Poll: Tolerance of (minor) wildlife

It depends on whether my wife sees it. She has a phobia about spiders, so if she sees it, it has to die.

If I am the only one that sees it, I'll trap it and take it outside so my wife doesn't see it.

Most things get put outside but there are three exceptions:

1. Wasps. They get sprayed since they have an uncanny desire to land on my face.

2. Giant house spiders. One of them fell on my head as a kid and I've disliked them ever since. I'll try to get a glass over them if I have one handy but the second they make a run for it, I reflexively stomp them. I feel bad about it as I know it's a purely irrational response.

3. Cellar spiders. I deliberately keep a few of these around the flat as they're a decent way to keep away other pests. I've had one living in my bedroom for a while now and I'm perfectly happy to leave it be.*


*How okay I am about spiders mostly depends on how closely they resemble giant house spiders.

What bothers me is ants. Once they learn that there are food scraps or cat food inside, they mount an invasion.
I trace where they're getting in and caulk it up; usually takes multiple caulkings, they're determined little buggers.

I suppose we don't tolerate things with stingers well here, either, due to severe allergies.

Never get bees, though. Can't think of a single bee in the house, ever. Get a lot of wasps.

I try never to purposefully kill anything, I try to capture and remove or leave them alone. I've been bitten and stuff, but I don't like hurting, injuring, or killing anything directly. I do eat meat, but I could probably never feel great about slaughtering an animal or even fishing, and luckily there are people who kill these animals and package them so I don't have to feel too bad about any of it. I also try to encourage that other people, like me, try to avoid practicing injuring, harm, or killing of any sort where it is reasonably possible. I'm all for killing diseases though.

I ignore it. They don't bother me.

Mock Turtle said:

This happened recently, and of course I chose the second option, as I generally do with most wildlife other than clothes moths, tiny black flies, or mosquitoes, which tend to get option four if they don't already get zapped by my zapper. I would imagine things might be different regarding more dangerous critters. Any thoughts?

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I have many spiders living in my camp.
They eat the little tiny bugs that crawl about every enclosed space.

I put them outside when they become really large and brave.

In the past, there were thousands of insects living here outside. Now, there are very few because of unrelenting development. Not only here in my little portion of the world, but everywhere else.

I used to have thousands of moths and bugs on my screen at night in the summer where I live.

Now there are none. Literally.

We need bugs. All bugs. They are part of the natural ecosystem. My new neighbors who move to the lake, tear down the small camps, build Mc Mansions, cut down as many trees as possible and spread a constant spray of insecticide possible, have single handedly killed a vast majority of the insects previously here.

It is even worse out west
Farming, ranching and development has killed all bugs during all seasons.

Evey time I have traveled west over the past 20 years, the insect life has plummeted.

Last time I went there was total silence in the lands. No more bugs.

The silence has moved very quickly in my direction.

Moral of the story? Be nice to spiders and stop the total destruction of our ecosystems please.

Valjean said:

Spider on the ceiling? Depends: How big? Harmless? What time of year,? &c.
A small spider on the ceiling I'd ignore. It's not going to bother me up there. If it comes down, though, my cat's not so merciful.

Last week found a small spider trapped in the kitchen sink, I put a piece of cardboard against the side as a ladder and it climbed out. It's too cold to let it outside, so I just let it wander off. Unfortunately found it crushed by something a few days later at the other end of the counter.

I did find a (venomous) black widow spider crawling on my arm one Autumn day many years ago. I shook it off and kept it in a fishbowl over the Winter, and let it go outside the next spring.

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Yes, it was a big one (a few days ago), but hardly anything here is dangerous even if any might bite. I've nothing against them in particular, just not certain what it might do and where it might go. I once stepped out of the shower and trod on one once. I figure they will die from lack of food anyway since I try to keep most other wildlife out of the house, even if they will come in out of the cold.

Wild Fox said:

Have you ever see the movie "Big little farm"? Humans want to be so in control of everything but we overestimate our understanding compared to millions of years of evolution creating balanced in far more complex and effective ways than we can.
But I do live in Texas and do remove scorpions and rattlesnakes out of my house. There are some extreme limits to live and let live in my house that I have difficulty accepting.

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Not seen that film. I suspect my attitude might change if we had more dangerous wildlife but no doubt it would depend upon the likelihood of encountering anything dangerous. We used to have mice quite a lot when I lived in London, with one making a nest in our old valve radio.

