i just saved a life! yeah! yeah! yeeahhhh!

[wildcatstrike]

Ok, this is long so if you can't be bothered reading it that's cool. Just leave now and save yourself some time

So i'm sitting here in the office at work, and let me tell you, people here don't like flies. People have hung up sticky fly papers to try and catch them on. Other people have created elaborate traps using orange juice, plastic cups, and sticky tape. Other people like to go overboard and flail their arms about going "eurrrgghhh! horrible horrible things!!!".

All of this makes me angry/sad/like i'm losing my mind/etc/etc. After all, flies are just trying to get by like the rest of us and never chose to be a fly. I would bet good money that no-one i work with who hates them has ever been harmed or made sick because of a fly.

So anyway, just now a fly flies into a paper bag of (non-vegan) doughnuts someone left on a table. A collegue seizes the opportunity and twists the paper bag shut, stuffs it into a plastic carrier bag and ties that bag up. This person announces that they've "got one!" with much enthusiasm, and throws the whole thing in the rubbish bin.

I felt totally awkward. There's no way i want to just leave this little creature tied up in TWO bags, trapped and waiting to die. But you know what it's like when you're at work or wherever, and you feel like a bit of a twat sticking up for what they would call "just a fly". But i got over that.....

So i ask this fly-hater if the fly is still alive. They look at me awkwardly and say "I dunno. I think it's dead." Obviously this is bollocks, so i go "I'll put it outside", pick the bag out of the bin, take it outside and open it up. What do you know! The fly's still alive! And rubbing his legs in sugar.

Off he flies and hopefully we'll never see him again (for his own sake)!

I just thought i'd share that story with you because it made me feel good, in spite of me being nervous of saving him at first because of getting hassle from work people, or drawing attention to myself or whatever. Ultimately none of that matters though and saving the little guy was more important to me

PS - The fly could've been a lady fly, i know. But i went with "him/his" in my overly-long story for the hell of it.


JEFF GOLDBLUM : USED TO BE A FLY

[.Rebecca.]

That fly's very lucky!
I also can't stand it when people kill every little animal they can get whithout no reason. Though I am terribly afraid of spiders I don't feel like having the right to take their life as long as they are no real danger for me.

[Est]

I think that was very courageous of you. It's horrible feeling "odd one out" and takes a lot of guts to do what you know to be right anyway. Go you

[RachelJune]

Yay, that's a cool story

[sandra]

Good for you, Wildcatstrike!

[Smallweed]

I like the story, too, Wildcatstrike. But I've just found an article, snappily titled "Prevention of flight activity prolongs the life span of the housefly, Musca domestica, and attenuates the age-associated oxidative damage to specific mitochondrial proteins" (abstract here), that makes me wonder whether the fly might have lived longer if he or she had stayed in the bags with the doughnut:

The rate of oxygen consumption and life expectancy of the flies were experimentally altered by confining the flies in small jars, where they were unable to fly. Prevention of flight activity decreased the rate of oxygen utilization of flies and almost tripled their life span as compared to those permitted to fly.

Yes, another example of pointless experimentation on animals. And of course it's irrelevant anyway. The point is that you liberated the fly. You gave it back its freedom to ... um ... fly. And that's more important than longevity, in my book.

Still, I hope you don't think me rude to mention the article. Especially as I'm new. It's just that it seemed relevant, somehow, to the vegan philosophy. For me, it's not just about life or death; it's not just about suffering. It's also about FREEDOM!

[missbettie]

yay good for you!!! its always awesome to stick up for something you believe in too. I am the spider rescuer here at work as well...otherwise they'd get smashed...i get really really mad when people do that.

[Gorilla]

well done, nice story!

[sandra]

Exactly Smallweed.......it is about freedom!
I'm sure the fly would prefer to live out it's life naturally rather than be confined in a jar. It's a bit like someone in prison............they would probably prefer fewer years of freedom rather than a longer time behind bars!

p.s. Welcome to the forum!

[Caramammal]

well done to you....you saved a life ;o)

I saved a fly the other day. It had fallen into my hubbies coffee dregs,and I thought it was drowned. I fished it out and put it on the windowsill...just in case...after a couple of minutes it was standing, washing itself and after about 10 minites, I let it out of the kitchen window....)

[sugarmouse]

Cewl story and certainly the type of thing I would do, no matter how difficult social situations are we have a mission!
And remember, vegans save lives on a daily basis

[wildcatstrike]

Hehehe, wow, thanks for all the cool comments. This is why i love vegans. Same wavelength as me!!!

If only i worked with all you lot! x

[songlife]

ahahaha, awwww, you're so cute!! That story made me laugh a bunch.

