Current Events > Is it *ethically* wrong to step on bugs?

(+) Yeah! (+)

They're little guys living their lives

Good question. I made friends with a Wolf Spider a few days ago, who was terrified of me at first. After playing with the lights a little bit and making some noises and making it super clear that I knew he was there, could easily kill him, and had no intention of doing so. He came back later and crawled around happily, got bored, and left. Then I played with the lights a little more. He paused, thought whatever he thought, and departed.

No

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Maybe

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This is after getting bit by a brown recluse recently too.

The brown recluse was done away with.

Treating serious spider bites is agonizing.

No, fuck them.

I guess it displays a lack of empathy

but it's not really wrong per se

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Im not going to feel bad if I do, but I will step around them if I notice that they are there.

Doing it on purpose is weird, IMO.

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If you're walking and you see a bug and choose not to avoid stepping on it, you're a monster.

But I wouldn't expect people to constantly look for bugs as they walk (or to sweep the path as they walk like that one sect of Buddhists) so it's often unavoidable.

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yes

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During cicada season it's ethically wrong to not smash them.

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Anteaterking posted...

During cicada season it's ethically wrong to not smash them.

Thats different. Like, when I moved into my new place it was crawling with poisonous spiders. They had to go.

Ive been letting a nest of Bald-faced hornets live for the last week. They buzzed around me a couple of times, but no harm means I will not exterminate them.

Last night one of them dropped down the back of my shirt and stung me 4 times, now it's genocide time. Let none survive.

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I will destroy every single bug that I see in my home. They will be annihilated.

if they're not on my property/territory, I leave them alone. humans are a territorial species and I spray to protect my lawn.
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I usually leave them alone if it can be helped even though I dislike most of them.

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I try to leave them be, especially outside the house

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@dolomedes


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xXfireglzXx posted...

Ive been letting a nest of Bald-faced hornets live for the last week. They buzzed around me a couple of times, but no harm means I will not exterminate them.

Last night one of them dropped down the back of my shirt and stung me 4 times, now it's genocide time. Let none survive.

I have a blood feud with wasps and hornets. Bees are cool though.

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xXfireglzXx posted...

Ive been letting a nest of Bald-faced hornets live for the last week. They buzzed around me a couple of times, but no harm means I will not exterminate them.

Last night one of them dropped down the back of my shirt and stung me 4 times, now it's genocide time. Let none survive.

Peace was never an option
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Its large mammals like bears that Im scared of, because I understand their behavior a little bit. If I can, I play play timid when one lets me know that Ive breached their stomping grounds. They feel victorious and just go away so I can spread the word of their presence. Ive been chased, but they havent gotten me yet lol and I havent had to hurt any of them thankfully.

Azardea posted...

No, fuck them.

If they're in my house especially

If outside I try to leave them be

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Azardea posted...

No, fuck them.

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Bugs are little organic machines, they don't have feelings

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No, they're criminal trespassers.

Indoors generally no

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In public no because it's a free country. But they are trespassing my property so I have the right to self defense. Even if that includes blowing them away with a 12 Gauge.

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If it's in your house that's one thing. Going out of your way to kill something that will not bother you or anybody else is probably wrong, even if most of us have done it at some point.

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Yeah unless it's a threat

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This, fantastic, song belongs here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duBCwvC1kP4
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Depends on various things
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I read that most, if not all bugs don't feel pain the way humans do. Like yeah it triggers their nervous system, but they don't have the emotions humans have when we're dying. So basically their body responds, but they don't start thinking about their regrets or who will take care of their wife and children and such.

I make them crunch

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I don't bother them unless they are bothering me.

If you can avoid harming a living creature, you probably should imo.

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Poor souls

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If you step on one by accident it doesn't make you a bad person. But if you see a caterpillar, beetle, or little spider just walking their way in your path of travel and you feel the need to squash them, I think you are an incredibly shitty person and I won't like you.

Things like roaches, flies, or other dirty pests that pose health hazards inside your home should be exterminated.

But you know a really good way to keep pests like that out of your home? Let the house spiders and house centipedes live. People like to make these jokes "ayo that mf ain't paying rent.."

Yes tf they are. Let them live and you won't ever see nasty insects in your home because they're busy eating them.

