Is it wrong to kill insects?

Aoife-FM104

I just squashed a bumble bee, and now I'm thinking maybe I don't have the right to do something like that.

As in, a life, which could see and experience the world, has just been killed because of me.

I know "it's just an insect" but on a more higher level, we shouldn't be doing that, should we??

I feel a bit guilty.

Ciaran500

It was either you or him, you had no choice.

ClareBear

Aoife-FM104 wrote:

I just squashed a bumble bee, and now I'm thinking maybe I don't have the right to do something like that.

As in, a life, which could see and experience the world, has just been killed because of me.

I know "it's just an insect" but on a more higher level, we shouldn't be doing that, should we??

I feel a bit guilty.

You're going to hell.

Tar.Aldarion

I avoid killing anything that I can possibly avoid killing. I'm quite careful with insects. Some people think it is wrong, some not. Ie vegetarians vs omnivores.
I am in the thinking it is wrong group. It's up to you.

blahhh

Buddhism....it's the only way to redem yourself

Dylan_James

Is it wrong to draw my dogs attention to them and then watch the horrorshow begin?

ferdi

the way i see it, if you can avoid killing it (catching a spider in a jar and letting it out the window) you should do so....but if you are in a beach hut in a tropical country and there is a mosquito in there with you, that sucker is going down.

kids killing insects for fun always disturbed me, i never understood why anyone would enjoy inflicting unnecessary suffering on anything - ie burning ants or pulling the wings off flies. always has and always will seem totally sick and twisted to me.

Thrill

I'm in the "its wrong" group as well. I would open a window to let them out or pick them up and kick them out the door etc.

Head to the nearest cop shop, confession in hand.

Celticfire

WHY??????? Oh the inhumanity!!!!! :eek: R.I.P. little bee .......

Rb

Tar.Aldarion wrote:

I avoid killing anything that I can possibly avoid killing. I'm quite careful with insects. Some people think it is wrong, some not. Ie vegetarians vs omnivores.
I am in the thinking it is wrong group. It's up to you.

I agree, though I do eat meat I avoid killing anything where possible.

Most insects aren't hard to trap with a jar or glass, and those that fly (bees/wasps/etc) are quite easily ushered out of the nearest window, or just open the windows and leave the room with the door closed behind you for a while.

The only time I've killed a bee/wasp/etc is when its been aggressive and doesn't seem to want to leave.

netwhizkid

I wouldn't kill a bee as they give Honey something I enjoy on Toast in the morning. However it was a wasp that f*c*er would be going down pronto. I am a nervous wreck in the summer and when a wasp comes a buzzing I goes a running. Bloody heck I do hate wasps. I kill wasps and houseflys, I got a fly swatter this year and they are great for filling them much better than the traditional wet cloth or tea towel.

Killing Flys & wasps FTW

Tar.Aldarion

Do they sell huge human swatter things? Anybody know?

Ruu_Old

Shame on you Aoife, go stand in the corner for a while. You monster, you.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

What on earth is a bumble bee doing flying round in November anyway?

Tar.Aldarion

I guess we can never ask it now...

Sad Professor

Well if it is wrong to kill insects then we are probably all going to hell. Just think of how many we've probably squashed or walked on without ever knowing it. Just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye

Kojak

"If a fly ever got the chance, he would kill you and everyone you ever cared about"

A modified quote from the Simpsons which I think sums it all up.

Thrill

Sad Professor wrote:

Well if it is wrong to kill insects then we are probably all going to hell. Just think of how many we've probably squashed or walked on without ever knowing it. Just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye

I may never go outside again.

At an even higher level, what about all the germs we kill with all the disinfectants and stuff that we use?

I sense a sleepless night ahead.

slipss

I'd be of the opinion it'd be wrong. I try to hold the value of all animals equally, wether its a bee or a human. Thats not the say I haven't killed bees on ocassion, but that was when they started it, i.e stung me or kept buzzing at me. Same would go for a human, I wouldn't go out of my way to kill one just because it was annoying me but if it attacked me I wouldn't really give it a second thought.

Pigman II

Bug approaching you = kill.

Bug standing still or moving away from you = allow to live.

Black Swan

"If you are a spider, you don't want to sit down beside her!"

simu

It's ok to kill them for food but otherwise no - that's bad árse karma.

Ruu_Old

Just after obtaining exclusive footage, don't ask how. Not for the faint at heart! Pure evil, celebrating her latest kill.

junkyard

Its wrong to kill anything, we don't have any need to kill or excuse, especially it the insect didn't do anything to you.

simu

Crawl's Theory of Justice ^^^

iFight

Id (try) kill a wasp or fly if it came at me, but i wouldnt go stomping on bugs or anything, seems wrong, but i wouldnt be crying over it

Tar.Aldarion

Seems wrong, vague glimpse of empathy past.
Human to do? Past forlorn.

CathyMoran

I would consider it OK to kill a wasp if I could not get it out the window and would kill mosquitos but apart from that I consider it wrong. I remember getting very upset after accidentally killing an earthworm. There was one exception, we were trying to save a nestling that had been abandoned by its mother, we tried to feed it but it died.

6th

I dont like wasps but besides them I would be in the same group as those that say "avoid if you can".

I was going to start a thread recently called "That thing you do", askin if people did things others might think weird. My one would fit in here because if I am walking around the area I live and saq a worm on the path I would pick it up and put it in the grass. I have also given water to worms that appear to be drying out.

