Where do we draw the line?

Good evening ATS

Yesterday, someone across the table from me at a restaurant killed a fly. Now, this got me thinking.

Where/when do we draw the line at killing?

I mean, i've always thought killing a fly was horrible. Generally they are killed because they have an annoying presence, and that's outrageous. If you killed everything that was annoying and smaller than you, then we'd all be in prison. My next door neighbour is annoying, and yeah, he's smaller than me, but i don't kill him when he comes round to borrow some sugar!

There is the argument that flies are dirty, and spread germs, but then again, you don't kill all the hobos you see, or just generally dirty or smelly people, do you?

Personally, i still leave mosquitoes alone, as they're still a living thing and its incredibly harsh.

I would say that if it has a soul, i won't kill it. But i have no idea what has a soul and what doesnt. Even then, you take into consideration that if anything living has a soul, then you are killing something with every footstep. Even putting soap on your hand is killing something.

I mean, im not gonna not wash because im killing something, but i was just taking it into consideration.

What do you think?

Love&Light

Jacob

I do not kill anything, like insects etc.... I have had an invasion of ladybirds this week(lady bugs), and i just put them outside, they just keep coming back. But i would not kill them. Annoying, but thats the way it is.

For me you leave them, as long as they are not dangerous to you.

I don't kill insects or animals.... most of the time.

For example, I live in the desert, and if I find a small gecko in my house (which isn't that uncommon), I leave it alone, or I usually try to take it outside and set it free. The same goes for spiders and other bugs.

I am ashamed to say, however, that if an insect scares the crap out of me, I might kill it out of "self-defense". (I know, like what harm could it do to me? But there are limits I can take!) Cockroaches terrify me (and I mean, I scream bloody murder), so I often kill roaches.

I am also terrified of moths, but I don't kill them. I know...moths of all things! But they really scare me, and i don't know why. If I see a moth in my house at night, I run for cover, close my bedroom door, and don't come out again.

(Yes, I am a female.)

Having lived through infestation with spiders, I have learned that killing them is better then setting them free. They will find their way back in. My attitude now is, if an insect invades my house, it's fair game.

I'll squash it, spray it, chase it with a swatter until dead. It's my house, my territory and it's trespassing on my turf.

Outside is another world, and I don't kill anything outside my domain. No motivation too.

I remember when I too didn't kill bugs and let them go... it was a spider infestation and a cockroach infestation that I think changed me forever into a natural born insect killer.

i try not to kill anything. even flies. im a half believer in karma.

I only kill Mealy Bugs. It's part of my job, I wouldn't usually. I use pure ethanol, so I hope that they at least die a pleasant death. Otherwise most insects have a purpose, even if it seems irrelevent to us.

reply to post by andy1033


Exactly.
I don't see the point in people killing them if they couldn't harm you. Even when they can, i keep my distance but i see it extreme to kill.

reply to post by nikiano


If an insect scares you, you kill it? Surely it takes alot of effort to kill an insect, i mean, if it was the size of you, and it startled you, and you swung at it then maybe, but to kill an insect you have to bend down, get the spray or whatever.

Sometimes i go to the extent of saving things. Alot of geckos get stuck in my pool, and stranded, and the poor things cant swim, so i try to save them. If i'm in the pool, and a fly "swims" past, ill get that out too. Partly because it'd drown, and partly because i'd rather not have it swimming with me

reply to post by YouAreDreaming


That comes down to the fact that their presence annoys you. I mean, if you can get over the annoiance then there's no need to kill them.
Although i used to have that attitude. If that spider was paying rent, he could live here, but then i thought that those spiders have probably been here longer than me.

reply to post by shamhat


I suppose if you had to kill them, then a quick painless death is better. I cant stand it when people use spray. That stuff would be freaking horrible.

Namaste.

reply to post by JacobNH


For a start, flies and insects aren't sentient lifeforms like ourselves.

Life and death in the natural world is part of reality and natural selection. Flies are eaten by many creatures - birds, other insects, spiders, etc. Being bottom of the food chain is crap, but that's just how it is! The fly you let outside intead of squashing may only live a few days or even hours at the most anyway.

Human evolution hasn't allowed us the time to treat every living creature with the same dignity and respect, so of course we don't. If we all farted around saving flies from certain doom, we'd probably be a less successful species.

I kill spiders if they come in the house. Mealy bugs are dead meat around me also.

I have had to kill wild cats and wild dogs. It was not pleasant but necessary to keep them from injuring small children and pets.

Lizards and the likes I just relocate.

What I find interesting is that I would have no aversion to killing a human that was intent on doing harm to me or someone else.

Humans are the most wicked and hateful creature on this earth. There are exceptions but few and far between.

I don't like flies or spiders.
If I can, I open the window and try get the fly out.
Spiders, usually get flicked out the window with a bit of paper.
If they are particularly pesky, I will swat the occasional fly and or spider.
Most of the time though, my littlest cat races around the house, catches, and eats them. So ever since I've had her, I don't really chase flies around the house much.
She enjoys it. It's in her nature.