Do you think its wrong to step on bugs - why or why not?

[Ten Foot Bunny]

There are only three types of bugs that I'll kill, and ONLY if they're in my living space: wasps, hornets, and black widows. I'm not allergic to bees, but I get massive (much more than normal) swelling where I'm stung that extends in about a 2" radius around the actual sting. It'll also swell up about an inch high. For that, and only that exact reason, I'll kill wasps and hornets if they resist my trying to shoo them out the door.

Black widows? Sorry, but I don't fancy having spiders near me that can kill me.

However, I absolutely DO NOT kill any of the above if they're outside. That's their world.

With that out of the way, my answer to the question is that I think it's horrible to kill insects. They're living beings just like the rest of us. They have nothing in their lives EXCEPT for their lives, and they spend every second of every day they're on this Earth trying to survive. When you kill them, you take away everything they had, everything they lived for, and for what reason? What good came of their deaths? Are you going to eat the dead insect and maintain the circle of life, thus giving purpose to their sacrifice? If not, then all you did was cruelly take a living soul away from this world, making it a little less bright. We're all here for a purpose, even the insects. Who are we to determine the fate of another?

Truth told, I usually start crying when I see someone kill an insect, or if I accidentally do the same. It feels like someone crushed my own heart. That's how deeply I feel about this issue.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Alas, I'm a bit hypocritical on this issue. I care a lot about animal welfare in general, but I'm also mildly bug-phobic.

My general rule is that if the bug is large or interesting I will make a cursory effort to escort it to safe pastures. I.E. out of my goddam apartment.

If the bug is small or an avowed pest, like a fly or mosquito or silverfish, I will actively seek to squash the bug to remove the bug from my home.

If the bug is out in the wild I won't pester it.

If the bug approaches or lands upon my person I don't give a shit how interesting it looks that bug is going down.

There are only three types of bugs that I'll kill, and ONLY if they're in my living space

Lies. Dollars to donuts says you'd also kill bed bugs.

Spoiler: OR GIANT SPIDERS

 

[Chaos Isaac]

I don't know about wrong, but I do know I don't like to senselessly kill them. All they're trying to do is live on.

But yeah, if you're snickering at a half-dead bug you stepped on, it's kinda dickish, even if you don't feel sympathy for them.

I can't call it wrong, but I can call it unnecessary.

 

[TheMightyMeekling]

I am really afraid of bugs. I just don't want anything to do with them, and if I have to step on them to have my peace, I don't care. Though I certainly don't search them out so I can kill them.

 

[giles]

The big ones would make a huge mess when I crush them so I throw them outside.
Otherwise I will kill any bug that annoys me with noises, wants to suck my blood, might get pissy and sting me and generally any bug/spider/whatever in my bed- or bathroom.

As for getting angry about killing a bug? Jeez, they're bugs. Probably step on a few every day walking outside. Couldn't care less. Honestly, I always say when you're trying to "save the animals" and are all vegetarian/buddhist about it, that's cool but you're wrong. Anyone who does that never had a bunch of chickens in their lives. They're retarded and vicious at the same time. If one of their kin is bleeding THEY WILL KILL AND DEVOUR IT upon seeing blood. If the eggs crack they will eat them again. So much for not killing chicken/chicken babies - even the fucking chicken do it.
Now, we might have a conversation about pigs (they're actually fairly intelligent) but something as stupid and evil as a chicken is not worth saving. At least not until we've fixed a lot of other more important shit.

 

[Ten Foot Bunny]

Lies. Dollars to donuts says you'd also kill bed bugs.

Spoiler: OR GIANT SPIDERS

My philosophy is to avoid doing things that will RESULT in bedbugs making themselves welcome.

Big spiders though? I catch them and take them outside (unless it's an aforementioned black widow). I'll usually get a good, close look at them first. Lots of people think I'm strange because I find spiders cute, but they're absolutely adorable! Even the big ones, and almost especially the big ones since you can see their smiling faces.

Except for black widows. GRRRR!!! They're interesting, but they're so aggressive and lethal that I can't muster up anything but a fearful respect for them. I once stuck my face to within 2" of a black widow's web just to watch her guarding her eggs, which was kind of neat! Then I ran about 10 feet away and tried to stop the shivers bludgeoning their way down my spine. lol Of all the wildlife that surrounded me when I was a park ranger, the black widows scared me most of all. At least rattlesnakes give plenty of warning.

 

[Jessta]

Hmm the way you acted afterwards affirms that you most certainly are a bully and the fact that you took such delight in killing it that you felt you should show your friend afterwards is a bit sadistic and shows an affinity for the same sort of behavioral patterns found in people that torture and kill small animals.
Morally I don't think it's wrong to kill insects but I do feel that it's perverse to take joy in the act of causing harm or killing any sort of creature.
I don't think that it should be illegal to kill bugs, but I do think that the kids with the magnifying glasses burning the ants should probably seek psychiatric help.

