I’m wondering if there are any sites which shows how to treat common insects and animals.
I guess medium/large animals wouldn’t be that hard because one can always go to a vet except in the wild.
On the other hand, I don’t know where or how to identify an injury or treat an insect.
For ex.
How does one treat a fly when one of it’s wings got damaged?
How do you take care of a cockroach especially ones you fear might be food for other insects when you leave it all alone?
How do you safely remove a spider’s web without destroying it completely until you find a suitable replacement place for it to build it’s web? What are suitable conditions for it (him/her) to build it’s home?
What should you do to prevent ants from biting you and accidentally kill them and determining between the difference of a bite from a normal itch? Is it safe for the ants to be flicked away?
How do you determine a pregnant creature and what are the safety measures to prevent it’s offsprings from being hurt or damaged? Where’s the best place to relocate an egg so that a passer by won’t hurt it?
I guess things like this would be known to those who specialize on the subject matter. I hope this isn’t a bit redundant for this board.
I’m definitely frustrated when I encounter an insect/small animal and don’t know what to do nor how to handle myself around it. Especially around cockroaches: a creature I’m deathly afraid of. Often times, I don’t know how to react and freeze up or find someone to take it some place farther. Unfortunately I don’t know how safe such methods as flushing it in the toilet will do for it and it’s very difficult to find someone who’ll not try to kill it then remove it.
You may well be the kindest and sweetest person alive. I have a couple of ideas for you.
Relocating an insect is always an acceptable alternative to killing it. If an ant tries a bite of your skin, you are perfectly correct to gently relocate it with a leaf of piece of paper. Many spiders tear down and build a new web each day; so moving a spider to a more appropriate location might not cause her much distress. But a damaged wing or missing leg might prevent an insect from surviving because they need to have all body parts in good working order to look for food and to mate.
Rehabilitating insects is tricky, but worth a try. Remember that they make a living by continuously feeding or looking for food. You could try putting the insect in a ventilated jar and providing it with food, water, and shelter and try to let an injury heal itself. But if you are unable to provide these necessities, euthanizing the insect might be more humane then letting it starve to death. Stomping insects at random for no reason isn’t kind. But if you see something suffering and can humanely end it’s struggle rather then let it die of starvation, thirst or exposure, then learn to stomp it without feeling guilt. Remember that veterinarians have to do this every day when they encounter injuries that cannot be treated.
Try to see a bigger picture instead of the individual insect. Nature has checks and balances in place to help with the problems of predation and loss of habitat. Insects are so successful because of their breeding habits; not because of their hardiness. Yes, flies, spiders, and ants seem awfully fragile and delicate when compared to a big, clumsy human. But remember they breed in such large numbers for precisely this reason. Think of it this way: humans spend 18 years nurturing and caring for 2-3 young. A larger spider might lay 2000 eggs - if all of those survive to adulthood without any accidents- we would soon be overrun.
You might like reading books by E.O. Wilson. One of my favorites is The Diversity of Life. He helps explain ecology on a grand scale and puts perspective on the issue of balance in nature.
Or, you could try to balance the net loss of habitat that your home puts on the earth. Could you build bird feeders or plant items that insects feed on? Black swallowtail butterflies lay eggs on parsley and dill. Goldfinches feed on the seeds of black eyed susans. You could plant sunflowers or fruit trees for birds. You could pick an unused corner of the yard and loosely pile sticks for many different kinds of insects and animals to shelter in. Even if you cannot prevent suffering for the small things around you- you can make life a little easier for them by providing habitat that we have taken away.
Here is one more thing to consider: Becoming a wildlife rehabilitator. If you have time and space to devote to caring for wild things, you might want to find a rehabilitator in your state to apprentice with. Here is a link to look over.
Regarding the methods you suggested, are there risks of domesticating and lowering the survival evolutionary process of the animals through euthanasia?
Adult insects are, by and large, disposable mechanisms for the further distribution and propagation of that species; houseflies aren’t successful because they are robust or have elaborate healing processes; they’re successful because they produce numerous expendable offspring.
Your sentiments may be noble (and there’s certainly not much wrong with the idea of gently relocating an insect, except perhaps in the case of ants, which can become hopelessly lost if they are moved even a few metres away from their colony), but attempting to render first aid to injured insects is almost certainly futile.
Sorry for the delay- it is storming here and my power was out.
Not really. Most of the animals you encounter on a daily basis are plentiful- and we haven’t yet stomped any species into extinction one at a time.
Go the your state’s home page (www . your state . gov) and click on the links for the department of agriculture and forestry. Use the search function and type in “endangered species”. You will get a list of those animals in your area that need special consideration and help. Try to improve your immediate surroundings to make life more hospitable for the animals on the list, and if you find an injured endangered animal, get to a vet right away. Since most recent extinctions have happened due to loss of habitat, your kindest act would be to create a better habitat for a diverse array of animals. You may be able to help whole families of animals rather than just one at a time.
Let’s talk about “pest” animals like rats and mice. These animals are generalists- very good at adapting to a wide range of environments. Good for them; bad for everything else that shares their space and struggles to compete with them for resources (like food and shelter). Another name for generalists is “opportunistic species” because they adapt quickly to new environments and can quickly populate and fill a niche left by habitat destruction or the demise of a competing species. Besides being good at capitalizing on many different habitats- they also produce an extraordinary amount of young in a very short time. This is one of the many ways that they are so successful: if a mouse in your garage produces 5-10 young three times per year, and only half of them survive to produce 5-10 young three times per year, then there are still many, many more left to procreate.
Let’s swing back to the top of the food chain. Since the early part of last century, farmers have killed nearly all of the gray wolves and coyotes in the Southeastern United States because they felt these predators were killing their livestock. What happened next? Rabbit, opossums raccoon, and mouse populations exploded because nothing was around to eat them. The rodents continued to produce young at the same alarming rate; but there were no predators to thin their numbers. There were so many rodents that they began to move into barns and houses. What happens when animals are crowded and stressed? Another opportunistic species moves in. Viruses and parasites began to infect the mice in our homes. And since we lived in such close proximity, we were infected as well with diseases and parasites like fleas, plague and hantavirus. Without a predator at the top of the food chain to keep generalists in check the ecosystem is severely compromised and we all suffer. All species (including man) need balance to survive.
Cockroaches, just like mice, produce hundreds of young. And since they are very good at adapting to new environments, they make home with us very easily. Don’t worry about stomping one; there will quickly be 500 more to replace it in a very short time.
If you don’t want to memorize the endangered list, here is a shortcut. When you see an animal struggling, try to imagine how many young it produces and how often. If its population will very quickly be replenished; then the decision to euthanize or stomp becomes easier.
Man has taken many predators out of the food chain and destroyed much of the environment to make room for homes and industry. Since we profoundly upset the balance in the ecosystem we are now responsible for controlling those opportunistic species. You aren’t “playing God” when you euthanize a suffering animal or stomp a roach; you are taking a responsible role in the ecosystem.