# Do you squash bugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 31, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706 "2010-07-31T19:29:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/21 "2010-07-31T21:51:13Z")
If they’re in my apartment, I capture them in a jar and drown them in the toilet. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/22 "2010-07-31T21:52:22Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Asian ladybugs eat aphids, just as the American ones do, but they live more than one season, so they try to get inside your warm house for the winter. Are they the same creature elsewhere referred to in this thread as “Invasive Japanese beetles?” I generally try to follow my philosophy of “we are only trying to make a living”, but I do kill mosquitoes, flies and roaches on sight. Ticks that are on me inside get fed to my [Nepenthes.](http://www.google.com/search?q=nepenthes+ventricosa&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a) ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/23 "2010-07-31T21:52:45Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > I no longer grow squash, but I do squash squash bugs. Oh yes, squash bugs are awful things. I like to pluck them off the plant with long nosed pliars. And squash them with glee. Spiders in my house generally get left alone, though I’ll relocate them if their presence bugs me. I never kill them. I escort other bugs outside. I haven’t seen a mosquito in my house since we moved here 9 years ago. Bees and wasps get escorted outside. No cockroaches where we live. I do often kill true bugs (those with sucking mouth parts) indoors and out, because they feed on the plants I am trying to grow. But in general I have a live and let live attitude towards my fellow creatures. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/24 "2010-07-31T22:38:18Z")
Some bugs _must_ die no matter what, such as roaches, fleas, ticks, head lice, and bedbugs. Ants and flies in the house are condemned to death, but outdoors is their house and I’ll leave them alone. Spiders are welcomed and allowed to stay provided they are not big enough for me to see the hair on their legs. Any other bugs are gently captured and moved outside. Except centipedes. I will run away screaming from centipedes, and someone _else_ must kill them. Preferably with fire. ---
**Author:** ![Acantha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Acantha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acantha)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/25 "2010-07-31T23:17:18Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Only for a reason. I like bugs, enjoy watching them and touching them. Spiders and silverfish I love to see in my home; roaches and flies I chase and kill. Ants, I eat (they taste like lemons!). I relish smashing mosquitoes, of course. Random bees and beetles in the house I will catch and release outside. I do kill a lot of garden pests by hand as we don’t use pesticides. Silverfish will eat your books and your clothes. I would come unglued if I saw those in my house. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/26 "2010-07-31T23:38:25Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Asian ladybugs eat aphids, just as the American ones do, but they live more than one season, so they try to get inside your warm house for the winter. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Are they the same creature elsewhere referred to in this thread as “Invasive Japanese beetles?” [This is the critter in question.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harmonia_axyridis) ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2010, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/27 "2010-07-31T23:45:13Z")
Roaches, ants, flies, mosquitoes and other blood suckers die when i see them. Everything else is on a case by case basis, spiders usually die if they are bigger than a nickel and wasps usually i have to kill because they like to make homes in our patio furniture and get very defensive. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/28 "2010-08-01T00:36:56Z")
Even [Jeffy from t_he Family Circus_](http://a.imageshack.us/img638/6568/familycircus2112.jpg) has pondered this question ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/29 "2010-08-01T00:40:56Z")
Fleas I have no problem killing. I even feel a little bit of glee when I mash one between my nails. I prefer using products designed to keep them away but sometimes they get past it. I don’t kill anything else. If I had roaches I might though. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/30 "2010-08-01T00:49:26Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Only for a reason. I like bugs, enjoy watching them and touching them. Spiders and silverfish I love to see in my home; roaches and flies I chase and kill. Ants, I eat (they taste like lemons!). I relish smashing mosquitoes, of course. Random bees and beetles in the house I will catch and release outside. I do kill a lot of garden pests by hand as we don’t use pesticides. One assumes you don’t live in a part of the country that has fire ants. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![LegsAkimbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@LegsAkimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LegsAkimbo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/31 "2010-08-01T00:55:47Z")
Spiders anywhere near the bedroom must die; otherwise, they are allowed to build webs wherever they want in the house during summer since those webs catch the dreaded yellow flies that get through all our defenses. Roaches go with extreme prejudice. The only bugs that are presently getting a free pass are the FLBs\* in the kitchen. We tried building them a corral on the wall and put up a sign about them staying inside it, but they disregarded it. They seem harmless and are in small numbers. \*Funny Little Bugs ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/32 "2010-08-01T01:00:55Z")
Not squash usually - my dog loves bugs, and will point to them on the ceiling, so we knock the bugs down for her to gobble up. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/33 "2010-08-01T01:25:11Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > > [@rhubarbarin](#): > > > > Only for a reason. I like bugs, enjoy watching them and touching them. Spiders and silverfish I love to see in my home; roaches and flies I chase and kill. Ants, I eat (they taste like lemons!). I relish smashing mosquitoes, of course. Random bees and beetles in the house I will catch and release outside. I do kill a lot of garden pests by hand as we don’t use pesticides. > > One assumes you don’t live in a part of the country that has fire ants. 🙂 The fire ants taste like lemon mixed with habanero peppers! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/34 "2010-08-01T01:55:19Z")
Now, now, Rigamarole. This: _No: never! Life is sacred even if it’s disgusting and crawling on my face_ is not the reason why I don’t squash bugs. The reason is because squashed bug goo is GROSS. So, I will step on a bug or swat with a rolled up magazine or something outside, where the squshed mess doesn’t, er, bug me. If they’re inside and alive I catch them and take them outside. Hopefull if they’re inside they’re good and dead. Borax works a treat. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/35 "2010-08-01T02:20:21Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Ants, I eat (they taste like lemons!). I relish smashing mosquitoes, of course. We’ve got Renfield here. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/36 "2010-08-01T02:24:30Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Sometimes I squirt them with whatever lotion or cleaning stuff is in reach to disable them […] Ha! Me too. If it is in my house or on my person, it’s dead. I don’t care what kind of bug it is or what kinds of bugs it would eat if I permitted its continued life. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/37 "2010-08-01T02:30:13Z")
I squash them. Or I gas them and then squash them. I have no mercy. If it’s got 6 legs or more, it’s going to invertebrate hell courtesy of my shoe. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/38 "2010-08-01T02:33:16Z")
I went with “sometimes”. It depends what it is and where. Roaches get the hammer. Wasps inside will meet their maker unless I can easily open a window and waft them out; outside I don’t bother with them unless they are causing a problem. I ignore spiders - after all, they will sort out plenty of the other bugs for me. ---
**Author:** ![Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/39 "2010-08-01T05:15:35Z")
Often, but not bees. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2010, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706/40 "2010-08-01T05:27:50Z")
I’ve ignored really tiny bugs that I’ve seen. I’ve swatted at flies but I’ve never gone after them. Just getting them to leave me alone is fine. The bug I have extreme hatred for is the ant. When I see an ant I go on the warpath. Large bugs will likely frighten me and I’ll ask someone else to destroy it. No, not relocate it. It dies. :3 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-squash-bugs/548706.md?page=3)