for me and my cat to do.

Then one day,with a certain grasshopper,as i watched my cat eat it,i suddenly became completely sad and depressed over the death of this grasshopper! Why did i care so much about this one? Was it my grandmother reincarnated and now i had just killed it? I couldn't figure out why i suddenly felt bad for killing something i thought was so disgusting and gross. Suddenly i had remorse. That was the last grasshopper i killed. I even had a little funeral for it.

Ever since then,i can't even bear to watch an ant die in ant poison. Insects may be gross and i dont wanna touch 'em,but i cannot kill them anymore.

Funny side note: One day while walking out in the yard,i came upon a HUGE slimy ball of grasshopper parts LMAO I had also made my poor kitty sick! That wasn't why i stopped killing bugs though,but i'm sure my cat felt better! lol

[Restrikted]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

Every time i saw a grasshopper,i would point at it,and my cat would eat it.

That's impressive!

[evelynlim]

I try not to either. If there is no reason to, why kill it. Also, according to Buddhist teachings, we are encouraged to be compassionate to all beings. And that includes bugs!

Evelyn

[Bitsy]

I try to avoid killing bugs too. If I by accident step on an ant, or, for example, this one time I was getting into the hot tub at my mom's and there was an ant getting tossed around in it. I tend to feel bad when I see something struggling. I took it out and put it on dry tile and kept an eye on it for a long time. I would have felt pretty bad if it didn't recover, but after a while, it got itself back together again. I don't kill bugs, I put them outside. I cringe if I see someone kill one, like my mom kills spiders, for example. I don't want it where I live, but you don't have to kill it, just move it!

There are these people, especially girls become "screechie," who freak out if there is a bee flying around them. They start swatting at the bee or wasp like rabid lunatics, attacking the thing, so it might sting them. If you just sit still when they are flying around you or land on you, they will eventually fly away if you just let them bee .

I also feel bad when it rains and all the earthworms appear on the street and sidewalk and I just know they are going to get squished. Sometimes I bend down and tell them "wormie, you're going to get squished if you are here" and then I move them to the grass, but I'm not sure if that's a good idea anymore, because a few times I did that in Finland and I would cross the same path a little later and the worm would be working it's way across the pavement again, so...I guess I would have to try to guess specifically where the thing is going, or else I will just make a lot more work for it .

I have to admit, though...there is one problem I have...with mosquitos. They are the reason I could never be a Buddhist...

[pianoperformer]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

Do you kill your friends when they try to annoy you too?

I thought everyone did...

I'm actually really indiferent on this issue. Not the killing friends thing, I mean killing bugs. So many are killed, surely they must expect it.

Bug spirit guide type thing: "OK, you're going to be a bug."
Bug: "Oh darn.... Can you make sure I live at least a week?"
Bug spirit guide type thing: "No promises. Sorry. Maybe when you're a mouse."

[pianoperformer]

Originally Posted by ProjectX

Well insects are like robots to me with a computer brain. Hence killing them is like smashing a laptop. It really doesn't matter. If I could I would eradicate all the insects on this world.

You must either know really smart bugs, or have a really bad laptop.

Also, yeah, if all bugs were killed, a lot of food chains would be messed up. Who knows what kind of effect that would have on nature, and us.

[Akashic_Librarian]

I see it like this:

Wasps are little yellow sadists - DEAD

Spiders are hairy and horrible - DEAD

Ants - Too small to be conscious - DEAD

Anything I don't particularly like - DEAD

A can of Raid anyone?


I don't see anything wrong with killing bugs - I can understand perhaps WHY you would have a problem - but I don't see it.

Furthermore...

Rose, so your saying I am just as useful as a spider? or an ant? Do you have any pride in your superiority. What's so great about everything being equal, I honestly think its rather naive.

[Jarrod]

If it causing harm (through potential disease or violence) to me or those around me then I would remove it. Either by getting it out of the house or killing it. With a preference for the first.

[newmark]

I never just kill a bug for the sake of it. What would be the point? It has it's own life, and even 'disgusting' bugs have a use in the world. For example breaking down organic matter.
Many other bugs pollinate our plants.
Some bugs are having serious problems in the world today:eg bees, whose numbers are dropping alarmingly in many parts of the world. This is in turn giving farmers and so us problems.
Mosquitoes are, on the other hand, fair game.

[Lauxa]

Originally Posted by Rose of Cairo

Besides, if you want to get rid of ants, there's a good method: yell at them loudly and regularly. They'll go.