When I was a little girl at camp, the other kids called me the "Bug Doctor". Some boys were pulling legs off of a grasshopper () so I butted in and hijacked it. I wasn't allowed to keep it in the cabin, but I made a tiny protective cage for it with grass and stuff, and I would take it out for exercise under my supervision for at least an hour a day. It was really amazing for me to observe while the it actually learned to be fully mobile with only half of its original legs. At first it couldn't move much, but by the 5th day it was hopping around, and after a week I released it into the wild since it was completely mobile again. It needed the protection while it was learning to hop again. I took in more bugs that summer. And every time another girl in the cabin saw a spider or weird bug around their bunk bed, they would scream for me to help them I'd come and get it and let it outside and they were grateful for it.

So you see? It's ok to be different and help little creatures like that, even if you think it will make you look awkward in a social situation, it often ends up just making other people think you're sweet or quirky or both. Only a real a-hole would think any less of you for it.

Come to think of it, it turns me on when a guy or girl gently takes a tiny bug and lets it go safely outside. I think things like that increase your desireability.

[wildcatstrike]

Wow, you totally brought that grasshopper back from the brink. Awesome!

And yeah, people who save bugs are way desirable

[twinkle]

What a great story, I'm glad you set the fly free

I also liked songlife's grasshopper rescue.

[KayVegan]

Wonderful story, very well done, Wildcatstrike! Bless, you have a heart of gold. And I'm also very appreciative of so many people on this forum acknowledging you rescuing the fly and helping other animals in need as well. She / he (the fly) was very fortunate to have you around proceeding the salvation despite the incomprehension of your colleagues. It is all about respecting each and every creature - whether big or small!

[journey]

Wonderful story. There's lots of bug type animals that i may or may not like, and that I may not want on me or in my living / working space, but that doesn't mean I wish them harm. I think it's great when you can find a way to deal with them humanely.

I'm a huge proponent of relocating critters that folks just can't deal with in their living/working spaces (as opposed to killing). Most folks seem ok with it if you want to relocate spiders outside, but can't deal with relocating a lot of other buggie type critters. You found a good way around that.

Just wondering - why is there so many flies in your workspace? Do you work outdoors? Do you need better screening on your windows? Maybe there's a way the buggies could be excluded from your area altogether, which would make everything a lot more sanitary for everyone (bosses like this argument). Always easier to exclude them than try to relocate them all.

[firstandthen]

Good for you, especially when it meant you had to appear "odd" to others. I hate it when people think it is amusing to taunt or kill small bugs/insects like that. As though their lack of compassion somehow makes them cool.

[Fuhzy]

Jeff Goldblum : Used To Be A Fly

Hahahaha

[Lydia_Sorrow]

Its like in the pub the other day with my friends.
A little wasp was flying around and everyone was getting agitated with him(/her but you know) and eventually he flew into my friends half finished pint and started struggling and sinking.

I panicked and got the straw I had, leapt up and started shouting "GRAB ON MR. WASP! COME ON! YOU CAN DO IT!" and sure enough the wasp grabbed on and crawled onto the dry part of the straw where I let him crawl onto my hand and I put him on a nearby leaf to dry off.


I came back to the table and sat down and only then did I notice how weirdly I was being looked at by the entire pub.

Screw it! I loved that wasp!

haha
x

[Sarah_]

^ hahahahahaha. The things we do in the name of justice.

[wildcatstrike]

I panicked and got the straw I had, leapt up and started shouting "GRAB ON MR. WASP! COME ON! YOU CAN DO IT!" and sure enough the wasp grabbed on and crawled onto the dry part of the straw where I let him crawl onto my hand and I put him on a nearby leaf to dry off.

If i was in that pub i'd have so given you a round of applause! "Grab on Mr Wasp!" - genius!

[Linxie]

Yay great story!

I am always fishing insects out of swimming pools when I am on holiday and everyone laughs at me. But I can't bear to see them drown!

I also once saved the live of a frog who was dehydrated by giving him physiotherapy in an ashtray of water! Strange but true!

I have also saved a sparrow and a kitten. And rehomed a puppy in Spain

[wildcatstrike]

I also once saved the live of a frog who was dehydrated by giving him physiotherapy in an ashtray of water!

Hee hee, thats brilliant! I love how you call it "physiotherapy". I bet he was well happy in that little ashtray.

[Linxie]

Ha ha it makes me laugh too! I was only about 12. I found a frog in my apartment that was completely dehydrated and couldn't move his legs properly. I just remember plopping him into an ashtray full of water and wiggling his legs to get them moving again. He recovered and hopped off back into the bushes behind our room

[Laura-Louise]

I'm so glad I found this thread, I was beginning to think I was a bit weird!

