Killing bugs - is it wrong?

[Cryofthewolf]

When I was a kid, I was pretty messed up and unhappy. My way of taking my rage out on the world was to kill bugs with my brother. We would pour salt on snails, pull legs off daddy long legs and pour cleaning chemicals into ant-hives.

Because of this horrid behaviour I developed a guilt complex in my adulthood about harming any creature, no matter how small. For the last ten years I've been like a Buddhist or a hippy, I won't even kill spiders or flies.

Lately some annoying little insects have arrived on my street due to increased heat and I'm waking up with little itchy bites on my hands which I'm 90&% sure are because of these mini-daddy long legs creatures.

Last night a critter landed on my hand as I played Red Dead Redemption and SMACK, I killed the little bugger like John Marston without knowing if he was even a blood sucker. I felt bad, real bad,

My questions to you Escapists are:

Do you feel it is wrong to kill insects/other bugs?

Under what circumstances do you think it is morally acceptable?

Do you feel a pang of guilt for crushing a bug that wasn't harming you in any way?

Do you feel it is wrong to kill insects/other bugs?

- I think it depends on your motive. If you are killing bugs just for the sake of killing bugs, then I think it's wrong. All creatures deserve to live, and do not deserve to be killed for no good reason.


Under what circumstances do you think it is morally acceptable?

I think it is morally acceptable to kill an insect or any other creature if it is harming you in any way that disrupts your normal life. I don't like killing bugs, but if there is an infestation of termites in my walls I am going to call Terminix to come and get rid of them.


Do you feel a pang of guilt for crushing a bug that wasn't harming you in any way?

I certainly do. I feel bad when I kill something and I have a good reason for doing so. I think everything deserves to live, but sometimes things need to die so that other things can keep on living. Plants and animals need to die to keep other plants and animals alive, no matter what kind of creature you are. It's not a fun thing to think of, but it's true.


So yeah, that's what I think about killing bugs. =-)

 

[PoliceBox63]

When they come into my room and have the balls to fly around me is when I find it acceptable to kill them. Just don't torture them, I feel bad when I don't kill it swiftly.

My opinion exactly. It's like they're insulting me by having the audacity to fly around my study! That's when I go "ah hell naw".

I went to kill a fly today in my study and he flew away from me. I ran out into the hall with my rolled up newspaper and stopped to listen for the buzzing. I did this a few times to triangulate his position (words you'd never normally use when talking about a fly!) and he was in the bathroom. I closed the door and let the sun/heat sort him out. I felt satisfied!

When I was younger there was a wasp right on the window where I was playing my ps2 (ah the good old days) and got so scared that I got a glass and trapped the wasp under it. This made it REALLY mad! All i could think to do was get a lynx can and spray it into the upturned glass (there were grooves in the table) and suffocate it. It was like a lynx tornado in there and it took a few tornadoes to kill it.

 

[captainwolfos]

Eh, I know it's wrong to kill them, but damn it's entertaining sometimes.
[small]I'm fully aware that my previous sentence makes me sound at least marginally psychotic, but uh... I can't actually think of anything to say to distract from that apart from the obvious MEDIC.[/small]

 

[Cryofthewolf]

In most circumstances i'm a pacifict when it comes to insects; I rescue bees and spiders out of my appartment, but mainly cos of the warm 'good deed' syndrome it gives me.

Right at the moment my room is beleaguered by an army of fruit flies that got a foothold when i delayed taking out the trash, and i'm not having any of that.

Basically I didn't start this war but it is SO ON

OT: But I agree that torturing small creatures is the wrong thing to do, even if they're small. I can understand the idea of venting if you're under strain, but if you can avoid it it's better. You're dammaging a part of yourself as well.

You have fruit fly wars as well? Holy crap, I thought I was the only one. O_O

I was reading online on a good way to get rid of them. I took some red wine vinegar, sugar, and dish soap and put it in a cup with some plastic wrap on the top. The little buggers come and fly into the mixture and die almost instantly because of the soap. It's humane, and it is effective in getting rid of those gross, red-eyed little creeps. They are the only insects that really get to me. x-P

 

[Shadowfaze]

Depends. Killing spiders with a hammer is fine, but stomping on snails is wrong. They cant even bite you.

 

[Randomologist]

I proudly carve a mark in my car for every gnat I kill.

Really, they're just insects. For every one you kill, there are still millions more swarming around. You can go round with a can of Raid and spray every wasp nest you can find, and the buggers will still bounce back.

 

[gmacarthur81]

I kill bugs in my house and car.

Spiders, are fine as long as they don't bite me.

Anything else, I will try to rescue it. I have an affinity with dragonflies. So much so that if one is in my car or house, all I have to do is hold out my hand and they will land right on it and I carry them outside. The hard part is getting them off after I get them outside.

 

[General BrEeZy]

hmm. awkward question.
they reproduce too much and too quickly and are too frequent in the world.
i'd say no...unless you really are shooting for an insecticide genocide, but good luck with that you rich drug lord, you.

 

[FinalDream]

I kill them. I do feel really bad about it, at the time. Interestingly I have to wash my hands afterwards though.

 

[MR.Spartacus]

When they come into my room and have the balls to fly around me is when I find it acceptable to kill them. Just don't torture them, I feel bad when I don't kill it swiftly.

I'm going to go with this one. Don't be mean just make it dead. I usually don't mess with spiders though as they can be in hard to reach places.

 

[socialmenace42]

In most circumstances i'm a pacifict when it comes to insects; I rescue bees and spiders out of my appartment, but mainly cos of the warm 'good deed' syndrome it gives me.

Right at the moment my room is beleaguered by an army of fruit flies that got a foothold when i delayed taking out the trash, and i'm not having any of that.

