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PaperclipPerfector  7mo ago (text post)   26587 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of March 25, 2024

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In case anyone's wondering...

1: Pest-control companies said they didn't know which pesticide they used because they hadn't diagnosed the problem yet. They hadn't chosen a pesticide. (edit: or, more likely, the person on the phone isn't an exterminator and doesn't know)

2: The company that didn't say she had to wash all her clothes, etc. just skipped that step to get a customer. The moths will likely be back within a year, because they laid eggs in the folds of old clothes or stacks of cardboard or ruffles on the edge of a couch cushion. I realize it's a pain, but it's the only way to solve the problem (thereby minimizing the total number of "murdered" moths, the cost of treatment and the amount of pesticide used).

3: This seems more like burgeoning OCD than legitimate animal welfare concerns. Switch to hardwood floors, synthetic fabrics and no whole cereal grains if you really care so damn much about moths.

4: Carpet moths don't eat carpets. They eat human hair, insects and animal leavings, etc. Actually carpet moths don't eat, but carpet-moth caterpillars do.

Carpet moths don't eat carpets. They eat human hair, insects and animal leavings, etc.

Oh don't worry, she investigated the hygiene implications and was happy to have them on her towels. You know, the towels she used after bathing to dry herself?

You might worry about the hygiene implications of this. Actually, adult carpet moths don’t eat, and IIUC they also don’t excrete. I also couldn’t find any evidence of them being disease vectors. And, as I mentioned, they seemed to only lay eggs in my carpet. So I accepted their little fuzzy presences even on my towel :)

Merciful God in heaven. How is anyone this stupid and still able to write smarmy little "mea culpa I'm a moth genocider" pieces for the big brains online?

She thinks "Lepidoptera seem very likely to be sentient in my opinion." I'm beginning to have doubts about the whole vegan animal welfare EA bunch being sentient.

I call this 'city insanity' in which urban dwellers over fetishize what rural homeowners know as destructive pests. Squirrels, Rabbits, and Possums are other frequent pests that urbanites consider needing special protection. I believe it's some weird combination of personification and lack of personal experience that create these attitudes.

I blame over-exposure to Disney movies, myself.

it's some weird combination of personification

It's because they're cute. Ugly animals don't get as much protection and letting your brain get broken over how cute the bunny is even as it destroys your plants tends to lead to your brain getting broken over the more destructive animals with few to no redeeming qualities.
(Note that humans are also animals.)

Wait, what’s wrong with opossums? (I assume that’s what you meant)

They like to live and dig near house foundations. Generally not as bad as other varmints but can be pretty destructive.

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