What's your initial response to "burn it with fire"

[tetracerus]

Cruelty towards small animals is one of the early red flags for psychopaths

Funny side note: a surprising number of people don't realize Ts are animals (kingdom Animalia). Like, what did you think they were? Fungus? Plants?

 

[Venom1080]

flat out anger and annoyance. usually respond with id burn you with fire (jokingly!) or what if i burnt your dog/cat.

 

[Trenor]

more about respect for living things that apparently is non existent what gets under my skin when someone yells kill it with fire.

Cruelty towards small animals is one of the early red flags for psychopaths
Funny side note: a surprising number of people don't realize Ts are animals (kingdom Animalia). Like, what did you think they were? Fungus? Plants?

Who here has never swatted a mosquito, house fly or horse fly (add in any other pest here)? They are all living yet that doesn't slow us down. We even went on a rampage to erratic the mosquito population in the US. That's why we don't have big cases of malaria outbreaks which is great by the way. We literally said poison them to death (aka kill them with fire). Are we all horrid unfeeling psychopathic monsters? Are we being willfully ignorant to the plight of the mosquito?

I don't think we should be cruel to any animal but to expect everyone to sit around the tarantula camp fire and sing Kum By Yah is not realistic. No matter how much I personally like them there will always be some who feel the same about them as we all seem to feel about the mosquito.

 

[tetracerus]

@Trenor I have most certainly killed mosquitoes. I agree that we can't force others to enjoy our hobby, but it's a bit misleading to conflate the fight against malaria with animal cruelty. Mosquitoes cause the deaths of millions and it is not wrong of us to fight back. The distinction is in our intentions and motivations. It is morally reprehensible to kill for the sole intention of torturing an animal.

 

[Chris LXXIX]

We literally said poison them to death (aka kill them with fire). Are we being willfully ignorant to the plight of the mosquito?

You can say that my man. It's not a kill those or not, but what people use for that task.

Why buy, and spend a lot of bucks, i say, for chemical products against mosquitoes, in the first place? Products that harm us as well, no matter those fellas "No, no, they are safe" garbage advice?

I use Mother Nature 'rules' against those little annoying blood suckers (btw less blood suckers than corporations & banks).
Certain flowers, and Bats. And i enjoy a free mosquitoes summer.

I have four Bats living on my farmhouse, they have all the "dark" and quiet the need, houses etc combined with my army of Pelargonium and lemon plants, i live as an happy, bite free, man. In a area where there's "Kill the Mosquitoes Championship"

Better than breath that chemical garbage, spray rapture, and one day end up in oncology, if you ask me :-s

Natural remedies FTW

 

[louise f]

You can say that my man. It's not a kill those or not, but what people use for that task.

Why buy, and spend a lot of bucks, i say, for chemical products against mosquitoes, in the first place? Products that harm us as well, no matter those fellas "No, no, they are safe" garbage advice?

I use Mother Nature 'rules' against those little annoying blood suckers (btw less blood suckers than corporations & banks).
Certain flowers, and Bats. And i enjoy a free mosquitoes summer.

I have four Bats living on my farmhouse, they have all the "dark" and quiet the need, houses etc combined with my army of Pelargonium and lemon plants, i live as an happy, bite free, man. In a area where there's "Kill the Mosquitoes Championship"

Better than breath that chemical garbage, spray rapture, and one day end up in oncology, if you ask me :-s

Natural remedies FTW

 

[Kymura]

What's your initial response to "burn it with fire"

I would love to answer you but I rather enjoy reading the posts here and prefer not to be banned.....:wideyed:

 

[Andrea82]

Who here has never swatted a mosquito, house fly or horse fly (add in any other pest here)? They are all living yet that doesn't slow us down. We even went on a rampage to erratic the mosquito population in the US. That's why we don't have big cases of malaria outbreaks which is great by the way. We literally said poison them to death (aka kill them with fire). Are we all horrid unfeeling psychopathic monsters? Are we being willfully ignorant to the plight of the mosquito?

I don't think we should be cruel to any animal but to expect everyone to sit around the tarantula camp fire and sing Kum By Yah is not realistic. No matter how much I personally like them there will always be some who feel the same about them as we all seem to feel about the mosquito.

That is exactly my point. Tarantula don't kill people or spread disease. They are not pests. They don't swarm and kill people by the millions. I don't expect people to be all fuzzy and warm to my hobby. But i don't have to put up with the ignorant bs either.

 

[SausageinaNet]

I don't care anymore. If people ask me what I do for fun I tell them about my Ts. If they are interested and ask me questions I answer them but if they are just telling me how disgusting spiders are and that they would never step foot into my house I just ignore them and stop talking to them. I don't have the time to change peoples mind especially those who are just ignorant. The only thing I really care about is that it makes me happy. What other people think about that isn't my problem.

 

[Garth Vader]

I think I would be very irreverent and tell them about the news stories linked on this thread- "yeah someone did that and ended up burning his entire house down! Smart guy! Seems like it worked well!"

My T is new and I really dig him, so I have been getting lots of questions and comments. I treat anxiety disorders and suicidality for a living, so if people talk to me about it they are usually really interested or they just don't bring it up because they know I promote the idea of approaching the things you fear and living an exposure lifestyle.

 

[Crone Returns]

I don't like it, and I try to explain it to some people. But even people that are educated in it, sometimes still want to burn my spiders with fire. It's really annoying but I just try to deal with it.

Are you serious?

 

[Trenor]

@Trenor I have most certainly killed mosquitoes. I agree that we can't force others to enjoy our hobby, but it's a bit misleading to conflate the fight against malaria with animal cruelty. Mosquitoes cause the deaths of millions and it is not wrong of us to fight back. The distinction is in our intentions and motivations. It is morally reprehensible to kill for the sole intention of torturing an animal.

