And by this I don't mean any scientifically meaningless notion of "races" among humans, but rather a particular race of vermin which I dealt with earlier today.
Laid out around my house are live traps for catching squirrels which like to invade our house and live in the walls, chewing through phone, cable and power lines, and generally causing problems. They are big nasty black introduced squirrels which are displacing the smaller, good natured native douglas squirrels. As such, I have no real problem dispatching them with a pellet gun when they are not in the trap, otherwise, my Dad drives them across a river and lets them out in a richer neighborhood.
The other day, I caught a big rat in one of the traps. My very young half-brother decided it would be a nice pet to keep, and the rat stayed in the live trap for a couple of days while he fed and watered it. This morning I took a look at the rat and noticed a distinctly less lively animal than the one that was first discovered. The rat was clearly going to die if left in the trap, so I opened it up and let the rat out.
After I had done this, I wondered if I had done the right thing. After all, this was an animal that as a species has been responsible for more human death than perhaps any other. How could I justify keeping this dangerous vermin alive? Shouldn't I do my part to control introduced species? I won't tolerate a european squirrel, why should I tolerate his bald-tailled cousin?
What should I have done?
Posted by Tatiana (Member # 6776) on :
Well, this is a difficult question for me, because I like all living creatures. If my cats are like my children, then bugs are sort of like my pets. I used to never ever kill a bug. (Edit: unless it was biting me. Bugs who try to eat me I kill in self-defense.) Mostly I just let them be. Worst I would do was catch them in one spot and release in another.
But then I found that the number of bugs that a house with catfood left out can support is completely unlimited. The bugs got more than icky, they got destructive. They began to make a mess, ruin my books, cause asthma in my cats, and scare guests.
I really wonder how Jainists handle this situation. Maybe they don't have pets. I don't like killing things yet this is intolerable. So now I kill indiscriminately the bugs of the pest species, and still mostly tolerate (unless visitors are coming) any others.
So my answer for the rat is this. If rats are a huge problem for you there, then kill it humanely. If they aren't, then let it go. Why harsh on it for being a rat? Rats gotta live too.
[ September 29, 2004, 06:18 AM: Message edited by: Tatiana ]
Posted by Mabus (Member # 6320) on :
Considering how long those rats have been here, it's probably a little late to try and get rid of them now.
Posted by Alucard... (Member # 4924) on :
I don't think you would be inhumane for killing a rat that invaded your home. If you went outside your sanctuary, hell-bent on hunting down rats and killing them in their own natural habitat just for the sake of killing them, well, that might be a little bit too much over-the-top Charlton Hestonesque.
Otherwise, do your home a favor. No one likes a rat. Not even the neighbors in the better neighborhood across the river.
[ September 29, 2004, 07:09 AM: Message edited by: Alucard... ]
Posted by Fyfe (Member # 937) on :
I think you'd have been okay to kill it. Rats do not belong in people homes, I fear.
I myself have declared war on cockroaches. They ate the spines of my great-grandfather's old old books, all his Raphael Sabatini and P.C. Wren books that I was terribly fond of. No longer will I ask quarter or give it. The roaches must die.
Jen
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Kill the rat! Vicious, disease carrying critter.
*shudder*
Posted by Sara Sasse (Member # 6804) on :
Alucard, I confess to having gone on Charleton-Hestony on the race of fleas. Posted by Chaeron (Member # 744) on :
I should clarify here: we don't have a problem with rats, just squirrels, and the trap was outside beside the house, not inside.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
After having been swarmed by a hive of yellowjackets (though I made it inside the house with only two stings and three yellowjackets actually sticking to my clothing because it was two leaps to the front door from where I disturbed the nest) I have to admit, they are the one thing that really freak me out. I sprayed two hole cans of stuff down their hole with no compunctions whatever.
AJ
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
quote: otherwise, my Dad drives them across a river and lets them out in a richer neighborhood.
Seriously? Isn't there some unpopulated area where they could be released?
This strikes me as not altogether nice.
Posted by Telperion the Silver (Member # 6074) on :
quote:Rats do not belong in people homes, I fear.
Hey! I've had two pet rats in my time (well...I've also had a 6' long boa constrictor as a pet too).... their names were Wiffles and Lily. And they were good rats. I just love their little hands.
Posted by maui babe (Member # 1894) on :
Speaking as a public health official (I investigate dozens of cases of murine typhus every year, not to mention Leptospirosis and the possibility of plague), I say kill them all, as many as you can.
Rats are vermin and vectors. We (the health department) do hunt them down and kill them. Nasty creatures!
Posted by Chaeron (Member # 744) on :
Icarus: he lets them go in a park on the slope of a mountain. To the north, east and west there is nothing but forest and mountains, however, the rich suburb is to the south, and these squirrels like the city. Oh well.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Rats, strictly speaking, are a species rather than a race.
Posted by Yozhik (Member # 89) on :
We had a rat living under our garage slab. Our black lab mix laid siege to the hole.
After about a week, the rat's corpse was found placed in front of my husband's garage door, where he could not fail to see it.
Little doggie was VERY proud of herself that evening.
Posted by Icarus (Member # 3162) on :
Is the intent to send them to a specific group of houses (chosen due to some common characteristic) or is the intent merely to get rid of them?
Posted by Synesthesia (Member # 4774) on :
Rats are so cute. They have adorable little paws So are squirrels. I kept one for days before it died.
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