So my friend just killed some woodlice. Do you keep your own morals to yourself when in other people's homes?

[lynnepot]

Just had a coffee at a friends house. We went into her conservatory and we noted there were three or four woodlice crawling around on the floor. She casually swept them up put them in an old ice cream tub outside, then went to the kitchen got some bleach and squirted the bleach over them. She did it so casually whilst telling me about how she dropped off her dd to the coach station last night for a school trip and without any hesitation of doing so in my presence. She didn't even talk about what she was doing. She just carried on chatting. I thought it was quite a mean thing to do really but it was her home and I didn't feel it was my place to comment on it. I walked home just now questioning myself whether we just have to accept other people have different moral thresholds and that we should just respect its her home and some people do things differently.

Any Friends fans remember when Gary shot the bird, shocking Phoebe?

My best friend of 12 years set fire to one of those wispy wall spiders with her lighter when we were with a big group one day. I was torn between wanting to burst out crying and slapping her cheek. Worst of all everyone laughed when I told her it was cruel and she did it to another one.
I distanced myself from her after that.

I think I'd have said something without thinking , like 'what the hell are you doing'!

Sorry zac I have no idea what she would have disposed of them. I could see the tub was plonked next to the outside drain so I suspect that's where they'd be tipped down.

I think I've probably missed the boat with voicing anything now. It would be a bit weird to send her a text or next time I see her to pull her up on it don't you think. Unless the next time I go round and any woodlice happen to be wondering about I doubt i'll be in a position to say anything on the matter again.

Is squishing or drowning an insect just as bad though? That's what i'm thinking now. I unashamably admit to spraying flies and daddy long legs with fly spray so is it really any worse than that? Perhaps its just my moral compass and methods are different to her's

what's wrong with killing vermine now? Woodlice aren't vermin? They're actually good for maintaining the ecosystem of the garden/outdoors, what with their diet being decaying material: dead leaves, dead wood, that kind of thing.

I have no compunction at all about squishing or otherwise dispatching garden pests, but woodlice are goodies not pests.

The way OP's acquaintance went about dealing with the woodlice makes me think that her parents dealt with woodlice (and possibly other animals) in the house in the same way, and she doesn't actually think anything of it.

I wouldn't have dared say anything myself because I can't moderate my tone and it would have come out more harshly than I meant

Woodlice pose no threat to humans, no germs, don't eat our food or anything so this behaviour is totally unnecessary.

I don't mind spiders. I used to put them out but now I just leave them. Nothing bad has happened.

Allabout the house spider behind the sofa lives on all the other insect invaders. Actually been ages since I committed a murder. I have no qualms when newspaper beats wasp / blue bottle on the window for similar hygiene reasons to your own.

I don't hit flies for fun and they don't make me ill either. I see a flaw in your conclusion-reaching.

I wouldn't have called anyone cruel or bloodthirsty, but I'm sure I would have piped up that drowning them in bleach seems slightly unnecessary - surely chucking them out on the lawn would have been fine?

It's easy enough to trap things in Tupperware and release them, whether insects, or the small furries my cat occasionally presents me with.

I think drowning is nicer than covering them in bleach, but I suppose it's not such a huge difference really! I once had a really bad fly infestation (turned out something had died in the chimney) and had to use a bug bomb thing - I came back in the room too early and they were all still dying and I'm quite haunted by the sound/sight of 100s of them dying. So I'm not sure fly spray is much better.

There was a particular low point at work where a spider ran out and I gave an almighty scream and stamped on it. A colleague started to have a go at may saying I should have come to her to get her to remove it and heart still pounding replied "I'm arachnophobic and really don't care about your sensibilities right now"

I'm with your colleague here - absolutely fair enough to run away, but I don't think a phobia is an excuse for killing the thing you fear. No one would accept that if you had a phobia of dogs, for instance.

I would’ve said something

I hope your friend spills some of that bleach onto her favourite jeans next time..

I think that there’s no need to kill wood lice (or daddy long legs for that matter - unsure exactly how you have the moral high ground if you spray them yourself). However it may be that she is afraid of them, thinks that they are germy or whatever and is simply (thinking that she is) keeping her home hygienic and tidy. She may not have thought about bleach being unpleasant for them etc. She might just be getting rid of dirt and mess effectively.

So no I would not consider her a psychopath for this or reassess the friendship. Unless there are other things making you think she is. Because this is probably just cleaning and tidying to her.

Have only ever killed a wasp ddog was trying to catch, felt shit tbh.
Happily cohabit with some whopping spiders in our old house!! Plenty of space for all here!!

Seems a lot of effort to go to but I'd swat a fly or a wasp without hesitation so I wouldn't get on my high horse over it.

Presumably she didn’t want them making their way back in?

LisaSimpson Flies really do give off the most excruciating sound when they are being killed with fly spray don't they they are disgusting creatures though.

Unleash Yeah I honestly don't think she thought anything of it. As I say she was just so casual doing it with no hesitation.

Horse

My next door neighbour had a problem with squirrels in her loft, instead of calling pest control she decided to drown them - I was so disgusted that I reported her to the RSPCA! I advise you do the same with your friend, a life is a life!

I doubt the RSPCA would interested...

What a nasty cruel thing to do. I would have put them outside - right way up. Horrible woman.

I hope karma visits her soon.

Yinv that's a fair point i'll give you that. I mean yes I fly spray flies and daddy long legs. She uses bleach for woodlice. Perhaps its one and the same but with different chemicals. I guess its like how people can be so offended by people horse meat but have no problem with cow meat. I mean they all live in a field at the end of the day doing the same thing.

How on earth do you even catch a squirrel in the first place? They are lightning quick the ones I ever see.

I must live in a parallel universe where insects are fair game.

Does no one use wasp or fly spray? Or ant powder? I do.

Bit weird. Just stick them outdoors? Why the bleach?