Really?? You learn something new every day. Does this work for cockroaches? I don't personally mind ants, but those big scuttling roaches creep me out.

I don't go out of my way to kill bugs usually, but if there's a hornet nest in the doorway it's gotta go. And if there's a bunch of ants crawling along the kitchen counter when it's time to sponge off, they're gonna die.

[Rockchick26]

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

I see it like this:

Wasps are little yellow sadists - DEAD

Spiders are hairy and horrible - DEAD

Ants - Too small to be conscious - DEAD

Anything I don't particularly like - DEAD

A can of Raid anyone?


I don't see anything wrong with killing bugs - I can understand perhaps WHY you would have a problem - but I don't see it.

Furthermore...

Rose, so your saying I am just as useful as a spider? or an ant? Do you have any pride in your superiority. What's so great about everything being equal, I honestly think its rather naive.

I dont think its very good for humans to feel pride in our superiority,imagine if all the animals bigger than us were to feel that way,we'd all be eaten,how would that make you feel? I realize that we are not exactly equals to insects,but i still dont think we should have the attitude that we have the right to kill them just cuz theyre smaller. They are ALIVE,just like plants and trees,i wouldn't kill anything that is alive.

[JimOfferman]

Originally Posted by pianoperformer

I thought everyone did...

Really? I'm so behind...

(goes to machetes-are-us.com)

[pianoperformer]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

i wouldn't kill anything that is alive.

I'd love to know what, exactly, you eat? Is it OK if someone else kills it for you?

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by Rockchick26

I dont think its very good for humans to feel pride in our superiority,imagine if all the animals bigger than us were to feel that way,we'd all be eaten,how would that make you feel? I realize that we are not exactly equals to insects,but i still dont think we should have the attitude that we have the right to kill them just cuz theyre smaller. They are ALIVE,just like plants and trees,i wouldn't kill anything that is alive.

Well animals bigger/stronger than us did kill us when they could, and still do nowadays sometimes when they can. Fortunately we are superior (in terms of power) to all animals now, but it's just nature, they used to kill us when we weren't at the top of the food chain. So your logic doesn't really make sense.

As for killing animals just for the sake of it, i think it's wrong. But i consider "to have fun" or "to make experiments" or "to not see these annoying crawling/flying things on my floor/house anymore" enough reason to kill bugs/animals. Preferably make them suffer as little as possible, though. But if "having fun" means making them suffer, it's reprehensible but i don't think it should be considered a crime punishable by law (unless the animal killed was someone else's pet).

Originally Posted by pianoperformer

I'd love to know what, exactly, you eat? Is it OK if someone else kills it for you?

No you silly, she gets her energy from photosynthesis.

[newmark]

Just don't kill a cockroach.
These incredible creatures have adapted so well that they will attack you even when dead.
If you poison them, you risk poisoning yourself.
If you squash them, apart from their legs and body parts disappearing under your furniture, their dead bodies emit chemicals which (according to research I read which was carried out in southern Taiwan) can damage your immune system.
The only way is to think positively, using LOA, and sweep them out on a dustpan. Usually they just sit there and let me.

[Rose of Cairo]

Originally Posted by Lauxa

Really?? You learn something new every day. Does this work for cockroaches?

I don't know, I only tried with ants. There once was an ant colony in my mother's house. My mother used to kill them, but every time they would come back, always at the same place. My mother was very upset, one day she was so angry that she just yelled at them, telling them that she doesn't want them here, that it's enough now, dammit, and that she gives them one day to disappear! The next morning, they were gone and never came back Later I used to same method with ants in my own home, I yelled at them loudly about 4-5 times in one day, telling them they are not welcome, and they disappeared too. So now, I believe it works Not that I use it anymore, now ants are welcome in my home.

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

Rose, so your saying I am just as useful as a spider? or an ant?

Oh no, I'm not saying that. A spider, or an ant, is way more useful than we humans are. After all, they contribute to a balanced biosphere, whereas we destroy Earth, bring chaos into the biological balance, exterminate and enslave other species and kill, torture and abuse each other too along the way... What's useful about that?

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

Do you have any pride in your superiority.

Which superiority?

If you mean the fact that I'm aware of things animals aren't aware of, it was given to me at birth, so why would I be proud of it? It's not my own making.

Originally Posted by Akashic_Librarian

What's so great about everything being equal, I honestly think its rather naive.

