# Is flypaper cruel and/or am I a sadistic monster? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 25, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101 "2013-08-25T01:46:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/21 "2013-08-25T19:32:51Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Gently pick up the nest with a paper towel and loosely wrap the baby mice in said paper towel. Once you can’t see them anymore the process becomes much easier. Then place the mice-containing paper towel in a zip-loc bag. A freezer bag has better durability for later disposal, but is probably not necessary. Close the bag leaving some air in it and place the bag in the freezer. Hold the bag in the freezer until trash pick-up day. Make sure nobody in the household wonders what’s in the bag while it’s in your freezer. Oooo, look! Frozen snack treats! I’ll just pop 'em in the microwave and dowse them with ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/22 "2013-08-25T19:43:19Z")
I had a friend who had spent a lot of time on a farm outside Ephrata, where she developed the ability to catch flies with her hands (something about confusing them by having one hand behind them). While working at 7-11, she would catch flies and microwave them so that they puffed up like popcorn. When that became boring, she started microwaving them just long enough to make them stupid and would work with pet flies on her shoulder. One time, she managed to catch a hornet, micro-lobotomized it and carried it around on her shoulder. I am not really sure if that was cruel, but it was definitely twisted. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/23 "2013-08-25T20:14:34Z")
That is sick! Um, is she seeing anyone? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/24 "2013-08-25T20:23:00Z")
How do you pour oil on the mouse’s feet if they’re attached to the glue trap? ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/25 "2013-08-25T20:35:19Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > That is sick! > > Um, is she seeing anyone? 😉 “Sick” nasty or “sick” cool? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/26 "2013-08-25T20:50:26Z")
> [@For You](#): > > “Sick” nasty or “sick” cool? It’s awesome. But then I’m married to a woman who, as a kid, would capture a bee in a dixie cup, wrap the opening with wax paper, hold it to her ear, and pretend she was listening to a radio. She would ask the curious if they would like to listen to her “bee radio.” I guess I have a “type.” :eek: ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/27 "2013-08-25T21:06:35Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > Um, is she seeing anyone? 😉 > [@dropzone](#): > > … I’m married to a woman … hmm. hope she does not read this :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/28 "2013-08-26T02:20:39Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > This is interesting because I still feel a tinge of guilt over disposing of some unwanted mice in a similar fashion…only maybe worse? > > Several years ago while packing up to move, we discovered that mice had made a nest in an unused drawer of my daughter’s dresser. The nest was discovered after learning that we had a mouse problem and subsequently caught and rid ourselves of an adult mouse. I can’t remember the details of _that_ disposition. In the nest there were several baby mice, still naked and blind…and now motherless. > > Wondering what to do and knowing the mice were doomed and we didn’t want them anyway, husband and I uncomfortably contemplated several ways to take them out. Neither of us felt willing and eager to smash them with a book or shoe. Though ending their lives quickly and painlessly, it was violent and distasteful to a couple of formerly suburban kids. I thought about how I would want to go out and came up with an idea to kill them in their sleep. So how does one put a litter of baby mice to sleep? I shall tell you. > > Gently pick up the nest with a paper towel and loosely wrap the baby mice in said paper towel. Once you can’t see them anymore the process becomes much easier. Then place the mice-containing paper towel in a zip-loc bag. A freezer bag has better durability for later disposal, but is probably not necessary. Close the bag leaving some air in it and place the bag in the freezer. Hold the bag in the freezer until trash pick-up day. Make sure nobody in the household wonders what’s in the bag while it’s in your freezer. > > I can’t be sure that the mice fell into unconsciousness from hypothermia before their tiny little hearts stopped and froze solid, but I’d like to think that they did. Is that bad? > > Later on, a friend – whom I trusted enough to not judge me when I admitted our culpability in the deaths of baby mice – told me I should have put them out in the front yard for the birds to eat as that is what would have happened without human intervention. Circle of life and all that. Now I feel worse that their lives were so meaningless that they didn’t even have the opportunity to nourish another life. > > The best laid plans, I suppose… I once caught a hugely pregnant mouse in a trap. I felt like a mass murderer, for about 1/2 second. I then realized that I probably got 20 or so at once, and life went on. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/29 "2013-08-26T02:45:29Z")
> [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](#): > > Now I feel worse that their lives were so meaningless that they didn’t even have the opportunity to nourish another life. Sure they did. Billions of bacteria in a landfill. Bacteria have to eat, too. It’s \*all \*part of the Circle of Life.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/30 "2013-08-26T03:46:31Z")
A client of mine killed a mouse and then they found the nest of babies. He wanted to put them outside to freeze to death. She went to the pet store, bought some kitten formula and teeny tiny bottles and a teeny tiny eyedropper and feeding the baby mice and wiping their little bums became part of my pet sitting duties. Little baby blind mice run really really fast and are very hard to catch. Even the teeniest tiniest nipples are too big for baby mice, as are teeny tiny eyedroppers. I’m surprised I didn’t drown them while I was feeding them because I’m pretty sure more formula went up their little noses than into their little mouths. They lived for almost two weeks but one by one they all died. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/31 "2013-08-26T14:18:38Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > No more, or less, so than humans. The differences between our nervous systems are a matter of degree. Hence this doesn’t help solve the question posed by the OP. I’d actually say your second sentence refutes your first sentence. The more complex you are, the less you are on “automatic” and so the less you are an automaton. There may be no clear dividing line, but that’s the case with pretty much everything. Flies are definitely below it. And I say this even though I think enjoying the actual killing of something (and not just the fact that you’ve removed it) is awfully weird. Even hunters enjoy the sport, not the actual fact that things have to die. Torturing things implies you enjoy seeing them in pain, and that is sick. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/32 "2013-08-26T17:55:49Z")
