Would you hurt a fly?

[Nuke]

I only kill those who annoy me, so houseflies mostly. I generally leave bee's and spiders alone and let professionals deal with wasps.
I sometimes feel guilty afterwards, but that only lasts for a minuet or so.

[Bootaaay]

I usually swat flies, they're too annoying and aren't clever enough to escape of their own accord once you've oppened a window like a bee. Wasps piss me off, I usually kill them on sight. Spiders don't bother me but for some reason I can't stand beetles, they creep me out so they need to be squashed :p

[iatneH]

I don't care if they are outside, but my home is a sanctuary and anything caught indoors will be killed immediately.

[Nuke]

...
I'll be sure to remember that iatneH if you'll ever invite me over.

[Fenrir]

I would exterminate the entire population of flies and mosquitoes in the world without blinking an eye or shedding a tear.

It's the Mushihimesama mentality I think.

[grovsnus]

Ugly insects die by my hand, cute insects get to live another day.

Ugly:
Flies, mosquitos and any type that wants to fly off with pieces of my flesh.

Cute:
Bumblebees, butterflies, ants, spiders...

I have an irrational fear of beetles, so I have been trying to be nice to them to get the message across that we are friends. They seem to be getting it, and don't freak me out as much.

[Ruldra]

I have this to deal with insects:



Basically, you press a button and the racket becomes electrified. Anything caught on it will be zapped to death. Very useful around here.

Do I feel guilty? BWAHAHA

[MR_Soren]

I don't care if they are outside, but my home is a sanctuary and anything caught indoors will be killed immediately.

Same here. I try to leave them alone outside, but anything found inside is killed. If I'm feeling very generous, I occasionally catch and release certain bugs.

[Shatterhand]

I have this to deal with insects:



Basically, you press a button and the racket becomes electrified. Anything caught on it will be zapped to death. Very useful around here.

Do I feel guilty? BWAHAHA

They should make a wii controller of that. It would make a great game. "Kill the Dengue Mosquitoes"

[Michaelm]

I have this to deal with insects:



Basically, you press a button and the racket becomes electrified. Anything caught on it will be zapped to death. Very useful around here.

Do I feel guilty? BWAHAHA

I have the same gear
Though I give them a chance to fly out of the window as soon as they sit on my monitor they face certain death.

[Ed Oscuro]

I put them outside if possible.

Hmm, something just bounced off my monitor.

Edit: Nice, a lightning bug is making the rounds on my desk. I love having shit fall from the ceiling!

[jpj]

i would go *out of my way* to kill a fly

[BIL]

If they're really bothering me (repeated return trips after being shooed away, etc), then it's kill or be killed unfortunately. It's survival of the fittest, imagine if we were to go around bothering lions and bears. Can't have that sort of thing going on.

[elfhentaifan]

i just killed a fly, with an Arcadia magazine.
Was a real mess to clean that

[FIL]

The streets around here are one big cloud of flies, one of those electric tennis racquets would come in handy.

[honorless]

Spiders I leave alone. Daddy longlegs also...most of the time.

Other bugs are detrimental (carpenter ants chew up the wood, flies are unsanitary, grubs kill plants, some of my friends are allergic to bee/wasp stings etc) so I generally show no mercy to them in or around living areas.

[moozooh]

I sometimes hunt mosquitoes and cloth moth (with my bare hands, when I see one of them passing in front of my monitor), other insects don't bother me much until they jump on me or try to make themselves my neighbors.

In fact, as a child, I even enjoyed the tickling sensation of a housefly or a caterpillar crawling over my skin. :>

[Super Laydock]

I only kill those who annoy me, so houseflies mostly. I generally leave bee's and spiders alone and let professionals deal with wasps.
I sometimes feel guilty afterwards, but that only lasts for a minuet or so.

Sounds like me. I DO kill the annoying houseflies, but only if they annoy me.
but if they don't do that I'll let them be.

Just last week before going to work I spotted some surface activity in our pond. When inspecting it it was this (and I do hate these filthy ones) green fly which had somehow gotten into the water.

I just couldn't let that be since I think no one should leave someone or something fighting for it's life alone (that is if no predator or stuff is involved - the way nature should work).
I got a pole from the gardening equipment and got it to mount just that. I just put in on a leave in the garden after that.

Sure a lot of you will laugh or scoff at me for that, but it just was the right thing to do.

I'll never kill house spiders or bees/wasps on purpose too when unnecessary. Have respect for life.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

You know bug zappers are really fun to watch when you have been pestered all summer by mosquitoes. Sometimes they get stuck pretty good and smoke. It smells like bad hotdogs.

[CMoon]

Weird how the the thread seems to lump flies in with not only all other insects but other arthropods as well.

Flies--probably yes.

A lot of other animals--no. Many of the other ones mentioned are really useful. Wasps are a difficult call because you don't want them setting up shop in or on your house.

[Zebra Airforce]

I only go after "dangerous" bugs - Black Widows are somewhat common in my area. I don't want my dogs getting bitten by one. If there was a wasp in the house I'd probably hide under my blanket and call somone to take care of it for me I just catch crickets in a cup and set them outside.

[Daigohji]

I use a bug catcher that's made of transparent plastic, and then throw them out the window. This is more from not wanting bug guts on the walls rather than mercy.

[Ed Oscuro]

New question: HOW would you hurt a fly?

Vinegar or honey overdose? Use a miniature flamethrower on it? Kill it with kindness?

[moozooh]

Lazors.

[Ed Oscuro]

Cheap whiskey and glass beads

[BIL]

A well-aimed teacloth snap. You don't get your hands dirty (although they'll be metaphorically stained with innocent fly blood), and you can pretend you're Simon Belmont too!

[Damocles]

I have this to deal with insects:



Basically, you press a button and the racket becomes electrified. Anything caught on it will be zapped to death. Very useful around here.

First off, I need one of those. Secondly, what happens if that would *ahem* "accidentally" touch a human?

[Fenrir]

with a lot of options.

[Nuke]

I usually just use whatever is available and if nothing is, my hands can do the job (I'm the opposite of germophobic, but I do wash my hands afterwards.)

Regarding more advanced animals, I once accidentally killed a mouse my cat brought me while trying to capture it (poor 'lil bugger didn't see me close the door and got squished), and I also had to mercy kill a bird that a friend of mine accidentally drove over, because no one else had the courage (never should have let her test-drive my car).
I felt guilty for about a week or two after the later, and I am seriously considering reducing my meat intake to lover my hypocrisy level.

[Pixel_Outlaw]

Do they make bug zappers powerful enough to zap terriers and cats? We have an infestation thanks to the elderly couple next door.