ants and spiders...i really don't like to kill them,unless they get in my way. | INTP Discussion Forum > The Local Pub > Squashing bugs |
| Posted by: flan2dave Jun 13 2004, 02:15 AM |
| What is the biggest organism you are willing to exterminate with your bare hands? Up to a certain size I won't think twice about the guts that will be smeared on my hand, up to about a small fly (not a house fly, too big and ugly). I think it has to do whether or not I can see the discrete anatomical details, a small fly is just a block dot, whereas a housefly is a fat, hairy, multi-eyed monster. |
| Posted by: utopmk19 Jun 13 2004, 02:22 AM |
| ants and spiders...i really don't like to kill them,unless they get in my way. |
| Posted by: Vagabond Jun 13 2004, 02:30 AM |
| I think that, if it was absolutely necessary, I would be able to detach from reality enough in order to kill even a human (I *think* is a correct term, as it has never happened and I seriously doubt that such an extreme case will ever appear). Although I couldn't do the same with an animal such as a dog or a cat etc. Hmm, I don't know. Usually I avoid killing even bugs. The worst "extermination" I usually do, is kill a mosquito when it sucks my blood out. |
| Posted by: CosmicDust Jun 13 2004, 02:32 AM |
| I generally only kill the really small things like mosquitoes and fruit flies with my bare hands - usually by clapping. But I often use some paper product even for those. Houseflies are kind of hard to kill - they see you coming too easily, I think. I wouldn't want to touch ants 'cause they can sting. I don't kill spiders at all, for two reasons: a. I don't want to get bitten and b. they can kill the other things for me! Hornets and bees, if I can't get them to simply escape, I'd only dare squash with something like a book or a shoe, for obvious reasons. Not that I'm allergic to stings (though I've only gotten stung once that I know of, so in that time I could have developed an allergy for all I know), just that I don't want to deal with one. (edit: I didn't realize that putting "b" after a parenthesis was the code for an emoticon. But it was a pretty appropriate one - spiders are cool!  ) |
| Posted by: antireconciler Jun 13 2004, 04:16 AM |
| Up to medium-sized spiders unless I have a more convienient tool nearby. Small spiders or insects, regardless. Obviously, the answer to this question varies greatly from situation to situation. |
| Posted by: relaxo Jun 13 2004, 01:40 PM |
| I don't really like killing things. but mosquitoes, they should be wiped off the face of the earth. I'd have no problem dumping chemicals all over the earth to wipe them out. |
| Posted by: Division56 Jun 13 2004, 03:01 PM | ||
Yes, but the third world children that power the capitalist economy might not be able to meet their quotas with all their new birth defects. I know you wouldn't want that.  |
| Posted by: pokerwolf Jun 13 2004, 04:14 PM |
In general, I don't kill anything. When someone finds a spider or other small creature in the office, they come ask me to get rid of it, and I take it outside. When I lived in Florida, I even set scorpions free. The funny thing is, I was once an exterminator. I traveled the east coast fumigating bugs (and anything else trapped inside) in tobacco warehouses, grain ships, shipping containers, etc. The largest creature I ever killed was a runt piglet when I worked on a pig farm (first job when I was 14). It was definately the hardest thing I ever had to do, with the possible exception of casterating the little piglets.  |
| Posted by: shaytana Jun 13 2004, 10:01 PM |
| I don't really have any problems killing small bugs if they are invading my territory or trying to suck my blood |
| Posted by: grokkfried Jun 13 2004, 10:13 PM |
With my bare hands or my bear-hands? Anything that would interrupt my well-being. For example, I would kill a black-widow in my house (If I couldn't find a reasonable place to relocate it), but not a wolf spider. When it comes to fleas, ticks, mosquitos, leeches, feral tigers, etc.: They took the risk.  |
| Posted by: KentOhio Jun 13 2004, 10:59 PM |
| The only things I kill are mosquitoes, and that is with my bare hands. I figure that everything else has a right to live, and I'll usually scoop it into a cup and move it to a place where it won't ''bug'' me. I'd feel guilty killing anything besides a mosquito. Funny, because I'm not a Feeler at all. |
