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vegetarians/vegans what do you think about killing insects?
do you think they have the right to live?share with us your thoughts..
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Lauren Woods on -
I don't mean to stir up the hornet's nest but... meme...
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Permalink Reply by Kiala on -
I do kill silverfish inside my home because they destroy my textiles. I also kill ants if they find their way into my kitchen. I don't use bug sprays if I can avoid it, I just squash them quickly with a shoe or tissue. That's for my own health but also because I don't like seeing insects die slowly from poisoning.
I find the act of killing insects disgusting, I mean the idea of their innards oozing out and all that is just off-putting. So I prefer to carry them outside without killing them.
I happily leave spiders to crawl around my place though, they are my little pest control helpers :) Plus I think they are kinda cute. We don't have dangerous spiders where I live.
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Permalink Reply by Mojo Cain on
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Pretty good, the spider thing I mean. I get more than a few. Old house, rural, and burn wood, which when I bring logs in from my firewoodstores invarioubly have a spider, little n large. I do shake/knock the logs before bringin inside but still a spider sometimes in a bark fissure clings on unseen. Before chucking in the stove I give 'em another knock on the floor tiles around stove and sometimes one scampers out. I don't like the idea of burning 'em so I do my best to avoid that. They love my outside woodstores, g8 places to keep dry n safe though some birds (robins, wrens, tits, etc) get in amongst the gaps and hunt them out.
One tip I can give you about ants, well, a couple of tips, is sprinkle a line of talcum powder (get a real cheap one) along the outside of your house or flat if on ground floor coz they don't like it. Not 1005 sure why, but one very likely reason is ants have extremely poor eyesight and thus get around/communicate by sense of smell, and talc usually is perfumed a bit and it 'blinds' them. I used to get 'em coming in my ground floor council flat and out of the blue the talc idea came to me, and bingo, they pissed off, year after year it worked. Yeh, rain eventually washes it off but then just do it again. Ants season begins around Spring in the UK, ie weather warming up a bit, and they'll begin to establish their 'trails' around then so that's the time to do talc and once they've established trails elsewhere they'll most likely stick to them and not make ones around the house. If they do begin to later than just do the talc. You don't have to make a thick line inches deep, just say 1/2 inch wide, 1/8 inch deep.Another thing, same principle, ie mess with their scent, is, if you're stinking rich, sprinkle Chanel No5 instead of talc. Ho ho. Seriously, if poss, grow mint herbs around walls, they won't like that either.
My wrist's aching from typing ho ho so lucky you I'm off now. Byeeeee.
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Permalink Reply by Bruno Gonzalez on -
Ok, it's contradictory, but I work killing insects. I don't know if you have heard about "dengue" here in Brazil. It's a disease which kill many people every year, and it is transmitted by a gnat, called "aedes aegypti", and we have to eliminate all of its eggs and worms.
I think when the insect is inoffensive, we have to let it live. But, we can't forget the nature law. The stronger survive, and we are stronger than a insect, but, we have mercy.
Cheers.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Rysdon on
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Hey Bruno. I'm not sure I buy the "survival of the strongest." I think it's more accurate to say the more agressive survive, and when it comes to the human element (human vs human, human vs nature, human vs the environment) history is full of examples, past and present. None of this is a "law" of nature... a law is a man-made convention. Nature is far beyond mans making, however we still think we are the "keepers," and "guardians" so over time we've fooled ourselves into thinking that we are superior/stronger. When you compare our capabitities to those of most any other living creature, truth is we are quite weak. I understand you do what you choose to do for work, but your take is a common, though incorrect spin on the facts. It's not that bugs and insects are the problem, actually, people are too numerous and these "infestations" occur when the human population has gone beyond the carrying capacity. Simple point: there are too many concentrations of humans. A life is a life is a life. A bugs life is a movie, yes, but it is also no different than an animals life. A light is a light is a light. The wall fixture and switch may be different, the amount of energy in and quantity of light wattage out may differ, but when a light is on it is on and when it is turned off, it is turned off. We don't have the right to turn the lights out on ANY creature. If you sanction killing populations of gnats then critically and logically you must also sanction the killing of human populations. I know in your heart you obviously do not. I'm trying only to make a point about perspective and rationalizing actions to acoomodate modern humanity.
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Permalink Reply by Bruno Gonzalez on
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Dear Mark, I agree with you. But, what can I do? Let thousands of people die? Dengue is a plague here, and thousands of people suffer a lot with it. It's sad, it's awful, it's OUR FAULT. But, we have to do something, don't you think? Unfortunately, we can't talk: "hey, little friends, don't kill us, please".