Maybe it is, I don't know. My point is that differences in intelligence, awareness, etc, do not imply that we are worth more, nor that we have the right to decide on their life at will. My point also is that every being deserves the same respect, no matter how dumb or small it is and no matter which species it belongs to.

Originally Posted by pianoperformer

I'd love to know what, exactly, you eat? Is it OK if someone else kills it for you?

There are enough people who go vegan exactly for this reason

Plus, there's still a difference between killing someone because I need to eat, and killing someone because I think I'm better than they are so I have the right to kill them just for fun, or because I find them ugly.

[garentee]

I kill insects a lot. I run a small farm and there are a lot of biting insects that like to take pieces of you and your blood. So I do kill them. Then there are the insects that ruin my crops and make them un marketable. I kill those that I can without resorting to chemical means. I do refuse to poison my soil. If anyone has been in the northeast they will understand this list.
Black Flies
Noceums
Deer flies
Green heads
Mosquitos
Horseflies.
They all get the swat of the hands. I am not going to say that I feel bad about killing these insects but insects in general are very very important to what I do. Hence the reason not to poison m y fields. Even so called organic pesticides do kill non target insects so I try to refrain from those as well, however if it is a case between my plants and a few insects I wil walk lightly as I can and proceed with caution.

[Danyelle]

I have mixed feelings on this. I'm scared and creeped out by bugs, but I don't like to kill them.

I have a terrible memory of killing a wasp when I was in my late teens. I felt so horrible, like an evil torturer. I was scared of it and I couldn't get it out the window, I couldn't smash it, so I sprayed it...and it suffered. I cried so hard and for so long.

I try not to kill bugs if I can just coax em to fly out a window. I let spiders do their thing, I just kinda move them away from me if/when I see them. I just swat flies n stuff away from me. If I ever see a roach or a scorpion or something in my house I think I'd definitely kill it. Never with spray. I want to do it quickfast so there's no suffering

[Didi]

What about all those pine beetles that are destroying our forests? Hundreds of square kilometres of pine forest...gone.

As with many things in life there are insects that live symbiotically with the environment and those that live parasitically, providing little if any benefit. However, Nature is an infinitely complex mystery that we will never understand. Maybe those pine beetles are destroying those pine trees to make way for other species of trees. If we eradicate them all we will perhaps be doing ourselves a disservice.

I kill mosquitoes that land on me because of the risk of West Nile virus. I kill insects that get into my home because this is where I live, and they can go find their own home somewhere else; if I wanted non-human companions I would get a cat or dog. I don't have the stomach to try and capture them and release them outdoors...insects creep me right out. The rest of the time it's live and let live.

[A.K.Light]

If I kill something out of fear or hatred, what does that say about me? I don't know what it says about me morally, but I do know what it says about my own courage and tolerance. I don't want to the bug to die for nothing, but more importantly, I don't want to be the type of person who is so scared of something that's less than an inch long that I feel an urge to kill it. If it's really that big, fast, and ugly, I'm more likely to catch it and study it for a while and then let it go somewhere else. I've always liked bugs and I've picked up many of them and had many of them as pets. (Even mosquito larvae.) However, I'm not saying that I want big ugly spiders to crawl on me, surprise me, or fall in my food. But they are around, and they always will be, and that's something I can accept and move on.

I don't think killing bugs is actually "wrong". It's just however you look at it.

[ilovetoday]

This is a really interesting topic
I do not have anything against the bug killers, but I felt bad squishing ants when I was a child and there is only one bug i would kill and that is parasite- like ticks, fleas and mosquitos too, even though I dont think they are parasites but they suck your blood and leave you itchy. I think sometimes, what about the little family that the bug was going to return to... its kind of funny I know but that is how come I would prefer not to kill them.

Also with the eco system, although we dont want to kill them all it would be harmful to the eco system, not any bugs dieing would also wreck the ecosystem.

[Kate Saltfleet]

If it doesn't bother me, I don't bother it. As others have pointed out some bugs are very useful, like the ones in the compost bin I regard as "employees".

I don't like things that sting or bite, and would try to remove these rather than kill them if at all possible.

However, in England we don't really have that many problem bugs. When I lived in the tropics it was a different story and I would cover myself and my surrounding in insect repellent, spray the bugs with poison (which I was breathing in too!). I burned mosquito coils, had a mosquito net over my bed, wore long trousers and still got eaten alive.

I guess we all have to share the planet