Bug Net Ethics

[NightHawk!]

all life is sacred*

*except for mosquitos

I hate them. Pretty much anything that lives off of my blood can go die, without any of my concern.

[Dashinator]

Ticks too. They suck.

[MDSH]

Bugs get in my stuff under the hammock at night.

In a variation of the old cowboy rope around the bedroll trick think I'll soak some twine in Permethrin and lay it out there. Shouldn't weigh much.

[Floridahanger]

I have wanted to try and think about maybe giving a possible somewhat kind of solution to help you out....But I keep falling asleep while attempting to contemplate the musings and dilemmas of the day. My hammock keeps meeeeee...............................

[Bike-N-Hike]

Untill someone can explain to me what a mosquito's place in the natural world is, that is to say how does it benefit the environment, then i say nuke 'em.

I'm still trying to figure out my place in the natural world a nd how I benefit the environment

Gotta say though I found myself going terminator on them last night in my backyard.

[Caconym]

Is it wrong to passively murder a mosquito with chemicals? For perspective, is it wrong when a spider kills and eats a mosquito?
The ecologically responsible solution is clearly to weave a bugnet out of live spiders. Problem solved!

[Caconym]

A trolley is hurtling out of control down the road. You control the track switch. If you do nothing, the trolley will kill a mosquito. If you switch the track, the trolley will miss the mosquito but kill an ethicist. What do you do?

[MDSH]

A trolley is hurtling out of control down the road. You control the track switch. If you do nothing, the trolley will kill a mosquito. If you switch the track, the trolley will miss the mosquito but kill an ethicist. What do you do?

Spare the ethicist
For they are quite rare! LOL

[brianb]

I think I read that mosquitoes believe in reincarnation, so I think you're fine.

[TominMN]

In a recent post I described bug nets as Permethrin distribution systems.

That's because I had spent considerable time that day soaking my three bug nets in a solution of the same.

I have to admit that I've enjoyed hearing the hmmm of a mosquito suddenly silenced by contact with a chemical problem solver.

But then upon reflection it felt bad. It raises an ethical dilemma, which I will now explore with the indulgence of the forums.

Putting yourself in the place of a mosquito (all life is sacred) ...

Would you rather die suddenly in ignorance of what you did wrong or suffer the torture of not reaching your goal all night long, which a non-treated net would ostensibly provide?

On the other hand ...

A mosquito that does not die instantly may work his way around to the tiniest opening. In addition, who knows the direction from which he may attack? The dumbest mosquito, making a direct shot to infrared heat may happen upon a hole!

Who knows how smart a mosquito might be? What if the smartest mosquito ever in the history of the world happened to be in the same place as you, wanted to drink your blood, and figured out how to do it?

But I've never seen a mosquito with a HAZMAT suit.

Mike,

I just got back from 11 days in Quetico Provincial Park and that was pretty much the perfect environment to reflect on this thread.

I'm a fan of Permethrin. However, I think it needs to be used in the right place. Clothing is definitely a "right place." And we use it on staff tents at one of our BS resident camps because of the huge exposure to Lyme in that area.

However, I really don't see the point in applying it to netting on a hammock or tent in a more typical camping situation. The netting is providing all of the protection that you need to get through the night. What is the point of wholesale killing of mosquitos that are simply attracted to our warmth and CO2 output? I'm all for keeping them from feeding on me but having the netting slaughter them is not going to change that one bit.

BTW, the Canuck mosquitos have never gotten the memo about becoming lethargic and eventually dormant at the prescribed temps that I've seen enumerated in other threads