Pests contaminate our food, damage buildings, and give us the creeps. They carry diseases, cause fire hazards, constantly reminding us to pay attention to sanitation and garbage control. However, despite all of this, some people refuse to trap, bait, and kill them.
Recently, Gheetan Chana made a Facebook post about the time he caught a mouse and decided to let it go. After the man described the conflicting feelings he experienced at the time, others started responding with similar stories of their own. Pretty soon, a wholesome discussion on the value of life emerged, and if that isn’t the beauty of the internet, I don’t know what is.
More info: Facebook
Image credits: Gheetan Chana
Interestingly, a species can be a pest in one area but beneficial or even domesticated in another (for example, when European rabbits were introduced to Australia, they started causing ecological damage beyond the scale they inflicted in their natural habitat). Many weeds are also valued under certain conditions but feared elsewhere, for instance, Patterson’s curse is seen as food for honeybees and as a wildflower, even though it can and sometimes does poison livestock.
Here’s what people said about these efforts
Great. I'm sick to death of people who think "It's my property, so I have the right to kill any creature that comes into it." No other creature has the concept of property and they are mostly getting on with their lives peacefully. Too many people have this notion that we own the world and everything is at our mercy, when most of these creatures had evolved before we did.
There might be people who think like this and that's not good. But mainly the real reason we freak out and want these pests away from our homes is because you don't know where they come from and what disease they bring. Any animal that's been in the sewers is very likely to be contaminated, and rats are well known for this. Another reason is, when you have a garden, where you grow your own food, they can be nasty little thieves. Now, surely they look cute, but this is the reality.
Load More Replies...For some reason that reminds of my mother telling me about a cat she had as a child - totally useless and couldn't have caught a mouse if it sat still and waited for him. She said you could hear him galumph his way up the garden. Clumsy but lovable.
Load More Replies...This is me, if I find a bug in my house I will try to not kill it and let it go outdoors.
Same here. :) In fact, I will never kill it but try to guide flies to the open windows, etc.
Load More Replies...Great. I'm sick to death of people who think "It's my property, so I have the right to kill any creature that comes into it." No other creature has the concept of property and they are mostly getting on with their lives peacefully. Too many people have this notion that we own the world and everything is at our mercy, when most of these creatures had evolved before we did.
There might be people who think like this and that's not good. But mainly the real reason we freak out and want these pests away from our homes is because you don't know where they come from and what disease they bring. Any animal that's been in the sewers is very likely to be contaminated, and rats are well known for this. Another reason is, when you have a garden, where you grow your own food, they can be nasty little thieves. Now, surely they look cute, but this is the reality.
Load More Replies...For some reason that reminds of my mother telling me about a cat she had as a child - totally useless and couldn't have caught a mouse if it sat still and waited for him. She said you could hear him galumph his way up the garden. Clumsy but lovable.
Load More Replies...This is me, if I find a bug in my house I will try to not kill it and let it go outdoors.
Same here. :) In fact, I will never kill it but try to guide flies to the open windows, etc.
Load More Replies...
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