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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
RELATED:
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
What do you think ?
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
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.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
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.
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Liam Walsh 5 years ago
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...
Andrew Yarke 5 years ago
This is me, if I find a bug in my house I will try to not kill it and let it go outdoors.
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
Same here. :) In fact, I will never kill it but try to guide flies to the open windows, etc.
Load More Replies...
tuzdayschild 5 years ago
A stray cat began claiming my backyard as home. At first I just ignored him. Then fed him a little. Then fed him a lot. Then got him a covered bed and a plush blanket to keep him warm in a weather proofed section on my patio (he can't come inside because I am very allergic.) Plus treats because he begs. I always considered myself a dog person but I apparently have a cat now.
Veronica Sjöberg 5 years ago
Cats are very smart. If they like you they make you love them. You have no choice, lol
Load More Replies...
Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
Many home invaders can pose a health risk to me and mine. Bites, diseases, contamination of surfaces/food/water etc. ... It's called "survival". I have a right to safeguard my home. Humanely if possible, with a shovel if not. A cute little mosue on a farm = 100 mice on your farm = mouse pee and poo in your feed and seed = economic crunch b/c you have to replace it all for safety = mouse not so cute. IAnd that's not even coping with crop damage etc. from other pests. deally, we'd all live and let live. Sadly, life ain't ideal.
Flame Lighter 5 years ago (edited)
Finding one mouse is quite different than having an infestation. Releasing a couple is doable but hundreds is another story. I know some who have an infestation and there is feces all along ledges and near food that they have chewed their way into. I think the quantity of these creatures dwelling with you makes a difference and the health concerns they bring. Try telling someone who is allergic to insect bites and stings that it is alright to have found a bedbug/flea/lice etc. to just release it (one is a sign that there will be more in hiding) or that it is alright to let them live and multiply in the place where you dwell because their life is equal to their own. I know of no one with such allergies that would die for the sake of the lives of such creatures.
Cori 5 years ago
I have 'rehomed' a lot of mice. I live trap them with a paper towel tube, peanut butter and a bucket. I also found one on a glue trap outside a business. I took the whole thing home and slowly worked him loose with the help of a lot of olive oil. That was an incredibly grateful mouse. Glue traps are awful, awful things and really ought to be banned.
Susan 5 years ago
Bless you for helping that poor mouse. Yes, glue traps should be outlawed. They are sadistic, horrifyingly cruel devices. Please. No one use them. Ever.
Load More Replies...
Carol Emory 5 years ago
To the person feeding the raccoons, refrain from feeding them. People around here that have fed wild raccoons soon find themselves with 20-30 raccoons that occupy their yards and will be bold enough to open sliding doors and kitchen windows to get into where the food is. They will also be quite vicious about it and harass/attack your own pets if they feel they are competing for resources. Raccoons are resourceful and will find their own food. But a kind act can soon become a problematic nightmare. Let them find their own way.
Pete James 5 years ago
I had a cat that occasionally brought me 'presents'. One day he came through the cat flap, I said "Hello" and he did his usual miaow of reply, at which point a mouse leapt from the inside of his mouth. I spent the next 2 days trying to catch the little beggar before the cat did.
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
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.
Daria B 5 years ago (edited)
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... Liam Walsh 5 years ago
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... Andrew Yarke 5 years ago
This is me, if I find a bug in my house I will try to not kill it and let it go outdoors.
Tiny Dynamine 5 years ago
Same here. :) In fact, I will never kill it but try to guide flies to the open windows, etc.
Load More Replies... tuzdayschild 5 years ago
A stray cat began claiming my backyard as home. At first I just ignored him. Then fed him a little. Then fed him a lot. Then got him a covered bed and a plush blanket to keep him warm in a weather proofed section on my patio (he can't come inside because I am very allergic.) Plus treats because he begs. I always considered myself a dog person but I apparently have a cat now.
Veronica Sjöberg 5 years ago
Cats are very smart. If they like you they make you love them. You have no choice, lol
Load More Replies... Leo Domitrix 5 years ago
Many home invaders can pose a health risk to me and mine. Bites, diseases, contamination of surfaces/food/water etc. ... It's called "survival". I have a right to safeguard my home. Humanely if possible, with a shovel if not. A cute little mosue on a farm = 100 mice on your farm = mouse pee and poo in your feed and seed = economic crunch b/c you have to replace it all for safety = mouse not so cute. IAnd that's not even coping with crop damage etc. from other pests. deally, we'd all live and let live. Sadly, life ain't ideal.
Flame Lighter 5 years ago (edited)
Finding one mouse is quite different than having an infestation. Releasing a couple is doable but hundreds is another story. I know some who have an infestation and there is feces all along ledges and near food that they have chewed their way into. I think the quantity of these creatures dwelling with you makes a difference and the health concerns they bring. Try telling someone who is allergic to insect bites and stings that it is alright to have found a bedbug/flea/lice etc. to just release it (one is a sign that there will be more in hiding) or that it is alright to let them live and multiply in the place where you dwell because their life is equal to their own. I know of no one with such allergies that would die for the sake of the lives of such creatures.
Cori 5 years ago
I have 'rehomed' a lot of mice. I live trap them with a paper towel tube, peanut butter and a bucket. I also found one on a glue trap outside a business. I took the whole thing home and slowly worked him loose with the help of a lot of olive oil. That was an incredibly grateful mouse. Glue traps are awful, awful things and really ought to be banned.
Susan 5 years ago
Bless you for helping that poor mouse. Yes, glue traps should be outlawed. They are sadistic, horrifyingly cruel devices. Please. No one use them. Ever.
Load More Replies... Carol Emory 5 years ago
To the person feeding the raccoons, refrain from feeding them. People around here that have fed wild raccoons soon find themselves with 20-30 raccoons that occupy their yards and will be bold enough to open sliding doors and kitchen windows to get into where the food is. They will also be quite vicious about it and harass/attack your own pets if they feel they are competing for resources. Raccoons are resourceful and will find their own food. But a kind act can soon become a problematic nightmare. Let them find their own way.
Pete James 5 years ago
I had a cat that occasionally brought me 'presents'. One day he came through the cat flap, I said "Hello" and he did his usual miaow of reply, at which point a mouse leapt from the inside of his mouth. I spent the next 2 days trying to catch the little beggar before the cat did.
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