You are completely right, my friend, and I agree with you, but, it is still a problem here. I don't work with it cause I LIKE, I work because I have to work.
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Well, I can't agree that 'law' is a man-made thing. Gravity is a law, fire burns is a law, we get old is a law....
And also, is it ok for flies to kill people but not ok for people to kill flies in order to survive? Both are organisms, both part of nature. Perhaps there ARE too many people, but not the indigneous peoples outside the cities, no?
In the UK we don't have tropical disease probs and so I don't kill flies/spiders in my old house, even the mossies. I'm happy for them to be in out of the c-c-c-cold! But, I'm also a living organism of nature and every organism requires space to live, and if my space is threatened by whatever then I will take defensive steps, even take life in the extreme case of me or them. Is that not natural? Do not all creatures behave the same, and thus naturally so? It's not possible to preserve our material body without killing another. Veggies n vegans kill plants, and, don't forget that vegetable growers must be killing millions of insects in food production, and organic food is most likely grown with fertiliser such as blood n bone meal which derives from slaughter houses.
I have thought long and hard many times in my life about this dilemna of kill or be killed (starving, disease, etc) and the only conclusion for me, my personal choice, is to always try to be kind and respectful to all things, including plants, whenever possible, but if the need arises for self-survival one's own life comes before carrots, bugs, animals, and so on.
Well, maybe my points don't fit here but then if you are prepared to allow flies to live and thus kill people, surely I'm allowed a bit of waffle in cyberspace? ; )
I admire you all on here actually, in agreement or not. At least you are thinkers and are making efforts to be more humane in words and deeds. And that is always admirable.
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Bruno and Mojo: yes, this is a shaky branch off the topic, and it seems to me that we are all of one mind. Today I think the problem of overpopulation/ infestation, chicken/egg is circular...what do/can we do? The people on this site are the kind of people who do their part because they are aware and awake and I find the discussions and comments fascinating. It is energizing and reassuring to know there are others around the world fighting the good fight. As for the bugs, I guess I'll stay out of their way and hope they continue to stay out of mine. Peace.
Hey Mojo, what are the mossies? ...same as moss?
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Permalink Reply by Brittany Anderson on -
I absolutely can't stand insects, or any bugs really. I find them disgusting and don't want to be around them. However, they have the right to live and so if I can help it, I won't kill them. At my job however, I feed animals, and reptiles such as geckos eat them. I feel bad about it, because I'm the one who puts them in there with the reptile who eats them. So I don't technically kill them, but put upon the conditions that cause their death. It bothers me a bit but I don't have a choice exactly... the reptiles eat them, and if I don't feed them, someone else will. Whether I'm the one doing it or not, they will be fed... I am able to find some peace however in knowing that their life isn't wasted at least... even though I hate insects, I still feel bad when they die because they have the right to live...
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Permalink Reply by Ryan Dane on -
If I see a spider, that little 8 leg better hide under the couch thats all Im saying.
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Permalink Reply by lakshman on -
This is definitely a shaky topic where different people will have different beliefs. Here are my thoughts.
First, I think insects do have a right to live. In fact, insects are creatures that we can show abundant love and compassion without expecting anything in return. When we show love towards a human or a pet, we do get something in return. But in the case of insects, it gives us an opportunity to increase our selflessness because we won't get anything in return from them.
Second, I don't really know if insects have feelings or not. But from my personal observations, I've seen that some insects do have some affinity towards other insects of the same family. I have observed this for ants on numerous occasions. They normally go in a line. If one of the ants in the middle dies/injures itself, I've seen other ants get around that ant for a while almost always.
Whenever I see an insect in my room, I usually take them outside in a bottle or paper and leave them. If it's a mosquito, I blow them away. I think it's also a good practice to watch the floor while walking so that we don't unintentionally stomp any insects that are visible.
Having said all this, what could we do when insects could be harmful to us? In such situations, I think it will be good to act depending on the situation and the intensity of the harm that could be caused.
For example, say we see some weird person in our street near our house, we would usually stay away from that person and go to our house and keep the doors locked tight. But if the same person breaks in, we wouldn't hesitate attacking that person. Or say we are going on a safari in a jungle. When we encounter a wild animal, we would usually try to stay inside our vehicles. But if we are one on one with the wild animal and if it's charging to attack us, we would immediately attack the animal if we had some weapon in order to save ourselves.
In the same way, if the situation demands killing insects that pose a direct threat, then I guess killing them is the only way out (though unfortunate), since we don't have any other options. Some of those situations could be in the case of dangerous mosquitoes, bed bugs and other similar cases.
Although, as a believer in karma, I would say that killing (in those situations) does incur a sin.
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