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"I feel sorrow for them..."

A colony of wasps was living in my roof, peacefully carrying on in their short lives as drones they went out in search of pollen to feed themselves and their queen. Every day I'd see them flying in and out a small crack at the front of my house, as they, without anger to all the human destractions passing them by every day, without anger to the wildlife that lives around the house, would go about their normal business.

This morning, however, the wasp poison got sprayed at the entrance to their nest. This spray was supposed to humanely kill them without getting too close to the nest and stung. As soon as the spray hit the entrance, wasps from all around the area swarmed the nest and anything moving around it so as to protect the queen from harm. These drones not realising they were speeding up their own death.

Five minutes and wasps were crawling out the nest and dropping to the ground, dead before they landed. However, five hours later, the poison still in effect, some wasps are still going about their normal business as though nothing has happened. However, the effects of the poison have made them lose all sense of balance and they are rolling around the ground, obviously in pain.

These poor creatures were only trying to survive. They picked a quiet empty spot to live - a perfect spot, free of predators, close to the flowers which provide them with pollen, and out of the effects of weather.

I stood there and watched. I could have put them out of their misery with one quick stamp. The wasp's instinct to protect the queen controlled the drone to it's very last breath. It rolled around on it's back trying to get upright to fly back up the couple metres to the nest. But even when it managed to get upright, the poor thing didn't have the strength to fly.

It's wings motionless, it's legs wriggling in desperation, it's will strong, but the life was still draining away. These wasps hadn't actually hurt anyone. They posed a potential threat, but so do magpies and seagulls and have I sprayed them with poison?

These creatures could have survived if they found somewhere else to live. They thought they were safe, but due to human fears they were wiped out - a whole colony.

I suppose you have to be in the situation to actually feel the hurt and sorrow I feel for them. They were living good healthy lives til today. No warning, no provocation, just the end.

Stryke wrote:
> I killed an ant the other day. Should I go to confession?

Killed an Ant!? You shall pay! Me and my colony will make you cower like a cowardly coward!

So now we know where Ant-Anty-Antyipopopopoppulous went...damn you Stryke.

I hate wasps, and if there was a nest of them in my roof i know i would smoke them all out of there.

Wasps are horrible spiteful little creatures and they will sting without provocation.

I was stung once when I riding my motorbike, the damn thing got caught in the collar of my shirt and stung me in the chest. Trying to control a motorbike whilst being stung is not the best experience I have ever had.
l
ee's on the other hand are friendly littel things who will only sting if you provoke them, they go around there business of pollinating our gardens for us, nice and peacefully.

Bees rule, Wasps suck.

Here's a way of doing away with guilt - let your cat kill them

Cats will eat spiders, flies, moths and other assorted insects etc. Just put them next to the offending little blighter, and they'll give it a sniff, then eat them. I use my cat as a weapon

I've got a really bad case of arachnaphobia. I still hate it when I know I've killed one, but I fear them too much not to.

If they're outside, I let them live.

Edgy wrote:
> Actually, I've got arachnophobia and I suck 'em up the hoover.

-----

So spiders aren't "just creatures trying to survive"? Hmm, I smell a change in the wind...

Stryke wrote:
> You're one of those people who, if you dust, dusts around spider-webs,
> aren't you?

Actually, I've got arachnophobia and I suck 'em up the hoover.

When I was about five I was eating a packet of crisps outside my house, and a bee flew in without me noticing. I put my hand in to get another crisp, so imagine my horror when I retrieved my hand and in between my fingers was not an unhealthy crisp, but a furious bee, which I was holding by the wing. It stung me on the thumb, and went off (most likely) to die.

Didn't put me off bees though. Still hate wasps, we had a nest in our roof, and since I'm in the attic, the little blighters would come through there and in through the toilet window. I think we had them, um, "eliminated"

You're one of those people who, if you dust, dusts around spider-webs, aren't you?

I can't help having feelings for them. They're only creatures trying to survive like we are.

I, luckily, haven't yet been stung by a bee or a wasp so I haven't really got any hatred for them.

It's just sad seeing all those dead bodies on the front doorstep.