Basically I didn't start this war but it is SO ON

OT: But I agree that torturing small creatures is the wrong thing to do, even if they're small. I can understand the idea of venting if you're under strain, but if you can avoid it it's better. You're dammaging a part of yourself as well.

You have fruit fly wars as well? Holy crap, I thought I was the only one. O_O

I was reading online on a good way to get rid of them. I took some red wine vinegar, sugar, and dish soap and put it in a cup with some plastic wrap on the top. The little buggers come and fly into the mixture and die almost instantly because of the soap. It's humane, and it is effective in getting rid of those gross, red-eyed little creeps. They are the only insects that really get to me. x-P

Interesting...
I was trying a method I have seen used on wasps, which was get some seriously sticky syrup in a plastic bottle then cut the top third off and plcese it upside down in the bottom two thirds. Th wasps fly in, can't get out and drown in the sticky gunk. I'm not a fan of that method, the poor things are struggling for ages, but the flies are just too dim anyway, can't figure out the whole flying down the middle bit.
But i'll try your suggestion, thanks

 

[Uncle Muffles]

o

 

[Cryofthewolf]

In most circumstances i'm a pacifict when it comes to insects; I rescue bees and spiders out of my appartment, but mainly cos of the warm 'good deed' syndrome it gives me.

Right at the moment my room is beleaguered by an army of fruit flies that got a foothold when i delayed taking out the trash, and i'm not having any of that.

Basically I didn't start this war but it is SO ON

OT: But I agree that torturing small creatures is the wrong thing to do, even if they're small. I can understand the idea of venting if you're under strain, but if you can avoid it it's better. You're dammaging a part of yourself as well.

You have fruit fly wars as well? Holy crap, I thought I was the only one. O_O

I was reading online on a good way to get rid of them. I took some red wine vinegar, sugar, and dish soap and put it in a cup with some plastic wrap on the top. The little buggers come and fly into the mixture and die almost instantly because of the soap. It's humane, and it is effective in getting rid of those gross, red-eyed little creeps. They are the only insects that really get to me. x-P

Interesting...
I was trying a method I have seen used on wasps, which was get some seriously sticky syrup in a plastic bottle then cut the top third off and plcese it upside down in the bottom two thirds. Th wasps fly in, can't get out and drown in the sticky gunk. I'm not a fan of that method, the poor things are struggling for ages, but the flies are just too dim anyway, can't figure out the whole flying down the middle bit.
But i'll try your suggestion, thanks

No problem. An enemy of my enemy is my friend. =-D

 

[Jibblejab]

Everynight a fly will fly into my room as im reading and buzz about being generally rude.

Then I reach for a lighter and set it on fire, that'll learn em

 

[Davrel]

Do you feel it is wrong to kill insects/other bugs?

Under what circumstances do you think it is morally acceptable?

Do you feel a pang of guilt for crushing a bug that wasn't harming you in any way?

1) No, not really.
2) A qualification of my answer to the first question: There is no need to "torture" another living creature, so whilst I would happily just crush a fly or moth or ant etc without a second thought if it was bothering me, I would never, for example: just pull the legs off one for fun. Its true that insects are unlikely to feel pain in the same way a "higher mammal" would, but the fact is, such behavior says something a tad worrying about the person performing it - children are excused from this (within reason).
3) Only if I kill bees or earthworms as they're significantly more important to the ecosystem than most insects (though all have their role to play), plus bumblebees are pro.

I feel it as a inherited privilege of evolution that I can guiltlessly kill insects that bother me, but as I said, taking that privilege and using it to just murder every small creature you see is just...odd.

N.B. Wasps and Hornets however, can fuck off - I kill those bastards on sight.

 

[DigitalSushi]

Do you feel it is wrong to kill insects/other bugs?

Almost any insects yes,

Damsel and Dragon flies are off the list, they eat other insects and are majestic

Bee's and Wasp' are also on my list of insects to not kill ever, You can actually talk to bee's and they'll do as they are told, I mean like "get out of my house" and "the window is that way" and they'll pretty much do it. I don't mean like have a chat with them, but I've never had a bad situation when it comes to those two, and I'm allergic to bee stings so I should stay away from them.

Hornets can go fuck themselves, they are the louts of the insect world.

Under what circumstances do you think it is morally acceptable?

Killing a daddy long legs is OK with me, since they eat other spiders. Spiders are friends.

Once again I'm allergic to bee stings but I'll not kill them, especially since on death they give off a smell that attracts other bee's to the area, ready dressed for the occasion and pissed that you killed its best mate.

Do you feel a pang of guilt for crushing a bug that wasn't harming you in any way?

I accidentally killed a dragonfly when I was 8 with my fishing wire, she got tangled up in it and everything I tried to set her free made it worse, so I killed her to ease her suffering. That was my birthday, fucking horrible day.

 

[trueluigi7]

IT is evil to kill anything except in self Defense and I always feel bad even for not killing something...or doing anything, I always feel bad about something even when I don't know it!

 

[Jark212]

Nothing's wrong with killing most bugs, there will always be more. But then again some people go overboard and go completely genocidal on all the ants in the backyard with a jug of bleach as revenge for ants invaliding my his room and killing all of his pet frogs...

 

[Hlain]

Killing them just for the fun of it is pretty twisted. I feel no remorse for swatting bugs though. Larger ones, like beetles and others, I might just move, since it would make a mess by crushing them.

 

[SimuLord]

Trespassing is a capital offense if you are an insect. Therefore, any bugs I see in my house are terminated with extreme prejudice.

I don't go out of my way to kill bugs outside, though. If they're outside, they're not doing any harm, so live and let live.