I was complicit with killing a wasps nest

[ScrambledTofuNeedsKalaNamak]

I'm vegan and my DH is pescetarian. He obviously isn't concerned about fish, although his favourite animal is a shark (make that make sense), but he won't kill anything unnecessarily.

We had a wasps nest on our property recently which was a danger to people walking by our property, and to us and potentially our animals. We couldn't just leave them and let them be because of where it was. It was in our post box.

We couldn't move the nest for obvious reasons and so my DH went out and bought something that killed them (I don't know what it was). I knew he was going to do this and so I'm complicit. I feel really shit.

I've been vegan for over 10 years and I wonder if there was anything else we could've done to not destroy this wasps nest and kill them? Leaving it in situ was not an option.

You can be as blunt as you want with me, and I deserve it, but I would like to know if there was another option, and going forward I would choose that option. Research wasn't helpful at the time.

They definitely weren't honey bees.

I know that wasps are hated, even by vegans, but they have a purpose. They are pollinators, predators and decomposers.

I'm really sad because I didn't stop the decision to kill them, but what could we have done?

I'm not an expert, but I think you'd have felt worse if they had killed someone to be honest. Its shit, but it was the least shit option.

Thanks, I needed that response 👍. It was a wooden post box and now has been replaced with a metal one so we are hoping that helps. Thank you, because as much as I care for animals, you are right. I wouldn't want to see my postman killed by me ignoring the nest.

I feel you, OP. I'm not even a vegetarian and I have this ongoing dilemma with a hornets' nest on my property; we have scores of very chilled hornets bumbling around during the summer, scaring the bejeezus out of visitors -they're the size of my thumb. But as they are peaceful and only really seem interested in the succession of blossom among favoured plants in the garden, they're not actually harming anyone, so I can't bring myself to evict them.
I suppose you could have uninstalled your mailbox, carefully moved it out of proximity to the path, and replaced it with a new, nest-free box?

Thank you. Every time we went near the post box they began to fly out of the holes that were in the box. If we'd have lifted it I think it would've been mayhem.

If it hadn't been the post box, which is on the path outside our house, it wouldn't have been a problem.

Thank you for not killing yours.

Well you could have contacted a pest control company and enquired whether there is a humane way to move a wasp nest but I'm pretty sure there isn't, so you didn't really have a choice.

The universe is a strange balancing act. We are only bit players, here for a short while, hopefully being mindful of the destruction we must inevitably cause, simply because we were born.

Your veganism has contributed less than most people, to the damaging circle of existence, thanks to the modern phenomenon of human altruism, altruism which is of course mirrored naturally with destruction, as light is only perceptible thanks to the contrast of shadow.

Even a devoted monk can't help crushing mites, washing away simpler life forms, drinking them, sweeping them aside. A fox will always kill a chicken, by it's very nature. A human will always destroy, as we are fated to do so by our nature.

To ease yourself, maybe plant something for pollinators. Create habitats. Continue not needlessly consuming animals. Accept the wasps are gone and that guilt is the price to pay. There will be more wasps if you make space for them, and they will also experience the vast unfairness of the cosmos. As will we all.

My husband is allergic to wasp stings and goes into anaphylaxis if stung, he could quite literally die.

Wasps are aggressive and can sting with no reason or warning.

So you did the right thing.

I wouldn’t have a problem with this at all. If I get stung by wasps or bees, I’m in a world of trouble.

For bees, I would get someone in to move them. Wasps, are aggressive little pricks, so I’d have no problem killing them off.

We are currently host to a bumble bee nest but can avoid them so have decided to leave them, wasps are different I wouldn’t have left them esp the area they were in.

I'm not sure what else could've been done about the wasps nest.
You should show your husband commercial fishing videos. Over 70% of nets are unwanted bycatch and are dumped dead back into the sea. Including loads of shark species, dolphins etc.
I'm not preaching but if he loves sharks he may not be aware of the downsides of industrial fishing. Off top of my head Salmon is mostly farmed so no bycatch but they have their own problems with sea lice and chemicals etc.