| Posted by: shaytana Jun 13 2004, 11:12 PM | ||
with me, its like I feel that I dont have the right to take that bugs life if it isn't bothering anybody (being in my bedroom would bother me), and if I do anyways I will feel a pang of guilt. |
| Posted by: Jkrs Jun 13 2004, 11:42 PM |
| With my bare hands? Gnats. Anything else gets squashed with a shoe, or at least a napkin. I move spiders outside where possible, but take pains not to touch them as I don't know enough to tell which are poisonous. I could probably bring myself to kill a person with my own hands if it were them or me, but I'd try anything else I thought had a reasonable chance first. |
| Posted by: pokerwolf Jun 14 2004, 02:00 AM | ||
I relocated the biggest black widow I've ever seen from work to my back yard last year. She was HUGE! She looked so majestic I couldn't kill her, though I'm sure she wouldn't have shown me the same mercy.  |
| Posted by: CosmicDust Jun 14 2004, 02:33 AM | ||
Spiders won't kill you unless you invade their space (which could result in killing them) - a self-defense reaction. They'd rather save their venom to catch their next meal than waste it on deterring intruders. |
| Posted by: shaytana Jun 14 2004, 03:26 AM |
| those links get redirected to the main page |
| Posted by: Division56 Jun 14 2004, 03:48 AM | ||
I deleted them. It's not worth sitting up all night to make them work. |
| Posted by: Claverhouse Jun 23 2004, 12:26 AM |
| I'm a vegan. I couldn't kill anything other than another human being. Except for the usual caveat of immediate defence for life. Bugs and stuff I guide outside, they mean no harm. Claverhouse  |
| Posted by: Spartan26 Jun 23 2004, 02:57 AM |
| When I worked at a restaurant in high school, I had a boss show me how to catch flies with my bare hand but still have them remain alive. He said he was able to tie a hair around them to use as a leash, but we weren't able to duplicate that. I never got into pulling the wings off, but I did enjoy throwing them against a wall. We'd play this game where we'd see how far back away from the wall (or how close, depending on perspective) could we be from the wall and throw a fly before it'd be able to correct it's fly path and avoid death. Other than little gnats or mosquitos, I'd rarely kill with my bare hands. I'd hate having bug juice on my hands. Definetly having nothing to do with being a humanitarian or anything of the sort. If I ever saw a black widow, I'd pour some scalding hot water and watch it contort. Amazing, because if the water wasn't hot enough or you didn't hit it with enough, in a few moments the spider would unravel and remain alive. When I was a kid, I'd put ants, and if I could ever get my hands on a grasshopper, I'd put them in a styrofoam cup then drop a firecracker in. Twice I ran over live snakes with my lawnmower. But as far what I'd be able to do with my own hands, hard to say. I know the desire isn't there. One of my old roommates had a cat I wanted to strangle. Wasn't six months after I moved out that it turned up missing. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who had it in for it. Two times after I left they had to take it to the vet's for undiagnoised illness. While I hate I wasn't there to laugh at it in its misery, I was glad it wasn't under my watch when it turned green as motive and opportunity could be pinned on me. If I see a spider in my bedroom, I'll usually let it be. Unless it's headed for my bed. Even still, I'll use a wet paper towel as my walls are white and spider guts smear easily. I'm not much on guns, but I could see shooting fowl to eat. I've had antelope and deer but I wouldn't be really up for shooting one. Here's what's really weird, I really don't know if I could shoot another person, or at least attempt to fatally shoot a human, even if my life were on the line, BUT if someone were to give a crossbow for Christmas, law enforcement would have to start a new statistical column for cause of death. |
| Posted by: Division56 Jun 23 2004, 04:31 AM |
| You see, I wouldn't want to kill the critters, but I wouldn't have to think too hard about offing a few people. |