A question about suffering over death.

[Night & Day]

I dont know really what to name this post.
Something happened today and its kind of stuck with me,
and it being my nature to write everything out,
i thought id share it and get thoughts and
insights and anything else.
Please keep in mind, i am not talking about humans.
And i am not downplaying that a life is a life, no matter what.

In the parking lot today, there was a bee, it was obviously injured and spinning slowly,
i could see it was weak and its stinger was gone.
I watched it for about 10 seconds and thought about its suffering.
I walked away and left it there.
But as i drove away, i wondered honestly if i should have put it out of its pain.
I wondered what would have been the best thing.
But best for me or the bee?
I mean i know this sounds so dorky thinking about this, even writing about it,
but its happened before where i have seen small insects dying slowly,
and it just kind of gets to me.
So...opinions please.
And thank you very much.

 

[Mr. BAW]

The bee doesn't have a central nervous system....squash is the answer.

Your failure to see a stinger might have meant it had recently stung and was, in fact, dying, which, according to my old science class, he was a goner... but that's progress....

 

[fly so high!]

This reminds me of the time that i half killed a spider and she was carrying all her little babies on her back and they were crawling everywhere........I felt so bad....that i ran back outside and stomped on them all so they would not know that i had ACCIDENTLY horribly injured their mum.....and then i had to finish off the poor mum.........i was devastated, i felt really wicked for some time.

So yeah........SQUASHING is definately the answer when it comes to bugs and stuff....just make sure it's done right....quick and no mess!

 

[Night & Day]

The bee doesn't have a central nervous system....squash is the answer.

Your failure to see a stinger might have meant it had recently stung and was, in fact, dying, which, according to my old science class, he was a goner... but that's progress....

So i guess that means that it really wasnt suffering, maybe just involuntary seizing?
Is this with all insects or just bee's?

Thank you Rick.

 

[Mr. BAW]

that's right...

 

[Night & Day]

Knowing this now...

God, how many times i wish i was a bee...

 

[AcrobatMan]

crushed like a bug in the ground...remember..

i dont believe bee cant feel...

The way a dieing bee behaves ..its apparent..it doesnt like it...

 

[Muminki]

This reminds me of the time that i half killed a spider and she was carrying all her little babies on her back and they were crawling everywhere........I felt so bad....that i ran back outside and stomped on them all so they would not know that i had ACCIDENTLY horribly injured their mum.....and then i had to finish off the poor mum.........i was devastated, i felt really wicked for some time.

So yeah........SQUASHING is definately the answer when it comes to bugs and stuff....just make sure it's done right....quick and no mess!

why kill the babies? they go off and do their own thing...

 

[meegannie]

The bee doesn't have a central nervous system....squash is the answer.

Bees do have central nervous sytems (though obviously very different from vertebrates'). There are conflicting views as to whether or not insects can feel pain: some studies have shown that they do at least exhibit some physiological responses that may be indicative of pain, while others show that insects carry on their normal activities even while in a in a situation that would produce pain in a vertebrate.

 

[Liesje]

I like to bluegill fish, but I'm also an animal lover so part of me gets excited when I catch a fish and part of me feels bad. I learned that these fish do not have nerves around their mouths, so when I catch them, unhook them, and toss them back (I don't like to eat fish), they are fine besides a fright and 30 seconds without oxygen. When I catch a fish that swallowed a hook, I cut the line rather than remove the hook (which kills the fish). The hooks are designed to dissolve in water, so the fish has a good chance.

If I see an insect that has no chance because of an injury, I probably squash it. If I see an insect that has no chance because of its present circumstances, I catch it and put it somewhere else (like moving a worm from the sidewalk to the grass or putting a grasshopper back outside).

 

[ylimeU2]

I would have squashed it. I feel bad watching insects suffer and if it clearly isn't going to make it, why not just end its suffering? Whether it feels pain or not really doesn't effect the way I think about it.

 

[UberBeaver]

why kill the babies? they go off and do their own thing...

Because they'll grow up and want revenge on the bastard that killed their mother, of course.

 

[meegannie]

Whether it feels pain or not really doesn't effect the way I think about it.

Well said.

 

[cdisantis83]

I like to bluegill fish, but I'm also an animal lover so part of me gets excited when I catch a fish and part of me feels bad. I learned that these fish do not have nerves around their mouths, so when I catch them, unhook them, and toss them back (I don't like to eat fish), they are fine besides a fright and 30 seconds without oxygen. When I catch a fish that swallowed a hook, I cut the line rather than remove the hook (which kills the fish). The hooks are designed to dissolve in water, so the fish has a good chance.

I worked at a summer camp where I was required to allow the kids to fish, and it always bothered me to do it. The manner in which the fish struggled, with hooks often stuck through their eyes or deep into their throats, seemed to reflect a palpable pain. There were a few instances where I struggled at length to remove the hooks, and it was probably fairly comical to see me working to save a fish with such intensity. At least now I now that it is better to leave a swallowed hook in the fish; I will definitely remember that.

 

[U2Kitten]

I won't kill ANYTHING for any reason. All life is precious and if something dies, I don't want it to be my fault.

 

[redkat]

This reminds me of the time that i half killed a spider and she was carrying all her little babies on her back and they were crawling everywhere........I felt so bad....that i ran back outside and stomped on them all so they would not know that i had ACCIDENTLY horribly injured their mum.....and then i had to finish off the poor mum.........i was devastated, i felt really wicked for some time.

That happened to me when I was a kid. No one believed me, when I told them the babies went scurrying all over the kitchen I've been afraid of spiders ever since

 

[Chizip]

I won't kill ANYTHING for any reason. All life is precious and if something dies, I don't want it to be my fault.

what if ya had headlice, you wouldnt kill them?

or if your pet had fleas?

 

[Night & Day]

what if ya had headlice, you wouldnt kill them?

or if your pet had fleas?