Bless you for your devotion and for making such a devout confession of your sins against veganism. For retribution you should recite 12 Holy Tofu Recipes and genuflect 3 times before your Seitan altar. 😅

Seriously, wasps are dangerous and you and your husband did a service to your community by disposing of that nest.

Im vegan, I would leave wasps alone if they were out of sight, but I would kill them if they impacted my home.

I also killed a very devious rat that decided to live in our wall cavity, he was starting to chew our electrical wires and I had to put a stop to it before he invited his family over....

It’s them or us OP 🐝 YANBU

You are killing insects underfoot by walking across your grass, and on your windscreen by driving.

The world is predicated on survival of the fittest and kill or be killed. We may not like it but that is what the great designer/dictator in the sky has decreed, so we have to suck it up.

In the grand scheme of things destroying a wasps' nest is small beer. You may rest easy.

We had a wasps nest in our postbox this spring, it was only small one though and my OH kept breaking it and she kept coming back so after a week of this daily ritual we put a recently lit citronella candle in the postbox, whilst it was still smoking, and the wax was liquid, and it worked.

While you have chosen not to use animal products, most of the animal kingdom doesn't have that choice. Creating a wildlife friendly garden will include making space for predators - some of the insects in your garden will be eaten by other animals, but you are helping the whole ecosystem.

Bumbles very rarely sting, they usually keep themselves to themselves, I regularly rescue and handle bumbles and not once been stung

I wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

Sometimes you have to prioritise yourself.

We have wasps. Every year they appear somewhere different. The only year we had to do something about them was when they were right in the pathway and getting very aggressive with anyone who waked past.

There's only so much you can do so dont feel guilty.

What a great comment! Makes you realise even the most committed vegan is probably unknowingly killing thousands of tiny organisms every day.
Where do vegans draw the line at killing living organisms? Is it based on size?
Won't someone think of those poor head lice! Just trying to scratch out a basic existence on little Arlo's head and along comes vegan mummy with the lice poison.

It’s a matter of priorities. For sure, the OP avoids killing things - fluffy bunnies, mice, rats, slugs, aphids etc. But let’s say the OP got body lice, or threadworms. Presumably, it’s ok to kill those? What about bacteria? They are living organisms, but I have yet to meet a vegan who won’t take antibiotics because they kill living organisms. A wasps’ nest away from people and housing is ok, but if it’s close to houses, the wasps pose a real and potentially deadly threat to the health of humans. If it’s easily accessible, it is possible to remove a wasps’ nest humanely, but in an enclosed space like a post box, there really is no safe, humane way to do it. So the OP’s involvement is in no way a cause for guilt.

We do kill animals unknowingly each day, I know that. A simple thing as being able to walk means that I will kill insects - this situation with the wasp obviously felt a little different though because I knew it was going to happen.

Parasites are a little different for me though, and prevention is definitely better. I flea and worm my dog for example. I don't have children and so head lice aren't an issue for me. I wouldn't judge a vegan who did treat their child's head with lice treatment though.

I can confirm that I take medication and kill bacteria. I don't have any other options. Thank you for your last few sentences.

Heard an interesting story about a buddhist monastery. They are of course completely against killing any animal, as part of their religious beliefs, but the monastery was overrun with cockroaches, and eventually they called an exterminator to kill the cockroaches because they were a danger to human health. They put off making this decision for a long time but in the end decided they had to do it because they had a greater responsibility to protect human life. Just thought it might help you come to terms with being complicit in killing the wasp nest

I feel you OP. Some ants have had a next near my backdoor for ages but somehow managed to tunnel into my kitchen last week. I couldn't have them in the house. There was so many inside! We put down ant poison to kill the nest and then will block up the hole. I like ants (when they are outside) and felt awful doing it.