The llama household has been invaded. It began yesterday with one or two, and today our opponents are even greater in number. We haven’t been taken over, not yet, but they’re trying. The ants have arrived.
I usually squish them as soon as I see them, but this morning, Twin B. informed me that my strategy seems like a bad idea. “I just don’t feel good about this,” he told me. “If we kill them, won’t their mothers be worried when they don’t come home?”
I don’t know much about ants and their family associations, but he does have a point. My tender hearted son proceeded to “rescue” as many ants as he could find. He walked around with a cup and a piece of paper, and carried them out to the backyard one by one. “There you go little fellow! Go and find your family!”
I won’t tell him what his dad wants to do to the chipmunks that are burrowing in our yard.
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7 comments:
My five-year-old and I sometimes try to pick up ants and then throw them outside. Sometimes they land in a spider's web to be snacked upon later. Other times, when there are too many ants to catch and release, we just stomp on them. But I've been trying to be more consistently pro-life, even of insect life. The Orthodox Church actually forbids the harm of any creature within the church, bugs included. (See my The Suburban Christian, p. 149 and p. 214, n. 19, for my reflections on this!)
I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything while I read this or it would have come out my nose as I got to Twin B's words. What a sweet guy!
Good one! We saw some ants crawling around in Mom's house this week. Fascinating creatures. But would be nice if they stayed to themselves!
OH, my boys used them as target practice - actually, come to think of it - they used a lot of things as target practice for those BB guns!
Al - I don't think I could take it THAT far (letting creatures live with me), but I do support life. (For all of creation.) As cute as my son's "rescue operation" was, I am also deeply grateful that he has this passion for life! (Interesting fact on the orthodox church. My mother is orthodox, but she squishes bugs. Maybe it's just IN the actual church building?)
AMM - You got it! Now if I can just teach him to consistently put the toilet seat down...
Ted - I'm with you. I'm happy to let them live...outside!
Halfmom - I assume you're referring to the chipmunks, not the ants! I'm planning to try the cayenne pepper to deter the chipmunks, or maybe fox pee granules. Our neighbor caught them in traps and released them in a wildlife preserve nearby. That sounds really time consuming, but it's better than my husband's proposed solution!!
Children are so precious. We had our first instance of having to fix a favorite stuffed animal today. The look of concern on my daughter's face was absolutely priceless.
Good luck with the ants, though.
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