Erebus said:

Most things get put outside but there are three exceptions:

1. Wasps. They get sprayed since they have an uncanny desire to land on my face.

2. Giant house spiders. One of them fell on my head as a kid and I've disliked them ever since. I'll try to get a glass over them if I have one handy but the second they make a run for it, I reflexively stomp them. I feel bad about it as I know it's a purely irrational response.

3. Cellar spiders. I deliberately keep a few of these around the flat as they're a decent way to keep away other pests. I've had one living in my bedroom for a while now and I'm perfectly happy to leave it be.*


*How okay I am about spiders mostly depends on how closely they resemble giant house spiders.

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I'm not too bad with spiders, and will pick them up if I can't get them into some jar. Bees and wasps can be frustrating to catch in a jar to release though. I was a member of our bee-keeping club at school, where we kept hives on the roof, so I'm not too bothered about bees so much. As a child, I once was chewing some toffee and a wasp decided to enter my mouth. It took some willpower to keep my mouth open until it had left - but it did.

Mock Turtle said:

I'm not too bad with spiders, and will pick them up if I can't get them into some jar. Bees and wasps can be frustrating to catch in a jar to release though. I was a member of our bee-keeping club at school, where we kept hives on the roof, so I'm not too bothered about bees so much. As a child, I once was chewing some toffee and a wasp decided to enter my mouth. It took some willpower to keep my mouth open until it had left - but it did.

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Wow! You certainly had more restraint as a child than I do as an adult!

Erebus said:

Wow! You certainly had more restraint as a child than I do as an adult!

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Yes, that did surprise me at the time - that I managed to do so - but I suppose I realised what the consequences might have been otherwise.

Mock Turtle said:

Not seen that film. I suspect my attitude might change if we had more dangerous wildlife but no doubt it would depend upon the likelihood of encountering anything dangerous. We used to have mice quite a lot when I lived in London, with one making a nest in our old valve radio.

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The film is very much worth watching. It was a surprise to me as i was not expecting much. As the film progressed in basically confirmed my respect for nature and how much humans have to learn. We do not have mice in our house here but I have too outdoor cats. unfortunately they are experts and eating the birds I like to observe. It is hard to see the remaining feather and I have to remind myself that that is their nature and we as humans do much worse.

Wild Fox said:

The film is very much worth watching. It was a surprise to me as i was not expecting much. As the film progressed in basically confirmed my respect for nature and how much humans have to learn. We do not have mice in our house here but I have too outdoor cats. unfortunately they are experts and eating the birds I like to observe. It is hard to see the remaining feather and I have to remind myself that that is their nature and we as humans do much worse.

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Actually, we created domestic cats and they kill huge amounts of birds each year, so they act as an invasive species. Honestly, cats should be kept inside. I never let mine out. Thankfully, the one I have now isn't really interested in going out.

Saint Frankenstein said:

Actually, we created domestic cats and they kill huge amounts of birds each year, so they act as an invasive species. Honestly, cats should be kept inside. I never let mine out. Thankfully, the one I have now isn't really interested in going out.

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Yes I know that, but when I adopted these that were abandoned two brothers they do not tolerate the indoors. Unfortunately I have adopted too many indoor cats and dogs already. I am aware of what cats can do but they are at least neutered and as well fed by me to reduce the affect on our local environment. Even with that the keep the hunter spirit with them to my dismay. But you are right about the affect of cats on local bird species.

Yeah, sometimes you come across a cat or two that simply cannot be inside all the time.

I have one that, no matter how hard we try, finds a way out. He's even taken to hiding under the (large) dogs' legs, so you can't see him when you go to let the dogs out to pee until its too late. We do what we can to keep him in, but occasionally he eludes us.

I've shared my life with a few ferals as well, that no matter how hard we tried to get them in the house, it didn't work. Even had one that would go for walks with us like a puppy, but she just could not adjust to being indoors. She was so scared she'd sit in one spot, soiling herself and lying in it.

But in most circumstances, indoors is better for all. A car claimed that last one.

Wild Fox said:

Yes I know that, but when I adopted these that were abandoned two brothers they do not tolerate the indoors. Unfortunately I have adopted too many indoor cats and dogs already. I am aware of what cats can do but they are at least neutered and as well fed by me to reduce the affect on our local environment. Even with that the keep the hunter spirit with them to my dismay. But you are right about the affect of cats on local bird species.

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Maybe you shouldn't feed them so well. It is known that domesticated, well fed cats kill more and especially more birds than feral cats. My cats never went after birds but were expert mouse hunters. (Which may just be a matter of opportunity.)