eChipmunks

A question for vegans?

How do you feel about "pest" control? Do you ever use ant traps in your house? Have you ever called the Terminix guy? Don't get mad at me. I'm also a vegan and I genuinely want to know your stance on this.

Public Comments

1. Don't kill. block where they are coming from.
2. Anybody who's going to let ants or termites stay in their house are retarded.
3. some may, and others may not. vegans are against animal cruelty, but killing an ant isnt killing an animal. but you could be a vegan and kill ant, etc. being a vegan means you dont eat meat or any dairy product, or poultry. i can still do whatever and be a vegan
4. i do whatever i can reasonably do to get the bugs out without harming them, but if i had to i would not be against using pest controls. For ants though if you just don't leave food out or around and block the source where they are getting in you'll be fine. peter: yes it might not technically be considered nonvegan to kill an ant or bug, but generally vegans are people who respect ALL life and are going to do what they can within reason to not harm it.
5. I haven't had any pest problems because my apartment manager has repellent stuff sprayed outside regularly. Not sure how it works but it's not like they're going to let termites eat up their investment because one person objects. I wouldn't use mouse or rat traps that kill (but I do have a cat and a pomeranian so you can imagine what will happen if I ever get a mouse or rat ... eww). I use flea shampoo on my animals and if my kids had lice I would use lice shampoo. Some thing you just can't get around - I mean, I'm not going to have lousy children and flea-ridden pets because I want the lice and fleas to live. I can imagine the conversation, "I'm sorry Mrs. School-Principal, but I can't kill the lice on my daughter's head because I want them to have a full life." *waits for child protective services*
6. i live in the middle of no where surrounded by trees and water ...we get a lot of ants in the warmer months..we do have to spray the outside perimeter because if we didnt we would be overrun by them. we also get a lot of mice..and when im home i catch them and let them go outside..what my mom does is probably another story .. i guess my stance on pest control is that i dont necessarily like it ..but sometimes it is necessary
7. Keeping them out of the house is the easiest form of pest control. We don't leave food open (or crumbs laying around) that will attract critters/insects. We used to have cats which kept the mice from the house. Got rid of the cats and in came the mice. This was before I was Vegan (or even Vegetarian), but I always felt bad for leaving traps for the mice. Eventually a stray cat started sticking around, so we now give it a can of cat food every once in awhile to keep it stickin' around, and our mouse problem is gone. Ants get in every once in awhile but quickly leave once they realize there's nothing in here for them to eat. Fruit flies do come from the fruit in the summer, so if we do get them we set a cup with sweet liquid in it overnight... The flies land in it overnight and the ones that don't get killed get trapped when a cover goes on, and fruit fly problem solved! Flies get in in the summer time due to the constant in and out of the dogs, but the few that get in we try and shoo outside. The ones we cannot get outside eventually die. Spiders are free to cohabit with us. They like wood paneling and it'd be futile to try and control them. And they help with any flying insects that may get in. Natural form of pest control! Now, we don't let them run rampant, but they've never been that big of an issue. Think that covers all the critters we've gotten in our house. :)
8. vegan?
9. I don't kill insects in my house, but rather put a cup over them and slide a paper under so I can "escort" them outside :) There are also a lot of natural products that deter bugs, such as paprika in a spray bottle sprayed in problem areas. I may not be crazy about bugs, kinda creep me out, but I still respect their right to live! (Just not with me!)
10. I've only had ants once. They started coming in where my rabbit's cage is. All you have to do for ants is sprinkle a line of paprika where they're coming in. They won't cross it. The only other "pest" I've had is mice & humane mouse traps work great with the right bait. But, mice have an incredible sense of direction, so you have to either release them really far away, or take every twist & turn possible to get to where you're releasing them. Otherwise they'll just find their way back because they know there was food & shelter there. Oh, wait, and when I was a kid (maybe 16 or so) we had a bat get into our house somehow. It was like 2am on a July night, and it flew into my room. I was up just hanging out or whatever & I thought it was bird at first, until it landed. That was a funny experience. My little sister was away at camp, so it was just my mom & I trying to shoosh it out the door for almost two hours. We wound up calling some pest control company (that catches & releases). The guy just came in with a heavy glove on & casually just grabbed the bat off of the curtain it was clinging to, and we paid $40 for him to do that. Ha, next time I'll know better. :)