Debatable is a column written by the Otago University Debating Society. The Debating Society welcomes new members and meets at the Business School every Tuesday at 6pm.
Trap and Release
Remy was spared his life by Linguini and the two went on to form an unrivalled partnership culminating in perhaps the best cooking duo of the last century. Having pests (a derogatory term that could be considered a slur) in the flat presents a unique opportunity to learn and share sacred trans-species tenets of knowledge. Let’s face it: most student flats lack culinary skill. Wouldn’t you rather have a wildly successful chef cooking up a storm instead of wallowing in microwaved meals and instant noodle misery? Plus, it’s pretty bold to assume that students themselves aren’t pests – a flatmate of mine is making a pretty good case for themself.
Besides the (potentially exploitative) ability to turn critters into culinary helpers, you can do the morally sound thing of trapping and releasing the little guys. Look, it’s not their fault they got stuck in your shitty flat – when was the last time you took the bins out, huh? Realistically, the determining factor of whether or not these pests get killed isn’t because they’ve done something inherently wrong but because we find them gross and creepy. Both metrics are incredibly arbitrary and subject to bias. These creatures play an important role in our ecosystem. I'm sure if you have a spare half hour your mate who’s studying Zoology would be thrilled to explain it to you.
Maturing is realising that insects aren't creepy; they're just misunderstood. Moths don't want to be annoying and invasive. They're just desperately struggling to cope with the fact that evolution didn't prepare them for the abundance of light in modern society. At the end of the day, it requires a small amount of effort to catch and relocate flat pests but results in a huge amount of gratification in knowing that you've done the right thing.
Kill
Okay sure, you may not need to kill every insect you see just because they’re scary. But when push comes to shove, relocating flat pests is inconvenient and hard. For argument's sake, it’s important to differentiate between pests. There are those that are creepy and pose no danger (yes, I promise that the spider living in the corner of your room isn’t dangerous); then there are those that are a legitimate harm to both your health and New Zealand ecosystems.
With the much beloved Bird of the Year competition recently having come to an end (congrats Hoiho), it’d be hard to find someone who isn’t familiar with the plight of our native birds. This completely rules out the option of relocating rats, mice, and even the flat's pet possum. There’s nowhere to put them where they wouldn’t be harmful to our native birds, who we value much higher. It might sound dismissive to say that one animal is of greater value than another, but it's true in the case where one species is facing extinction and the other doesn’t even come from New Zealand.
And finally, in relation to the practical side of things, trying to catch and release a pest without it biting you or potentially contracting some kind of disease is probably pretty difficult. It’s just not really worth the effort. Leave some traps out, pester your landlord about forms of pest control, and if by some miracle you manage to capture one alive, get in contact with someone who knows how to dispose of them in a humane way. You might feel sad about it in the short term (if you have attachment issues) but the alternative option of releasing these pests into the wild does far more harm than good.