That is exactly my point. Tarantula don't kill people or spread disease. They are not pests. They don't swarm and kill people by the millions. I don't expect people to be all fuzzy and warm to my hobby. But i don't have to put up with the ignorant bs either.

Ok, I can see that. Maybe for spreading diseases mosquitoes just deserve a little killing. But house flies and other 'pests' don't all spread diseases. We kill them just the same and don't feel any guilt when we do so. We use zap lights, sprays, other animals etc. to get rid of what we perceive as pests with no remorse regardless of the methods used for their eradication. So if they perceive tarantulas as pests why would 'Kill them with fire' be any different then 'Zap them with electricity'?

I was helping my Mom in the garden once when I was a kid. We were weeding a beet bed and I didn't understand why some of the plants were 'good' and some were 'weeds'. So I asked her how she decided which plants were which. She said, "The weeds are plants that are not where we want them to be. No plants are inherently bad but when they are growing counter to what we want then they are weeds". She also noted that what is a weed to one person can be a good plant to another. It is how we perceive and add value to them that makes them one or the other to us.

Again, I don't advocate torturing any animal for fun or otherwise. I also don't think everyone is going to place the same value on the same things. We all assign a lot of value to our tarantulas so they matter more to us. You said "It is morally reprehensible to kill for the sole intention of torturing an animal" and that is true. If they bug zapped a tarantula quickly would that be acceptable? If they didn't have a torturing intent and just wanted the pest gone how is that different then wanting the dreaded house fly gone? Again, if we have no problem with 'Zap them with electricity' then can we complain about "Kill them with fire'?

 

[Jones0911]

I don't let it bother me as long they don't touch any of mine and I never see it in the news like a teenager burning one with a magnify glass or something

 

[Crone Returns]

Ok, I can see that. Maybe for spreading diseases mosquitoes just deserve a little killing. But house flies and other 'pests' don't all spread diseases. We kill them just the same and don't feel any guilt when we do so. We use zap lights, sprays, other animals etc. to get rid of what we perceive as pests with no remorse regardless of the methods used for their eradication. So if they perceive tarantulas as pests why would 'Kill them with fire' be any different then 'Zap them with electricity'?

I was helping my Mom in the garden once when I was a kid. We were weeding a beet bed and I didn't understand why some of the plants were 'good' and some were 'weeds'. So I asked her how she decided which plants were which. She said, "The weeds are plants that are not where we want them to be. No plants are inherently bad but when they are growing counter to what we want then they are weeds". She also noted that what is a weed to one person can be a good plant to another. It is how we perceive and add value to them that makes them one or the other to us.

Again, I don't advocate torturing any animal for fun or otherwise. I also don't think everyone is going to place the same value on the same things. We all assign a lot of value to our tarantulas so they matter more to us. You said "It is morally reprehensible to kill for the sole intention of torturing an animal" and that is true. If they bug zapped a tarantula quickly would that be acceptable? If they didn't have a torturing intent and just wanted the pest gone how is that different then wanting the dreaded house fly gone? Again, if we have no problem with 'Zap them with electricity' then can we complain about "Kill them with fire'?

Hi Trenor. The house fly et. al loves carrion and poop of all kinds. So that's why we slap the crap out of them.

 

[Trenor]

Hi Trenor. The house fly et. al loves carrion and poop of all kinds. So that's why we slap the crap out of them.

You mean we view them with less value then we do other animals so we have no problem killing them. I agree.

 

[Crone Returns]

You mean we view them with less value then we do other animals so we have no problem killing them. I agree.

Well put. However, their children -- maggots can be used in medicine to ahem eat the rotting flesh of wounds in humans.

 

[Vanessa]

Natural remedies FTW

An amazing thing happened within a couple of years of pesticide use being banned in Toronto. We started seeing bats again... and dragonflies... and spiders... and frogs. All those wonderful, and non-toxic, weapons against all manner of nasties. Imagine that!

 

[tetracerus]

Again, I don't advocate torturing any animal for fun or otherwise. I also don't think everyone is going to place the same value on the same things. We all assign a lot of value to our tarantulas so they matter more to us. You said "It is morally reprehensible to kill for the sole intention of torturing an animal" and that is true. If they bug zapped a tarantula quickly would that be acceptable? If they didn't have a torturing intent and just wanted the pest gone how is that different then wanting the dreaded house fly gone? Again, if we have no problem with 'Zap them with electricity' then can we complain about "Kill them with fire'?

You're right. I don't feel bad about zapping flies in my apartment. And I acknowledge that people assign value differently to living creatures. Cows are sacred in some parts of the world. Dogs are eaten in some cuisines.

If someone genuinely did view a tarantula in their home as a pest/threat and consequently zap it, I would not think them cruel and/or psychopathic.

I admit I took "kill it with fire" a bit too literally and thus associated it with more torturous intent than is [usually] intended. Ultimately, it's the context that determines whether "burn it" has the subtext of "because it negatively affects me," or "because I want it to suffer." It is not a contradiction to accept the former but not the latter.

 

[BobBarley]

Are you serious?

Yes.

 

[Andrea82]

renor, post: 2494838, member: 112909"]You mean we view them with less value then we do other animals so we have no problem killing them. I agree.

Flies are able to carry disease and lay eggs in our food and homes.
I can understand where you're coming from, understand that different people have different value. But to see an animal as pest and danger when it is not, and not be willing to change that just because? That is willful ignorance.
I don't kill what doesn't harm me on purpose.
I think we both have some good, solid points. If people were just able to be a little more in the middle between our points it would be so much better