Would you have killed it?

Question

I saw a butterfly trapped in a spider's web,fluttering for its life.I broke the cobweb and it fell to the ground,still with the spider on top of it.

I flicked the spider off,then the butterfly's middle part raised up like a caterpillar and twitched horribly.Its wings were flapping furiously and I thought to myself that I should kill it to put it out of its suffering,but I just couldn't do it.

It was a horrible thing to watch,should I have killed it?
Isn't it wrong to kill?


What would you have done?

It was not because the butterfly was prettier than the spider but because it was trapped and struggling for freedom.

I would have done the same if it was a rabbit in a trap or a cow caught on barbed wire.I would have tried to set them free too,but I don't think I could have killed them either even if it was obvious they were going to die



I cannot decide on Best Answer so I'm putting it to the vote

Answer 1

I personally would not have tried to deprive the spider of his hard-earned meal in the first place!!!

I'm kidding. Don't fret too much- it's just a butterfly and you were trying to help.

Answer 2

You seem like a very thoughtful person. I would have done nothing in this case. Sometimes it is not wrong to kill. You have to decide where you are going to draw the line. I understand your concern, but just because the butterfly is prettier to look at and you might find spiders scary, there is no real justification for taking sides. The spider needs to kill other insects to survive. It is not killing for any other reason. I don't think either of these bugs are capable of any level of higher thought, but maybe it might make you feel better if you thought the butterfly would not have felt any sense of gratitude and the spider would have been mad at you for taking away his dinner. Also, I don't know how long you stayed and watched the butterfly suffer, but maybe it did recover and you can think you saved its life. But in saving its life, all you would have really done is prolonged its death.

Answer 3

I would not have interfered at all.You should have left the web intact and let the spider have it.

Spider venom does not kill instantly but as soon as it bites an insect the insect is going to be paralysed and then die-even if it escapes first.So there was never any chance you could save the butterfly.

Spiders are an important part of the eco-system and butterflies are prey to them like any other insect.You should let nature take it's course next time.

Answer 4

Um.. actually I would have let nature take its course and let the spider have its meal. What gives you the right to judge that a spider is less entitled to survive than a butterfly? Because a butterfly is seen as pretty and a spider is seen as a creepy crawly evil thing? You did the wrong thing as far as I am concerned the moment you interfered.

Answer 5

I would have left the poor thing where it was. Spider web is made from silk and coated with a layer of adhesive; it is this adhesive which traps flies, and in some cases causes untold damage to wing structure.

Nature really does know best - there will be more butterflies!

Answer 6

I think the question is, what will you do next time in that situation. What would the right thing to do be?

We do have dominion over the animals and creatures. I think it would be correct to have put it out of it's misery. I believe because of the order of creation humans may take that decision. And I'm not a vegetarian.

I understand that you tried to save it from the spider, and I understand why you did that, but then you could not help it and it was suffering. So for you it would have been better to walk away from the web.

Answer 7

Ahhh sweetie - you did the best you could. It's nature. You can't change the fact that nature can be cruel. For someone as sensitive as you, killing it would have been near impossible. PLEASE don't beat yourself up over this, you just happened to be in there to see nature at it's worst. There was nothing you could have done.
Now it's over try not to think about it.
I don't know what I'd have done. It's so hard to say what I'd do in that situatiion. I might have wanted to put the butterfly out of its misery but when push comes to shove it's not always that easy.
Keep away from spider's webs in future!

Answer 8

Interesting moral dilemma.

Killing is always difficult, easy to justify, and totally ambiguous. but do you eat meat? If you dont have the stomach to kill a butterfly in pain, should you have the right to eat a big happy animal? do you have respect for the cow that gives it's life? I'm not sure myself.

If you believe in reincarnation, the less time spent as a bug the better.

Answer 9

what happened to the butterfly in the end?
sometimes it is better to wait and see than to act when something possitive could of happened, today you may of saved a life but condembed another (butterfly and spider respectivly) but on the other hand you may of saved a life and the spider had to make a new web and find other food.
we don't know what could be but we know what is if the butterfly survived and the spider survived then all turned out well but if one died then it didn't

Answer 10

You should have left the spider to it's meal.

Would you care if someone came into your dining room and smashed your walls and threw your food on the ground?

Butterflies often only live for a day or two. This one was fulfilling it's part of the food chain.

Answer 11

I would have let nature take its course...the spider needs to eat to survive. The butterfly wouldn't have survived after being stuck in the web anyhow, so...leave nature alone...it's managed well enough up to now.