CathyMoran

6th wrote:

I was going to start a thread recently called "That thing you do", askin if people did things others might think weird. My one would fit in here because if I am walking around the area I live and saq a worm on the path I would pick it up and put it in the grass. I have also given water to worms that appear to be drying out.

I do that, it is not wierd, just kind, I do the same with snails.

JC 2K3

KILL KILL KILL!!!

The only reason I'd hesitate before killing an insect would be the horrible mess it could potentially create.

I'm not gonna have double standards. I don't consider animals and humans equal. I eat meat. If it's more convenient for me to kill an insect then I will.

Dave!

I feel guilty every time I kill something/someone.

So I try to avoid it wherever possible. I try.

is_that_so

In principle they should live although I am not sure about mosquitoes. It's them or you. :eek:

Nehpets

JC 2K3 wrote:

KILL KILL KILL!!!

The only reason I'd hesitate before killing an insect would be the horrible mess it could potentially create.

I'm not gonna have double standards. I don't consider animals and humans equal. I eat meat. If it's more convenient for me to kill an insect then I will.

I am probably the same. Wouldn't set out to kill them.

Would:

1) If they are in my room at night when I wanna go to bed
2) If they are making noise (bees, wasps)
3) If they are annoying (landing on tv/pc screen)

Would not:

1) Snails (they are easy to move)
2) Wouldn't kill one outside unless it was annoying (bee, wasp) or at food

Reaver772

I have no problems killing insects and don't think its wrong, its kinda satisfying when you squish them.

Binomate

If you're feeling guilty about killing a bug, you've obviously never seen Starship Troopers. That bumblebee probably murdered a baby. Probably...

abetarrush

I'm the same

not so much about the fact they die, but the way the die

im sure steppin on an insect is the equivalent of droppin a solid metal crate on someone

imagine gettin killed by bein squished. not nice at all........

InFront

This is my problem with vegetarianism insofar as many vegetarians subscribe to the idea that abstaining from eating meat is somehow a nobler deed than not washing your face.
When you scrub your face you kill thousands of the little mites (living, respiring, sentient creatures) living there. Do these have a lesser moral value than... a cow for example? Because a cow is a larger thing? Because it has a greater bodymass??

I am not a vegetarian and I routinely facewash...

FranknFurter

We dont have the problem anymore.....
We have a psychotic .....I mean wonderful...cat who makes it her lifes work to protect her daddies from all things insecty

B

jester77

Only in self defence - don't see the need to kill a harmless bug!! Although Mosquito's will always go down... evil b****ds!

Aoife-FM104

Aoife-FM104 wrote:

I just squashed a bumble bee, and now I'm thinking maybe I don't have the right to do something like that.

As in, a life, which could see and experience the world, has just been killed because of me.

I know "it's just an insect" but on a more higher level, we shouldn't be doing that, should we??

I feel a bit guilty.

Try not to do it again
I avoid killing insects when I can
unless they've just stung me and won't go away

you could think about it this way, they're far more developed than a fetus

connundrum

A bee/wasp in winter is about as dangerous as a nuclear warhead.. so you were right. I have a massive fear of bees/wasps as I haven't been stung by one ever, and I'm full sure that I'm allergic so I'll kill anything that buzzes in my vicinity.

I usually leave other bugs alone.

Sp@rtacus

Bees should be celebrated, not decimated. Not only do they do the whole honey deal, but they're responsible for much of the cross pollination of many of the fruits and flowers we enjoy.

And as if that wasnt enough, they are the provider of the hilarity that is the "Lady Bee Dance"*



*the flapping, shrieking and running about that ensues whenever one approaches the general vacinity of a female. For best results, apply more females.

Well, if the insects could squash us then I'm pretty sure they would.

Survival of the fittest TBH.

Maccattack

Wasps. Natures revenge. I reckon as each defensless insect or spider gets squashed he sends out a message to the wasps and those psycho's attack a human being as recompense.

Try killing one of them and you'll know what I mean.

...

As a rule Id always catch a bug and let it out the window etc. but i was attacked by Wasps last year whilst minding my own business.

I was visiting a mates house when i was attacked. Got about 20 stings.

A few of them got into the house as I ran in. I then partook in mass murder.

Killed every last one. Kaput.

I have no regrets.

loyatemu

bah - its only an insect. they're little more than small robots, they have no conciousness and no feelings. I wouldn't kill anything unnecessarily, but I certainly wouldn't shed any tears over squashing a bug.

The less we have in common with another creature, the less empathy we have - we care about other mammals because we're mammals. Other vertebrates, less so (no-one gives a damn about fish). insects not at all.

Binomate

I made friends with a squirrel once.

subway

i cant beleive you people eat honey.
dont you know your enslaving a beuatiful animal for life etc etc.
your pertuating the cycle of owneership.
we dont own animals - let them be free etc etc.
and fight some corporations while your at it.
they kill so many insects....

Caliden

If it is trespassing in my house its a walking (crawling/flying/slithering) target.
I hate spiders so I have a vendetta to wipe them out

sceptre

junkyard wrote:

Its wrong to kill anything, we don't have any need to kill or excuse, especially it the insect didn't do anything to you.

Indeed. That's why I pay someone else to kill my carrots for me.

Terry

it's perfectly alright to kill anything that isn't human. we are the superior species and therefore can do what we want. large animals should only be killed for food though. otherwise their numbers would thin out.