Whenever I save a bug at home my other half pipes up "They won't thank you for it!" as if the only reason you could ever do something good is so you get thanked - purlease!

I was sat on the bus the other day and watched a tiny spider carefully make his way all the way down the inside of the window, then an old woman got on the bus, sat in front of me and when the spider finally made it to the ledge next to her she promptly squashed it with her thumb, it made me so angry I could barely disguise the disgust on my face!

On a happier note, we saved a duckling a few months ago, my horrible cat had decided that birds who could fly away were far too much like hard work so went and got himself a duckling to play with instead. When he saw us he dropped the poor little thing so we carried him back over to the canal and luckily found the mother and other ducklings and reunited them.

[Linxie]

Yay! I love your duckling story. Very heart warming!

[fiamma]

Yay for Laura! I found a little baby dove sitting on the pavement about a year ago; I was really torn about taking or leaving him but I couldn't see the nest and if he'd stayed where he was he would have been stepped on or eaten by a cat. So I drove him to the Bird Protection League and the woman there fed him - he looked much happier after that! She said he wouldn't have survived another day - I was so happy I was able to save him.

[brucie-g]

Yes lovely story and well done to you. I guess we all have the same issues in the workplace.
All animals including the smallest of insects have the right to life. Why is it people feel the need to torment defenceless creatures?

[sugarmouse]

Because people are naturally bullies who feel it necessary to prove they are the strongest beings by picking on those with no defence. my opinion anyways.

[fiamma]

When my bf sees an insect his automatic reaction is to squash it, it really gets on my nerves!!!

[saztats]

I'm so glad there are so many people who save bugs like I do! It really upsets me when people I otherwise love kill other creatures just cos they don't like the look of them, or react through fear. I guess you guys are no strangers to the funny looks I get when caught saving earthworms that have crawled onto the pavement, or run out of a building with a spider lurching about up my sleeve!

Folks don't seem to realise bugs are food for other creatures, and valuable for the whole ecosystem!

And Fiamma, people can change though...my bf is on a weevil saving mission at his work since he met me!

[sandra]

I love reading about everyone's experiences................I see myself in each and every one of you.........it gives me hope for us humans!

[vava]

When my bf sees an insect his automatic reaction is to squash it, it really gets on my nerves!!!

Tell him if he kills it - he eats it! Its the ROOL!

[Lisey_duck]

That carries the risk of having to watch him eat it, though.

[Linxie]

My other favourite thing to do is to move snails who have strayed into the middle of the path I have even been known to walk past one and think no that snail does not need moving. Then I think to myself well what happens if I walk back this way later and find him squished. Could I live with that knowledge? So I turn around, go back and move him

[Darky_]

Recently, I was in a group with some people, I didn't like half of them anyway but this irrated me...There was a Spider, everyone started going crazy and acting pathetic: "Theres a big spider I'm scared, I don't mind little money spiders" etc... *Rolls eyes*... so then this guy is close to killing it but thankfully someone rescued it quick and placed it outside. Then they carried on about it and someone said "At the end of the day its just a spider" (The one that wanted to kill it), and I just thought: HA!!! And what makes YOU any better than that spider. Arrogant b-st-ard!... Maybe I should of said that, i was close to it, but i had too many enemys! hehhehee

[ellaminnowpea]

My other favourite thing to do is to move snails who have strayed into the middle of the path

what if they were going somewhere important? it'll take them even longer to get here. what if their kid was calling them for some juice or something...

hahaha just kidding, my crazy mind just cant decide if I should move snails or not!

[firstandthen]

Sunday: Found a beetle in my office, named him Bert. Then "crunch" - I stepped on him I thought I was going to cry but my work-mate just thought it was a great big joke.

Monday: Saved a huge spider (of which I am very scared) from being mauled by my cat. My kitty managed to hurt a few of its legs but I rescued it from his naughty paws and took him outside. Hope he recovered.

I think I managed to make up for Sunday. I felt so guilty but my colleague thought it was all rather amusing that I stepped on him. I certainly didn't think so and had to restrain myself.

[Gorilla]

i saved a squirrel from getting run over today - i saw him creeping down the pavement very slowly and then he ran out into the road, but just stopped in front of a load of traffic! so i ran into the road, picked him up, and carried him over to the other side where there was a tree which he climbed up. i hope he was ok.

[Lisey_duck]

Wow, the squirrel must have been really freaked out to let you pick him up. Normally they run a mile.