It's summer now so there's a lot of moths and beetles. Sometimes they fall out of the air because they collide with each other and end up on their back, squirming and struggling to get back up. There's usually a bettle flipped over in front of my house when I get off work, I always flip it over so it can go on. Same with moths.

And some of these moths get HUGE. Like the size of a small bird. You have to be really careful with them though because they're soft and get injured easily.

Idk. As long as it's not a pest like a fly or roach, or dangerous like a literal hornets nest, I just think it's super fucked up to go out of your way to kill a bug because you're unfamiliar with them and see them as gross, creepy, or etc. It's literally human ignorance and the same kind of Neanderthal fear reaction people have had to different ideas/things that creates concepts like homophobia or racism

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Perascamin posted...

If you step on one by accident it doesn't make you a bad person. But if you see a caterpillar, beetle, or little spider just walking their way in your path of travel and you feel the need to squash them, I think you are an incredibly shitty person and I won't like you.

Things like roaches, flies, or other dirty pests that pose health hazards inside your home should be exterminated.

But you know a really good way to keep pests like that out of your home? Let the house spiders and house centipedes live. People like to make these jokes "ayo that mf ain't paying rent.."

Yes tf they are. Let them live and you won't ever see nasty insects in your home because they're busy eating them.

It's summer now so there's a lot of moths and beetles. Sometimes they fall out of the air because they collide with each other and end up on their back, squirming and struggling to get back up. There's usually a bettle flipped over in front of my house when I get off work, I always flip it over so it can go on. Same with moths.

And some of these moths get HUGE. Like the size of a small bird. You have to be really careful with them though because they're soft and get injured easily.

I mostly agree with this. I leave house spiders alone as long as they are in certain areas. They are most common in my bathroom and I leave them alone unless I find them in the shower. I hate house centipedes but I do know they are beneficial, so unless one really startles me or I'm super stressed and don't want it around, I leave it alone. If it reacts to me by running and hiding under something, I leave it be. I would rather not have to see them but I won't look for them even if I know one is somewhere under something.

I will actually pick up caterpillars and raise them if I can identify them and figure out a food source. And the big moths you mentioned are my favorite of all insects. Found a cecropia caterpillar at my parents' old house last summer and fed it while I was there. Moth came out this past week. I wasn't there for it but my parents knew what they doing from my instructions.

I'll help trapped moths or flipped beetles too typically if I can. I helped a mantis that was trapped in a window in my old building. It didn't want to trust me at first and swatted at my fingers but I eventually coaxed it onto my hand and it stayed there while I brought it outside. Fun fact, some beetles can self right. Kinda reminds me of flipper-style battle robots. The beetles with arch up and snap down and propel themselves a foot or two in the air and will keep doing until they land right. Most are small but some are quite large. The family is called click beetles and they were fun to play with as a kid when I first discovered them.
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Spiders don't 'think'. They don't have the capacity to reason. You cannot be friends with a wolf spider.

They have memories which is clear, but I think you're too big for a spider to conceive much of a threat from you if it's never been threatened by something so large before.

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Bugs invading your home or personal space are free game. Killing bugs you see outside that aren't bothering you makes no sense

Spiders I let live for the most part; but in TN we have a number of harmful species so I don't keep them in the house >.>

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In your house no. Many an damage clothes or wood , contaminate food and deliver painful/itchy bites or in some cases cause allergic reactions.

A handful can have fatal or debilitating venom and another handful are large enough to be a physical threat to small pets, children etc.


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Only if they are outside.

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If they're in my living area, they die.

Outside, I will ignore them if I can.

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I'm the bug saver at my work haha. People find bugs, they get me and I put them outside.

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Nope they're intruders

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only destroy them in your home since they dont help with bills but outside in nature leave them be

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I actually avoid killing most bugs unless they're in the way or are an actual issue (like a deer hunter doing their part to prevent an over population issue).

Cockroaches? Step on it if they're directly in my path.
Spiders? Avoid and let them do what they want.
Ants? Kill on sight
Moths/Butterflys? Swat at only when they get close to my face.

Depends on the pest, much like the difference between a cat infestation and a rat infestation. I'll leave the cats, but kill the rats.

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