I think the people that get upset by stuff like this are probably not getting upset about this kind of thing because the morality of all life being precious and sacred, or because they really assign any sort of intellectual or spiritual signifigance to such creatures, as they are because in some way shape or form they empathize or sympathize with the bug and can't help but imagine being crushed by some big stupid kid who think's he's funny because he can step on those beneath him.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

I guess I'm just a big pussy because I only kill things that are actively trying to kill me first. If it's just chillin in the corner or buzzing around the house then I'll catch it and put it outside. I think the people who just kill insects for the hell of it are a bit weird tbh, but then they probably think that about me too, each to their own I suppose.

I wouldn't say that it's wrong to step on bugs but also I just can't see the point of exterminating something that's not doing you any harm. I'll only kill it if I have no other choice.

Also, I've kinda got an arrangement with the local bees, I leave them lots of flowering plants in the garden and they are cool with me and don't sting my ass. Occasional one will have a brain fart or something and wader into the house on a whim, where they inevitably run out of energy trying to fly through the glass of the window. So that means placing it on a saucer with a drop of water with some sugar dissolved in it outside until she regains her strength and flies off.

 

[jakeyjakey]

Getting instantly crushed doesn't seem so bad, does it?

I have an answer to this, but I'm afraid it would come across as an insult.

Yes they are alive, but in the end they're just bugs -- little more than robots.

Let me rephrase. Getting instantly crushed doesn't seem like such a bad way to die, does it? I would hope I didn't run into someone like me either, but I would rather that than be eaten, drowned, or trapped in a web.

Would you consider it to be sadistic to step on tiny robots zooming around on the floor?

If you're deriving pleasure from their destruction, then yes.

I don't think there's a strong argument for that. Why do we simulate destruction in video games like call of duty? Why do some people enjoy taking down trees? People enjoy all sorts of things with destructive elements without being sadistic.

 

[Kae]

It's gross, I still do it when I have to but I won't crush a spider, ant, cockroach or whatever unless there's someone yelling at me to do it.

In any case it's gross and I don't like it but screaming people annoy me more, but to be honest I tend to feel a bit dizzy after crushing a bug because it's really gross.

 

[TheIronRuler]

I don't swing either way, depending on the mood I'm in. I've been known to spare insects and to sadistically crush them... or just crush them without noticing[footnote]Sometimes you just don't even feel them under your feet[/footnote]

 

[Astoria]

It's a bug. There are literally millions where it came from. Hell creatures like us killing them all the time is expected that's why the reproduce so dramatically. There's nothing sadistic about killing a bug every now and then. Going around and wiping out nests though that's another matter.

 

[Skeleon]

It's wrong in the sense that it is unnecessary harm. Especially outside my home, I ignore bugs. I'm sure I've killed a number accidentally but I don't do it intentionally. Inside, I'll maybe crush them, maybe catch and throw them out. Not just out of some sense of mercy, mind, but also because I don't want their innards all over my hands or on my wall or wherever.

Frankly, it's weird to me when a person intentionally crushes a bug for no other reason than that they can. And then leaving it hanging half alive for a while? That's worse. No, I don't think these animals can really perceive a lot of suffering, but what little there is, it is needless suffering nonetheless. I think that it says something about you if you enjoy watching a broken animal squirm helplessly, though.

 

[BarkBarker]

If you pester me or come near me or my home, I'm going to kill you. You have no grasp of the idea of personal space and if you buzz in my ear I will make it my mission to end you. Learn to stay the fuck away from humans and go about your business in a way that isn't irritating me. Sure if there is just a chill spider catching bugs in a corner, eh no big deal, too much hassle to try and smack a corner in the ceiling and it is helpful to me. Of course if there is a cranefly who went into my room cos the light is on, your fate is sealed. You ain't no moth, I'll just let out a moth, guys are no harm to me.

 

[the December King]

I try not to kill bugs.

If I can get a silverfish or a pillbug out of the house, or even just into the trashcan, I will. Spiders always get a free ride out the door, or the window if I can manage it. Earwigs are a bit of a problem for me, as I find them abhorrent- like northern cockroaches- but ultimately, I'll try to get them out before killing them. Flies and such get shooed out.

Once I had to vacuum up some fruit flies- we had an infestation, and I felt bad, but it was our fault.

I also once had an infestation of ladybugs. It was the cutest infestation ever and I couldn't help but try to rescue every. single. one. Was still finding them weeks later. Apparently someone had ordered them in a nearby unit to help with an aphid situation in a garden.

I get a good feeling from from helping insects on their way. I never derive pleasure from killing them.

 

[Cartographer]

I shall always remember the clip of a Chimpanzee being introduced to a Tarantula. The look of disgust on the primate's face as it beheld the invertebrate was possibly the most "human" expression I've ever seen in an ape. It then made a fist and splattered the Tarantula across the floor.

That said, a spider on the floor near your feet is doing you no harm whatsoever, going out of your way to kill it, or anything for that matter is sadistic and you really should speak to someone about what's causing that behavior. Doing it out of fear, while understandable, is likewise, unhealthy and again I suggest getting help to determine the root of your fear, you'll live a much happier life.

 

[CrystalViolet]

One of the first questions normally asked in a psych evaluation of traumatised children (usually after sexual abuse) is whether they harm or kill small animals or insects.

My opinion is that it's wrong to kill anything, including plants, unless you have to. I try for the world to be at most minimally invaded and at best a better place with me having been in it.