# Needless killing of little creatures **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 17, 2006, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796 "2006-07-17T01:50:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/21 "2006-07-18T00:17:43Z")
[QUOTE=elelle] Auntie Pam, here’s a case where I have to speak up: I always thought it was normal to wholeheartedly appreciate every living thing in it’s own right, very much thanks to my professor biologist stepdad. I can’t imagine life otherwise; I don’t view critters as human-like at all, in fact, it’s the appreciation of their distinct traits and life outside human parameters that makes them so interesting to me. I like me an ugly bug! [/QUOTE] Well said. I’ve been trying to do that, and I will try harder. I associate ugliness (in insects) with potential harm. It’s almost instinctual. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/22 "2006-07-18T00:41:10Z")
[QUOTE=EddyTeddyFreddy] Ladybugs, moths, butterflies, cute bugs? They’re okay by me. [/QUOTE] You apparently have never had an _infestation of lady bugs. A few years back, my state released a shit-load of them to help bring the wild turkey population back up. The horrid things get into everything_ in early spring. They’re worse than flies in a barn at peak season. In infrequently inhabited buildings, they sometimes cover the floor so badly that every step you take goes _crunch, crunch, crunch._ I once had the grave misfortune to eat one of them. I left my sandwich on a countertop when I went to answer the phone. When I got back to my sandwich, I took a big bite and literally spit it out, gagging. I opened the bread, and sure enough, a few ladybugs had crawled in there. It was the most horrid, musty taste I’ve ever experienced. One ladybug may be cute, but a million of them is horrifying. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/23 "2006-07-18T00:45:14Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Whenever a bat gets into the museum, I insist on being the one to catch it. The others kill them. I wrap the poor things in a towel and take them outside. I don’t understand why people are so afraid of them. They’re just little flying mousies. (Yeah, some of them have rabies, but so do some dogs.) [/QUOTE] Now that is all kinds of wrong. I can sympathize with the bugs, but bats are mammals. I kill yucky bugs, too, and any bug that is currently on me. Yuck! I will let spiders and the like live, though. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/24 "2006-07-18T01:01:10Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] Now that is all kinds of wrong. I can sympathize with the bugs, but bats are mammals. [/QUOTE] Last time I was employed to catch one, I put a hat on a stick and used it as a net to catch the bat. My co-workers gathered around me, in awe of my bravery and squealing in horror , throwing their arms up over their heads as if the bat’s only goal was to tangle itself in their hair. After I knocked him down (secretly rolling my eyes at the histrionics) I wrapped him in a towel and took him outside and put him in a bush. Poor little thing was screaming its head off. My boss came along an hour later and announced he’d just found a bat outside, which he’d stomped. “Oh no!” says I, and asked him why he’d done the foul deed. “Well, it was just laying on the ground. Since it didn’t get up and fly away when I walked over there, I thought it must be sick and I was afraid it would bite someone.” “Sir, bats don’t have\* knees\*,” I said indignantly. “They can’t spring to their feet or fly up from the ground. They have to crawl to a vertical surface to take off and fly!” “Oh,” he said. “Uh . . . sorry.” Poor bat! He finds a nice, quiet place to take a nap and before you know it, this ugly, furless pink thing is knocking him down to the ground, smothering him in folds of fabric and then dumping him in shrubbery. Startled by these developments, he falls from the bush and before he can crawl up to the wall, he gets stepped on by another pink, furless thing. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/25 "2006-07-18T01:11:01Z")
Earwigs always deserve to die. You don’t want them crawling in your ear, eating their way through your brain, and crawling out the other ear, leaving a trail of eggs behind, do you? ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/26 "2006-07-18T03:00:23Z")
For some reason I freed a moth today. Big thing, it was. It was stuck on the 6th floor stairwell, mindlessly and repeatedly smacking into the fluorescent lighting. It eventually tired (or knocked) itself out and came to rest on the floor. I scooped it up, took it downstairs and let it go outside, since that’s where I was headed anyway. Moths get a bum rap. They’re not as pretty as butterflies and shed scaly powder when you touch them, not to mention their penchant for fabrics, but personally I’ve nothing against them. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/27 "2006-07-18T03:39:44Z")
While we were visiting my inlaws, a tiny little mole crept across the den floor. My father-in-law walked up to it and stomped it as we watched. My facial expression was pretty much :eek: . Afterwards, he kept saying to my husband, “It was just a **mole**.” Yes, exactly - it was just a cute little mole that got lost in your house, and your immediate response is to squash it? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/28 "2006-07-18T03:58:35Z")
My coworkers were very amused the other day when I came to the rescue of a spider that was about to be smashed. I have a reputation now as a bug (ok, _ **arachnid** _)hugger. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/29 "2006-07-18T04:35:58Z")
