save the spiders. save the world.

so, last night the man across the way stopped by to see if I had any superglue. namely, the superglue he gave me like, oh six months ago (who keeps the same thing of superglue AND keeps it working for that long, hmm?). anyway, when he came up to the door a little spider was falling from the door frame, and my neighbor john whacked it out of the way.

he didn't want to just move it out of his way, he wanted to kill it.

it fell on john's shirt, and he began to swat at the poor little spider again, and he killed it.

I pointed to Gertrude, an argiope who has spun her web between the bushes by my front window and my outside wall, and said "I just wanted you to know, I'd really appreciate it if you don't kill her."

he said to me, in a tone that clearly meant that I'd lost my mind, "but Carrie, that's a spider."

I explained to him that, yes, it is a spider. A harmless spider who isn't gonna bite anybody and even if she did it wouldn't be a big deal, she's not poisonous. (don't you love how I've assigned a gender to this spider? And named her? And sometimes? Sometimes I call her Gertie.)

I also let him know that she's been here for two months or more and she's been minding her own business, so could he please just leave her alone?

and he said he would. thank goodness. so anyway, here she is from when I first noticed her in August.

so here's the thing: the creatures of the earth? they were here first. whether you're a creation-ist or a scientist or a big-bang-ish or some hybrid of the three, all signs point to "yes" that lizards and monkeys and ants and giraffes and lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) and cats and dogs and spiders were here before we were.

so while I get that some animals need to be used for food (or maybe not, go argue with an argumentative vegetarian about this one, it's not my point here) and that some need to be killed because they carry diseases (mad cow, rabies, west nile, lyme disease), and that some are just plain unsanitary (again, with the diseases, like cockroaches or house flies) it's just plain insensitive to not take the time to find out if something is really harmful or destructive before you purposefully kill it.

if it's about to attack you/hurt you/kill you? defend yourself. but for crying out loud have a little decency for your fellow earth inhabitant and assess the situation first, if you can.

I'm not saying never. I've used a pesticide before. I've killed ants with a spray because they were streaming into my apartment. But if I see a spider/moth/caterpillar on the sidewalk or in my home I don't go out of my way to kill it. It's simply unkind.

ways to save insect who have mistakenly found their way inside:

1. get a cup and a piece of paper. invert cup over insect. carry outside. release in grassy area.
2. make a trail of graham cracker crumbs out of your house (hey, they say it worked in the secret life of bees)
3. open your window to let whatever it is out if it's flying near the window.
4. make up your own.

and remember that everything has a place in our fragile fragile ecosystem and you might just be killing something that's a very vital part of it.

off soapbox now.

oh, and this message brought to you by a person who is freaked out by the noticeable lack of bees and einstein's theory/surmising on such. and even if it's bunk (which some people say it might be) the fact remains that bees pollinate and we require pollination for plant growth and the notion of wasps having to carry out that function instead gives me the heeby-jeebies.