Somewhat odd philosophical question: Is it right to kill a bug?

[Jack]

I'm having a rough time trying to repel a few ants that have take a liking to my front windowsill. I can't see where they are coming in from.
I don't want to poison them. I have a 2 year old and don't want her to be exposed.
I've tried natural stuff I found online. I heard vinegar, salt and spearmint but no luck with those yet.

 
When we were getting ants last summer I had pretty good luck with orange oil and diatomaceous earth.

[Morag]

However, there's a spider in the car that has steadfastly refused to let me put it outside. Last time I tried it dropped on my face.

 



Seriously though, that's a huge pile of NOPE.


I've had similar spider problems in my car. Driving along, at night, rainy. Spider drops down right in front of my face, dangling on her web, doing a Navi impression.

Luckily I'm basically a Cylon hybrid when it comes to driving my car so no crashing. Managed to move the spider outside. Another one took up residence. There's an eggsack in the door jamb and I think they just time release spiders out of it whenever one leaves the inner car.

[Jack]

I've had similar spider problems in my car. Driving along, at night, rainy. Spider drops down right in front of my face, dangling on her web, doing a Navi impression.

 
I keep finding tiny spiders hanging right in front of my face at work. I think they're coming from the air vent over my head.

They get squished SO FAST.

[veggiewolf]

I'm having a rough time trying to repel a few ants that have take a liking to my front windowsill. I can't see where they are coming in from.
I don't want to poison them. I have a 2 year old and don't want her to be exposed.
I've tried natural stuff I found online. I heard vinegar, salt and spearmint but no luck with those yet.

 
Boric acid ant traps work.  The ants take the bait back to the nest, and it is harmless to anything except the ants.

[KatieCoy83]

Boric acid ant traps work.  The ants take the bait back to the nest, and it is harmless to anything except the ants.

My friend claims if you smash one and leave the corpse it'll give the rest of the colony the hint to evacuate. She's kinda twisted.

[Jack]

My friend claims if you smash one and leave the corpse it'll give the rest of the colony the hint to evacuate. She's kinda twisted.

 
I have never had any luck with that method.

[Cabal]

An odd thought popped into my mind yesterday.
Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?
I can understand that if someone was to encounter a poisonous insect of some kind they have every right to kill it - self defense. But if that insect is completely harmless and innocent do we really have the right to take away it's life?

I avoid killing any thing if I can help it. I would always think it it really necessary to kill a bug or spider and usually the answer is no. So I go off that.

[DavidMcCann]

Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?

 We've had a false-widow spider invasion in England recently, and several people have received painful bites in trying to evict them by hand: evidently the spiders don't have the same respect for the rights of humans as the humans have for theirs!

But seriously, if they do have souls, I'm only recycling them. Spiders may be physically harmless (which flies certainly aren't) but if you're terrified of them, you need to get them out the room. Hitting them with a very long-handled broom is my solution. But wasps and bees are carefully escorted out. In the street after rain, I often pick snails off the pavement and put them safely in a garden: luckily I've never been caught doing it by a gardener!

[Lunamoth]

An odd thought popped into my mind yesterday.
Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?
I can understand that if someone was to encounter a poisonous insect of some kind they have every right to kill it - self defense. But if that insect is completely harmless and innocent do we really have the right to take away it's life?

 
I try to just set the critter outside. I mean, I HAVE killed bugs. I lived in Texas for 10 years and the tree roaches are HUGE and just...*shudder* But, it started with my hubby actually, who started to study Buddhist texts, and to think about the nature of living things... and so he started to catch and release them outside. Eventually, I came on board, though they still squick me out. We moved back to Pennsylvania, so thankfully, no tree roaches here!

[Victoria]

An odd thought popped into my mind yesterday.
Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?
I can understand that if someone was to encounter a poisonous insect of some kind they have every right to kill it - self defense. But if that insect is completely harmless and innocent do we really have the right to take away it's life?

 
My husband, god bless him, he has been known to take a copperhead or two off to the wilderness and release it. When bees get in the house I carry them outside on the end of a fly swatter. So, it is really not that odd. Other people do this too. Personally, it would seem sort of strange to me to kill everything in one's path.

[veggiewolf]

I try to just set the critter outside. I mean, I HAVE killed bugs. I lived in Texas for 10 years and the tree roaches are HUGE and just...*shudder* But, it started with my hubby actually, who started to study Buddhist texts, and to think about the nature of living things... and so he started to catch and release them outside. Eventually, I came on board, though they still squick me out. We moved back to Pennsylvania, so thankfully, no tree roaches here!

Just stink bugs!

[GreenLife]

An odd thought popped into my mind yesterday.
Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?
I can understand that if someone was to encounter a poisonous insect of some kind they have every right to kill it - self defense. But if that insect is completely harmless and innocent do we really have the right to take away it's life?

 
I try to relocate any insects and/or spiders that come into the house. We have a black widow spider that's taken up residence just outside the back door and everyday I go out and check to see if it's ok. Been known to relocate copperhead snakes as well as we have a lot of them around here in the summer months. My friend looks at me like I'm crazy but I just feel like they had no more control over being born a spider, snake, etc. than I did being born a human.

[RunningWolf]

An odd thought popped into my mind yesterday.
Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?
I can understand that if someone was to encounter a poisonous insect of some kind they have every right to kill it - self defense. But if that insect is completely harmless and innocent do we really have the right to take away it's life?

I don't believe bugs have souls, nor are they sentient. So they get eliminated if they are in my house. Of course some get my mercy - moths, strawberry beetles...etc.

I guess it's really up to what you believe.

[Wildwood]

An odd thought popped into my mind yesterday.
Assuming (as i do) that every living thing has a soul and can feel and to some extent think, is it right to kill a bug if it is not posing any threat? For example if someone sees a perfectly harmless house spider on their wall and instantly splats it - are they encroaching on that spiders right to live?
I can understand that if someone was to encounter a poisonous insect of some kind they have every right to kill it - self defense. But if that insect is completely harmless and innocent do we really have the right to take away it's life?

Even though I'm coming from a different perspective because I don't think everything has a soul -- though I'm realising that I still have a very Christian idea of what 'soul' means -- I don't think it's okay to kill a bug that isn't causing any harm.

Generally I have a policy of never harming a living creature that comes into my home unless it's going to hurt me or cause a potential hygiene issue, and killing is always a last resort if it can't be caught. Luckily I live in a country where bugs and the like are usually harmless, and I don't have any intense fears of them.

Really I just think I haven't got the right to kill something that isn't threatening or dangerous to me.

[Sage]

Just stink bugs!

 
It is the height of immorality to step on a stink bug with any other living creature within smelling distance. Flushing them down the toilet is okay though.