To think you don’t catch a butterfly and take it round M&S

[FanofLeaves]

Was just picking up a few bits in M&S and there was a girl about 8 years old or so swinging one of those butterfly net thingies off her arm. On closer inspection I saw she had one in there (not the ones you send away for, although that would be bad enough, one that had obviously been procured organically)

Her mum was busy looking at something so I said to the girl ‘oh! What a pretty butterfly. That’s a large white. I except you’re going to let it go after you’ve finished your shopping, aren’t you?’

The mum came over beaming presumably ready to hear a comment about what a fun summer holiday activity this all is, and said ‘no, we’ll take it home, keep it for a few days and observe it. It flew straight into the net so we had this ready to pop it straight into!’

‘I said ‘well I’m sure it would have been preferred to be observed in nature, where it was, not caught in a net and taken round the shops. Don’t you think it’s a bit cruel?’

Anyway she was visibly annoyed, and said ‘it’s fine. My children are learning about nature! We know what it eats!’

Anyway she steered her child away from me and said some people are just very joyless and bitter.

Yeah I know I probably sound like a busy body but I can’t bear it when parents tell their kids it’s ok to just take stuff out of nature for their own amusement. Why is it ok to do this? It’s so Victorian, to capture a creature to just look at it, no thought for the poor thing at all. Don’t get me started on why they still sell butterfly nets 😭

Hahaha batshit thread. In total agreement with the poster earlier applauding the kid for removing one more cabbage white from eating her veg.
You aren't going to change hearts and minds this way OP 🙈 I think it's pretty odd that you approached the child like this.

Nothing is officially classified as vermin in the UK - it is subjective. To me pigeons are vermin. They just hang around the play parks, with their manky feet trying to play chase with children

I assure you pigeons do NOT want to "play chase with children"
What is actually happening is that some shite parents don't stop their children from scaring pigeons.
I have worked with bird rescues and pigeons are very very intelligent and recognise different people and form bonds with some.
They aren't something to be terrified for entertainment

If they were intelligent they wouldn't hang round the kids play area. If you chase them they just come back to play again. They need to be removed from play areas - they are just rats with wings. Lots of pigeon apologists on this thread today.

You were the one being overinvested earlier, accusing the OP and me of being inconsistent and now you admit you are yourself. Whereas I merely agreed with the OP. Sounds like you are either confused or keen to start a fight in an empty room.

Will someone explain this butterfly net to me.

I know about the sorts of nets people use to catch them in, I have something similar for fishing leaves out of my pond. But are you saying there are special nets for carrying them round in?

I would be horrified to see someone in a shop with a butterfly. Not so much from an animal cruelty POV but because I have a phobia of butterflies and moths. I can just about cope with them out of doors, so long as they don't fly directly at me, but indoors I find very unnerving

Well said.

There is a phrase I have seen a few times which I think is relevant here. Something about perfection being the enemy of good.

Electrocuting a butterfly to eat? 😳

Horrible

I caught a pigeon the other day and some bloke held it while I used nail scissors to cut off all the hair the poor beggar had wrapped round and round his feet and he couldn’t walk. (Yeah I know I shouldn’t have helped him because I’m not vegan 😅)

There’s an animal charity in London that go round and do the same, it’s a real problem, they spend so much time on the pavements and over time lots of them get hair wrapped round their little feet and it is very painful for them and eventually cuts off their circulation. I know lots of people wouldn’t care though because they’re ’just rats with wings’ (I don’t mind rats either as long as they stay out of my house)

Last year and the year before we had barely any pollinators in our garden. This year after determined planting of every pollen rich flower possible, several bees arrived thank goodness and more butterflies than I've seen for years. It's a pity the butterfly net mother has not realised creatures can't breed if they're caught and taken out of their habitats for her child. You sound as if you were much more polite than I'd have been. Let's keep sowing wildflowers.

What an odd thing to be doing. Do people actually do this, catch butterflies to observe them?!

YABU. None of your business. I would have found it odd but wouldnt have felt the need to comment.

Yeah, and incredibly the Natural History Museum used to sell them in the gift shop, but I don’t know if they still do.

Agree with you OP. Admire them in nature, don't risk damaging them by catching them, and certainly don't taken them around M&S!
Trying to keep them at home for 2 days is an almost certain death sentence surely

I similarly annoyed a parent when I pointed out that having 25+ crabs in one clear bucket in the direct blazing sunlight for over 2 hours was cruel! She told me it was just a bit of fun... definitely not fun for the poor crabs they were probably cooked through by the time they let them go, hopefully would have traumatised her kids into not being so cruel in the future 🦀

If you really wanted the butterfly released, your best bet was to say, “You know, I used to do that with my children - but I just read something the other day about how it’s really not good for the butterflies’ health. Apparently if you’re going to catch them, it’s better to just study them a few minutes and then release them where you found them.”

How did you think she was going to respond to “Don’t you think it’s a bit cruel?“ Fall to her knees, repent her sins, and thank you for pointing out her moral failings?

I'm with you Op how cruel.

Also to the vegan who is arguing. You cannot really compare someone trapping a wild animal to someone eating farmed meat. The meat omnivores eat is generally from farmed domestic species. Butterflies on the other hand are wild animals and so many butterfly species are protected species and are critically endangered! It's not responsible to encourage children to catch and take home wild butterflies!!

Butterflies are in decline. It’s not a good lesson she’s teaching

Not at all. There is a difference between killing for food and killing for entertainment IMO. If you are bothered about factory farming you can purchase organic or free-range meat/eggs.

What next, will anyone complaining about someone's badly behaved child be called a hypocrite if they were ever naughty in childhood?

Someone who has an idiot for a parent.

I would not have been happy to see that either OP. Bloody cruel and pointless.

I find this really sad, a poor animal that should be in flight being taken around a noisy shop being swing around potentially hurting its wings. I do wonder why parents enjoy that sort of thing for their children. At least others are released quickly.

The Natural History Museum is absolutely full of dead inspects and animals. They must have millions of the things including rooms of butterflies. Surely no one thinks these specimens all died of natural causes. It is not a cathedral of animal rights.

Realist. The place for pigeons is in pies.