Exterminated

Exterminated

We all have heard the phrase ‘I couldn’t hurt a fly’. But when it comes to the annoying flight and buzzing of flies that invade your space, for instance, in your bedroom or in the kitchen, you think differently. Without even thinking, most of us would use a swatter or a newspaper to kill the fly. Some of us would actually go to the trouble to open a window or door and coax the insect outdoors; that is if it is practical to do so.

I had an emotional encounter with a fly last night and the following morning. It sounds silly, I know, but I couldn’t help the way I felt. Upon entering my bedroom in the evening, I opened one of two windows to let in some fresh air. As soon as the window was ajar, a fly slightly smaller than a horsefly came off the screen and circled the room finally landing on the white ceiling above my computer. Every once in a while, the fly would again buzz around the room and pass by my head. Again it would settle upon the ceiling practically in the same spot that it was before. I was unsuccessful in swatting it. Believe me I tried several times. Finally I managed to get the large fly out of my bedroom. I closed the door and made myself comfortable for the night.

In the morning, I got up to go to the bathroom. When I switched on the florescent lights, I seemed to have disturbed the fly that settled into that room for the night. It certainly was frisky flying about the bathroom. Every few seconds, it would bounce off the white dropped ceiling. From the sound that its impact made with the ceiling, I hoped in vain that the fly would be rendered unconscious. By now, I was a little annoyed with this noisy insect. I still couldn’t swat it, and I did something that I never did in my whole life. I took a can of bug spray, which was stored under the vanity, and aimed it at the fly, but managed to just spray the whole room mostly. The living creature started flying frantically. It’s buzzing became louder and louder. I caught my breath as the buzzing changed to bursts of short screams and then silence at every few seconds. I just knew that fly was suffering. I immediately was sorry for what I did. At the same time, I knew that those thoughts were ridiculous. I've swatted so many flies over the years. I no longer saw the fly any more, but I can still hear its dying sounds. I finally located the fly’s location or more appropriately where it had dropped. It was behind a large framed picture in the bathroom. By then, its suffering had ended.

Somehow, I wasn’t that much relieved, because I was the cause of its agony. The fly was an insect like so many others that we would squash routinely without thinking, such as ants, beetles and bees. Had I known the consequences of my action in killing that simple fly, I would have chosen another method of distancing it from me, especially in my home. Every living creature deserves its time on this earth. But if an animal is killed for food, or a pest is exterminated, it must be done quickly and as humanely as possible.

Saturday, October 12, 2002