[Gorilla]

yeah i think he might've been slightly injured or something. he was limping a bit and moving quite slowly which i guess is why he stopped in the middle of the road. he was pretty skinny too although i've never held a squirrel before so i don't know if they're always skinny. he was very soft despite being bony so sweet.

[danaeonyx]

I saved a wasp once lol. And they scare me! I just don't like the suffering. As soon as you start saying "it's only a..." where do you draw the line? Buddhist philosophy believes in causing no harm to any living creature, including flies, worms, bees etc. For example, when the Dalai Lama was a youngun, he wanted a cinema, so a foreigner was designing one for him. But got frustrated as the buddhists building it had to remove all the worms from the dirt! Lol In case the worm is their reincarnated grandmother or something.

Also, when my boyfriend or dad saves me from a spider, they get annoyed when I go all vegan with my "Don't hurt it! Put it outside!" Lol Sometimes when people ignore me and crush them, I get a strange cold empty feeling inside me. 'Cos I know a life has just ended and I witnessed it. Does anyone else get that?

[cherob]

I love your story Wildcatstrike and all the other stories on this thread! I too am a life saver. Yesterday a huge caterpillar was wriggling across my patio. Knowing one of my cats would get him, I picked him up on my bookmark and took him to the tall grass in my garden. I also save spiders, beetles, any kind of insect. Recently I was washing the bath tub and a spider got caught in the water - I didn't think he would make it, but I fished him out and in a minute, he went on his way!

I'd rather save a life, and take any flack from the non-vegans, non-Buddhists, I really don't care. But I know it can be difficult to stand up for an insect when you have others laughing at you, so well done to everyone who has made the stand!

[Lydia_Sorrow]

Got a new one now, lol.

Me and Duncan found a little dude. I dont know what insect it was, hang on.

Ok, went on google and I think hes commonly called a squash bug.. ^_^


Anyway, we played with him for hours, we just found him on the table in the beer garden of our local and we named him Smeth. He always just wanted to climb upwards. He never walked around or stopped or tried to climb down just up up up !!


I loved him. He was one of the best bugs I ever met -_-

[Linxie]

When I was in Greece last week I saw a stray dog trying to cross a main road. He would definitely have gotten knocked down as he didn't seem to have much common sense so I just stopped the traffic and saw him across safely

I also nearly ended up in an argument with my friend because I refused to kill a mosquito in our room. Why should I have killed it when it was just as easy for me to catch it and chuck it out the window?

[Shrapnel]

Yay, congrats Linxie. I totally hear you on the mosquito.

[fiamma]

There was a HUGE spider on our balcony the other night... spiders freak me right out, but my bf called me to look at it and immediately said "Shall I kill it?" I was like "Nooooooooo!" and went to get a box, caught it and put it outside. Poor thing, it was half asleep.

I was quite proud of myself.

[Cricket24]

I was staying in my boyfriend's apartment last week, and while he was at work I saw an ant crawling across the kitchen floor. I thought of my grandma, who hates the things and goes as far as to squish them with her shoe if she sees them in her driveway! I think that's extreme, but I never really thought about killing them in the house, which she also does. I've never really had an ant problem, it was always more spiders.

But since becoming vegetarian, I've rethought how I value lives, even small ones. So when I saw this ant, I put a plastic container over him, slipped a paper under it, and dumped him outside. Little did I know it was going to be a lot of work because in the few days I was staying in the apartment, there were probably over twenty ants all coming out at different times. I don't think I got to sit down for more than half an hour without having to get up to catch another ant!

Luckily, when my boyfriend (veggie but not quite vegan yet) was back from work, he helped catch and release the ants without even questioning why I didn't just squish them. We plugged the hole and I put black pepper in a line where we thought they were coming in (remedy found online). Since then, the numbers slowly decreased. So we think maybe they all came in before we blocked the hole, and were just coming out of hiding to find food.
(P.S. Apparently, if you squish an ant inside, it just attracts more ants to the scent of the dead one.)

Also, I was at my dad's and he found a HUGE spider in the shed. We caught it in a glass jar so I could look it up on the Internet to see if it was poisonous. I didn't find it, but Dad's girlfriend came back from work and said she thought she knew what it was, but it wasn't poisonous. She was going to smash it in the driveway, but when she was out of the house, my Dad dumped the spider in the woods. I asked him why he didn't just smash it and he said there was no point in that if it wasn't poisonous. I was proud of my meat-eating dad for that one.

[grainge]

It's good to save the bugs too! Keep it up everyone...though I can relate because some of them scare me too, like beetles are my scary-bug...but I try to avoid or get rid of them without killing them, because it's true, they deserve their life as much as we do!