Are you a bug squisher or do you catch and release?

squirtle

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Nov 29, 2003
Messages
5,544
Purraise
1
Location
Sunny Florida
I just realized that I may have told a slight fib about the moths.... See, most of the moths I find don't make it out alive. I have saved a few but the others I show to Dori and she chases them. I see how frustrated she gets when they land on the ceiling and won't come down that I actually will pick her up so she can reach the moths.


Ok, I just had to confess
I feel much better now.
 

jcat

Mo(w)gli's can opener
Veteran
Joined
Feb 13, 2003
Messages
73,213
Purraise
9,851
Location
Mo(w)gli Monster's Lair
I squash mosquitoes, and would pulverize a roach if I found one. Otherwise, I try to catch bugs and put them outside before Jamie eats them. Spiders are good for insect control, and I only started catching them and putting them outside after we got "Spidey Hunter".
 

scampy14

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Jun 25, 2004
Messages
32
Purraise
1
I'm okay with bugs if they dont enter my house or land on me. Last night I saw a bug on the fire detector so I told my husband to
put it outside. By the way, I found out how to put pics of hampton online,
now all I have to do is join shutterfly......
 

wellingtoncats

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 17, 2003
Messages
36,207
Purraise
24
Location
Wellington City, NZ
I need an other option. It depends on the bug here too.

I release Wetas & Grasshoppers outside. Cockroaches get SQUASHED!

I LOVE moths so they can stay. Spiders, well, depends how big they are. Last night it was funny I was on my way to bed and I saw this huge spider dangling above my Mums bedroom door so I told her to hurry quick and she came and then went back and got some flyspray and she sprayed it until it fell off but it wouldn't die it was like the flyspray only stunned it.
So then she scooped it up and put it in the rubbish bag.
 

sunnicat

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jul 20, 2005
Messages
2,788
Purraise
1
Location
Central Illinois
ohhhh I can't vote, because I'm somewhere in between....

Depends. Depends on what kind of bug it is, where it is, what it is doing. Usually I won't bother a bug outside. A bug in the house is another story. Most don't have a chance, with a few exceptions. I won't kill a cricket (can't stand to hear them crunch, for one thing), they get caught and put outside. Same for moths. Flies are dead meat. Ditto for spiders. And some of you already know how I feel about roaches, so we won't go there!!!
 

katachtig

Moderator
Staff Member
Admin
Joined
Jun 25, 2005
Messages
25,290
Purraise
2,893
Location
Colorado
Depends on the insect - Moths and flies are usually caught by one of the furbabies. Lucy will chase the spiders out into the middle of the room and the hubby will take them outside. Bees we try to release, wasps are usually killed.
 

missymotus

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
May 8, 2005
Messages
9,234
Purraise
254
If I get there first it's usually catch and release, but normally the pets eat it before I have a chance.
I let the babies chase a fly around for a while before I got it out the window, they were so cute.
 

cjandbilly

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 20, 2005
Messages
3,335
Purraise
1
Location
Floridian
A lot of people say it depends.


Free them.............. or SQUISH EM!

~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~
 

snosrap5

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jan 9, 2004
Messages
6,802
Purraise
14
Location
Emerald Coast of Florida
If I'm the only one around it gets squished. If my cats around and I cant catch Vanna she will take off with them. If my husband or kids are around its a catch and release UNLESS its a roach. In Florida we only want to see dead roaches.
 

cjandbilly

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 20, 2005
Messages
3,335
Purraise
1
Location
Floridian
Originally Posted by snosrap5

If I'm the only one around it gets squished. If my cats around and I cant catch Vanna she will take off with them. If my husband or kids are around its a catch and release UNLESS its a roach. In Florida we only want to see dead roaches.
That's us, unless it's a spider, too... they get squished. But, the cats normally find them alot faster than I do. The other day, Billy caught a bug, brought it to me, and ate it in front of me, spit it up before he chewed it, picked it up, chewed it up, spit it out, left for a minute, and then came and ate it again.......


Needless to say, I didn't let him give me any
for that night!
 

aussie_dog

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Feb 23, 2004
Messages
1,121
Purraise
28
Location
Alberta, Canada
I try to catch and release, but if it's a fly that just absolutely refuses to get caught or refuses to fly in the direction of the open door and/or is giving me multiple heart attacks (like it swoops down close to my face again and again), then I either get out the fly swatter or I let the cats get it, whichever shows up first. I feel bad that Buffy and Willow get at it, but on the other hand, they're getting the mental stimulation that they don't usually get. It's nice to see the wild animal in them during those times.

