If you could... | Pad Patter 9.22

Uggh! They drive me crazy too Jan! They are worse at our cabin than at home. I remember climbing into bed the first night we arrived a couple of years ago and finding something crunchy under the covers - a dead stink bug!!

I'd eliminate mosquitos. They are responsible for so many terrible illnesses and deaths around the world.

 

cats ACHOO!

 

Birds - I hate the way they fly around but I guess I would keep chickens since they are good for eggs & eating.

 

Snakes.

 

Spiders

 

I could make a huge list, but I'm doing a combo of the squirrel/chipmunk family. They're wreaking havoc in my yard, digging tunnels everywhere and digging up my garden beds and pots. I actually stuck my garden hose down one hole and turned it on full blast to drown them out. I let it run for 30 minutes and it didn't back up once the entire time. Now I'm scared to know just how huge that tunnel system is!

 

I feel like there are so many unintended consequences of eliminating animals that I don't think I could eliminate anything without doing a ton of research. For example, my mind would immediately jump to the fact that if insects were eliminated the animals that feed on them would suffer. Of course, since this is just theoretical, I'd get rid of rats, mice, mosquitos, slugs and moths. For the most part, I live pretty harmoniously with most animals.

 

I'd have to go with spiders because they seriously creep me out. I was making a Halloween page today of my daughter and I refused to use any spiders or webs to embellish it haha mosquitos would be a very close second! They are so pesky and ruin the fun of being outside!

 

for me it would be mosquitoes- doesn’t matter what country i’m in im target number one to get bitten

 

No idea, as I agree with Sheri, but I also agree with you Jan. I remember them from visiting my brother in Roanoke this time of year. We really don't get them too much here in Va Beach, but I agree not fond of the stink bug. Not sure what purpose they are in the food chain, but oh my they are named properly!

 

I could do with eliminating head lice from our household - been plagued by them since TJ started school 11 years ago. There's an epidemic in our local primary school. Still not managed to get Joy totally clear of them yet. I was hoping we'd be done with them by now as she's left the Primary school. But she got another batch when she went on camp a few weeks ago ....

 

Like @SeattleSheri, I know this is theoretical, but it makes me nervous! Having said that... mosquitoes. UGH. So many mosquito-borne illnesses and they're getting worse (like EEE) or becoming more prevalent (like alpha-gal syndrome). Plus, I'm quite allergic to them so I can get more of a welt than a "bite."

 

I would definitely say get rid of mosquitoes! We have EEE (Eastern Equine Encephalitis) in our county right now and it's really scary. Let are recommending staying away from wooded areas right now and are getting close to canceling all evening outdoor school activities. There are two people hospitalized in a town about 10 miles from us. I'm not normally an alarmist, but since there's no cure and not a good treatment for this EEE and it's fatal 33% of the time, I am a bit freaked out! Obviously I know that mosquitoes feed lots of animals, so I'll just pretend that the ecosystem wouldn't be messed up by killing them all!

Otherwise I don't hate any animals really enough to say we should eliminate them.

 

Black Flys. The ones that only are out around here for about a month, are teeny tiny, but are flippin vicious! You don't realize you have a bite until there is blood running down your neck (they like to bite around your hairline) and then the bites are crazy itchy! FOr some reason, they LOVE me & my son...

 

This is a hard one for me to choose b/c I am squeamish about a lot of bugs but I would have to pick the mosquitos. I'm not allergic to them but I swell up like crazy and get insanely itchy from their bites. I could definitely do without that.

 

@Angela Toucan - I feel your pain - literally, as I got them twice too along with the kids. The last time we used the electric sapper thing and it really helped. My dd said if she ever, ever got them again, she was shaving her head.

I would eliminate cockroaches in all their variations. And maybe fire ants. And those bag worms/gypsy moths.

 

I was going to say snakes until I read yours! We've had lice once and that was enough for me!

We also had a bed bug scare after my older kids went away to camp. They had to leave their dorm because there was a case of bed bugs. When they got home I bagged everything up, washed everything I could, even microwaved some things and I was worried for a few days...but they never showed up! Thank goodness.