Flies, mosquitoes, bees/hornets, wasps - die. They have no right to annoy me or cause me pain. Centipedes, cockroaches, ants - die. They have no right to try for my food. Anything else, I’ll let live. I do respect creatures for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/30 "2006-07-18T11:45:44Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] You apparently have never had an _infestation of lady bugs. A few years back, my state released a shit-load of them to help bring the wild turkey population back up. The horrid things get into everything_ in early spring. They’re worse than flies in a barn at peak season. In infrequently inhabited buildings, they sometimes cover the floor so badly that every step you take goes _crunch, crunch, crunch._ I once had the grave misfortune to eat one of them. I left my sandwich on a countertop when I went to answer the phone. When I got back to my sandwich, I took a big bite and literally spit it out, gagging. I opened the bread, and sure enough, a few ladybugs had crawled in there. It was the most horrid, musty taste I’ve ever experienced. One ladybug may be cute, but a million of them is horrifying. [/QUOTE] We’ve had periodic infestations of those little _bug_gers, too. They nested in my SIL’s computer and \*started it on fire! \* :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/31 "2006-07-18T13:08:14Z")
[QUOTE=Ferret Herder] While we were visiting my inlaws, a tiny little mole crept across the den floor. My father-in-law walked up to it and stomped it as we watched. My facial expression was pretty much :eek: . Afterwards, he kept saying to my husband, “It was just a **mole**.” Yes, exactly - it was just a cute little mole that got lost in your house, and your immediate response is to squash it? [/QUOTE] Um…nasty. Mole innards everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/32 "2006-07-18T13:46:16Z")
Creepy crawlies of all varieties belong _outside_. As long as they \*stay \* outside, I don’t bother them. When they come _into my house_, they forfeit their right to live. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/33 "2006-07-18T14:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=DianaG] When they come _into my house_, they forfeit their right to live. [/QUOTE] Thankyouverymuch. I don’t like spiders. When they are in my house, they die, mostly at the hand of Mr. Stuff, but on my orders. He and I were walking several miles from our house, and I saw a huge, interesting spider and was watching it. He couldn’t understand why I wasn’t ordering its death, and I had to explain that this particular spider was unlikely to come into my house and _jump into my hair_. Therefore, he could live. Don’t be telling me that the spiders don’t want to jump into my hair. It happens, whether they intend it or not. And it is not allowed. Ever. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/34 "2006-07-18T18:35:50Z")
House centipedes are evil. They secretly crawl under your covers or into your open mouth while you’re sleeping. They’re plotting against you. When I see one in the house, you can bet the thing dies. Right after I get about fifteen feet of paper towel and role it into a big enough ball that there’s no risk of me actually coming into contact with them or feeling the sensation of their innards squish. Gah! I hate those evil little things. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/35 "2006-07-18T18:44:06Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] House centipedes are evil. They secretly crawl under your covers or into your open mouth while you’re sleeping. [/QUOTE] :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: I already hated them. I have no words. I think I will spend the rest of my life with my mouth taped shut. :does the icky dance: ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/36 "2006-07-18T18:46:18Z")
“I have not yet come across a living ant that seemed to have any more sense than a dead one.” –Mark Twain My six-year old makes me carry spiders outside “so they can find their mommies.” ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/37 "2006-07-18T18:46:39Z")
[QUOTE=Anaamika] :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: I already hated them. I have no words. I think I will spend the rest of my life with my mouth taped shut. :does the icky dance: [/QUOTE] It’s scientific fact! And did you know that house centipedes, like all of subphylum _Myriapoda_, were actually created by Satan as a twisted mockery of the beauty of life? It’s true! ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/38 "2006-07-18T18:59:37Z")
I detect a little sarcasm. :dubious: 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/39 "2006-07-18T18:59:59Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Because I have an evil mind, this brings to mind a [Snopes story about Ted Nugent.](http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/nugent.asp) When asked about the last thoughts of a deer in the sights of a hunter, Nugent said, “They’re only interested in three things: the best place to eat, having sex and how quickly they can run away. Much like the French.” [/QUOTE] That’s pretty rich coming from a guy (Nugent) who literally crapped his pants for a week to avoid having to go to Vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2006, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796/40 "2006-07-18T19:26:02Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] I discovered the hard way that glue traps are not live traps. I had pictured the mous getting his little feet stuck, with me quickly and neatly extracting him for release. To my horror, I couldn’t free the poor little guy once I caught him, and had to come up with a way to kill him instantly and painlessly. Hubby suggested the mircrowave, which I instantly vetoed as not only painful, but potentially messy. He suggested drowning, but that’s painful, as is suffocation. He refused my idea of putting the mouse in a bag in the freezer, giving him a relatively painless demise from hypothermia. So, we ended up squishing him behind the car tire. At least it was quick. [/QUOTE] ACK! You poor thing, having to do that. Those glue traps are evil. My boss at my last job was going to use one, and the directions said that after the mouse is trapped, you just wrap the carboard base around it and THROW IT IN THE TRASH! I was like, do you realize the MOUSE IS STILL ALIVE when you do that?! ACK! I threw that trap away without using it…that is just WRONG! I think you found a good solution, but yikes…that is tough. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/needless-killing-of-little-creatures/364796.md?page=3)