If it's a moth, I don't bother, I just let Buffy and Willow get them. If the moth is by a door, I'll let it outside, but if it's somewhere else, I'll let Buffy get it. Moths freak me out too much, so I can't even take a giant glass and trap it inside it. It's the way it flutters as it flies... Ugh. But anything larger than a mosquito doesn't get swatted, including flies. I just can't stand seeing the blood-goo on the walls. You dont' see it (not much anyway) with mosquitoes and smaller insects. I hate to swat spiders too, if they're the size of daddy longlegs. If it's a smaller one, I'll try to take it outside, but Buffy and Willow (mostly Buffy) will probably get to it first. I don't take no chances with spiders, they tend to hide and disappear really quick. Once Willow was playing with one who was on my ceiling, and it fell down into a corner and I didn't see it again for a week (so I hated sleeping in my room for a week), until I saw it coming down the wall in the basement just under my room. I think there was a hole it went into that let it come downstairs.
 

tari

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Apr 8, 2005
Messages
3,714
Purraise
1
Location
Chicago suburbs
Well...bugs fall into three categories...non-icky, icky, and scary. Non-icky bugs, like butterflies or moths or ladybugs or lightning bugs I catch and release.

As for the others, I strongly prefer for hubby to deal with them. I think that was part of our wedding vows...to love, honor, and handle all things icky and scary. If it wasn't spoken, it was certainly implied.

But, if I HAVE to deal with them myself...icky bugs, like spiders or roaches or earwigs or those big flying beetles that are all over the place this year get squished or flushed. (I just HATE that crunchy thing the beetles do when squished...better to catch them and flush them.) Scary bugs, like bees or wasps (I'm allergic to them, so they're really scary) I trap in a window or a room until they die or someone more capable than I (like hubby) arrives to deal with them.
 

rapunzel47

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jul 20, 2003
Messages
30,725
Purraise
8
Location
Lotus Land
Mostly live and let live. Which includes relying on the kitties for a lot of the bug control. We don't get many indoors, and they do seem to deal with them. We don't get roaches -- for which I am truly grateful, for I think I would have to be more pro-active on that score.

We do get wasps, and they can be a nuisance, but we've found traps that are quite effective, and use nothing more than sweetened water for the bait. I won't use bug sprays. Seeing the effects of Raid on an insect is the stuff of nightmares for me. It probably isn't pleasant for the wasp to drown in the sweetened water, either, but at least it's a "natural hazard", so to speak, and one the insect can, in fact, escape -- the insect has to get lucky, and it doesn't happen often, but the fact that it can somehow makes it feel better.
 

me-n-my guys

TCS Member
Super Cat
Joined
Jan 8, 2005
Messages
1,009
Purraise
5
Location
Under the Radar
I'll squash a roach in a minute, with much screaming involved.
Killing flies is a challenge, because they are so fast. But usually I leave them to Mini.
Big spiders have to die, I'm sorry..we get some big ones here, so far none in this apartment. Big scream factor..calls for the 6 foot phonebook toss. But I leave the little ones alone.
Moths usually have to go, too. They get around the lights & drive Mini crazy. If she doesn't get them, I will, just to save things from being broken.
 

kathy14

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
Aug 1, 2005
Messages
121
Purraise
1
Location
Mississauga, Canada
Tigger is great with bugs... she sees them before I know they are even there. Then she lets out a little meow so I come see what she's doing. Then she promptly kills and eats it. Exceptions are ladybugs, which I take outside, or bees & wasps, which I kill because I don't want them to sting Tigger if she tries to catch them.
 

xocats

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
Messages
20,608
Purraise
16
To be honest...I'm a squisher of spiders, silverfish & bugs that scare me or give me the creeps.

Moths & other flying bugs...I release.
 

purr

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
Messages
1,901
Purraise
3
Location
Texas
Originally Posted by squirtle

I didn't answer because it all depends.... Crickets, moths, rolly pollys, beetles, and anything that doesn't "look" mean or gross I will catch and release. But spiders, or roaches, or other scary looking bugs get squashed!
Yep, same for me! I'm very superficial when it comes to bugs I guess!
 
Top