I like smacking 'em so they are injured but not dead. Then I throw them into a spider web and watch the action. Once they decide to strike spiders are quite fast. I HATE flies! ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/33 "2013-08-26T19:23:19Z")
Many years ago ( 58 years ago ) my older sister got stung by a scorpion for the first time. While crying & saying as bad as bad of things she knew at the time, she went & got a mason jar & caught that scorpion. She put a skillet on the stove & turned on the heat. Then she stood there mutterin, “Die, die…” I think she was pissed. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/34 "2013-08-26T20:11:35Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Most flies are either eaten alive, or die of starvation or exhaustion in any case. A relative few die the sudden but violent death of the flyswatter, rolled newspaper, or horse’s tail. Virtually no fly dies of old age in bed after a full and happy life, surrounded by its loved ones. Since a cruel and miserable death is the lot of most flies, I don’t think you are particularly adding to their problems. Just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed the mental cartoon resulting from this post. Complete with the IV pole. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2013, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/35 "2013-08-26T23:24:32Z")
I love the smell of Flypaper in the morning. It smells like ‘Victory’! **drop** , you would love to see what I do to the Dreaded Tomato Worm. Believe me, they _deserve it._ ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/36 "2013-08-27T01:03:00Z")
> [@pohjonen](#): > > Just wanted you to know that I really enjoyed the mental cartoon resulting from this post. Complete with the IV pole. You mean like _[the Gnat Funeral](http://www.lolwall.co/lol/269831)_? ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/37 "2013-08-27T01:55:47Z")
> [@GusNSpot](#): > > Many years ago ( 58 years ago ) my older sister got stung by a scorpion for the first time. While crying & saying as bad as bad of things she knew at the time, she went & got a mason jar & caught that scorpion. > > She put a skillet on the stove & turned on the heat. > > Then she stood there mutterin, “Die, die…” > > I think she was pissed. I don’t think I want to piss off your sister. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/38 "2013-08-27T02:02:25Z")
> [@spazurek](#): > > No more, or less, so than humans. The differences between our nervous systems are a matter of degree. Yeah, the degree being whether or not we have a nervous system developed enough to feel suffering :rolleyes: The entire “brain” (cerebral ganglia) of an insect isn’t much more sophisticated than a single bundle of nerves in our spine. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/39 "2013-08-27T02:46:57Z")
> [@sahirrnee](#): > > A client of mine killed a mouse and then they found the nest of babies. > > He wanted to put them outside to freeze to death. > She went to the pet store, bought some kitten formula and teeny tiny bottles and a teeny tiny eyedropper and feeding the baby mice and wiping their little bums became part of my pet sitting duties. > Little baby blind mice run really really fast and are very hard to catch. > Even the teeniest tiniest nipples are too big for baby mice, as are teeny tiny eyedroppers. I’m surprised I didn’t drown them while I was feeding them because I’m pretty sure more formula went up their little noses than into their little mouths. > > They lived for almost two weeks but one by one they all died. It would probably have been less cruel to just leave them alone. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2013, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101/40 "2013-08-27T14:18:02Z")
Frankly, I’m sickened by the blood-lust exhibited by many of you in this thread and your blasé attitude toward flypaper. The act of torturing flies is horrendous and despicable. Of all God’s creatures, flies are one of his most majestic. Have you fly-torturers never looked close at the face of a fly to behold its inherent beauty? The doe-eyed compound eyes, the aquiline nose-like apparatus, the cute, pouty mouth parts—who isn’t compelled to pinch[these little cheeks](http://g1.img-dpreview.com/BCE15A8E0F5B4B2593080A11E0762266.jpg) and squee with delight? Flies are too stupid to have feelings, you say? Hogwash. Here’s a complex trick you can teach flies in a manner of minutes that even the smartest dogs could never master. Next time you’re surrounded by flies (e.g. around garbage cans or dog feces), stick out you tongue and sprinkle a few granules of sugar on it. Within a minute or two, your tongue will be crawling with flies. The feeling is quite pleasing, although the aftertaste is a bit off-putting. My problem is with bunny rabbits. Those wretched little brown bunnies with their gaudy white tails and their pretentious hopping motion (why can’t they learn to walk like normal animals?). I have a lovely country cottage that my family and I visit a couple times a year. Year after year I was heartbroken to arrive at the cottage only to find my clover patch in the backyard trampled by bunnies. I was at my wit’s end until I came up with a workable solution: bunnypaper. Here’s my routine: I take large sheets of thick paper and slather industrial-strength, professional-grade sticky stuff on it and set it beside my clover patch just before departing from that season’s stay. Then, when I return months later—wallah!..my clover patch is intact and the would-be tramplers are caught red-handed (footed?), stuck fast to the paper. Sure, there is always some collateral catch, like raccoons, kittens…and the occasional poodle, but looking at it objectively, they had no right being in my yard either (don’t get me wrong, I’m a dog-lover…but poodles?..eh, not so much). Indeed, not checking on the trap for months at a time does lead to finding many skeletons and gnawed off feet stuck on the bunnypaper. It’s often difficult to figure out what species they belong to. But that just gives the kids a chance to play, “identify that foot.” It’s fun and educational! All is not bliss and harmony at the cottage, however. On our last visit I found my shed out back was broken into and ransacked. So now I’m back at the drawing board, developing peoplepaper. Leave the poor flies alone. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-flypaper-cruel-and-or-am-i-a-sadistic-monster/667101.md?page=3)