We have never rescued an insect from a spider web. We do understand seeing something you love (moth) and not wanting it to be preyed upon. We also feel for the spiders and snakes of this world that seem to get less love. So we generally empathize with everyone involved! We don’t judge you for saving moths. We tend to not get involved in predator-prey. We will try to rescue animals in rare circumstances, such as when the neighbor brought us a box full of injured bunnies after his dog got into a warren (on Easter, no less). In that case we brought them to the local wildlife rescue center, along with our credit card.
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Its not a good idea to put human emotions on predator prey situations. If a lot of individuals do this it can be very damaging because as humans (in general) we have a tendency to lean toward the underdog or the perceived victim. Which can put predators in a bad situation. They have their place in nature and its extremely important place primarily population control.
Just look at the wolves return to Yellow Stone it transformed the environment back to a more natural state than it had been since the entry of European human involvement. It is no longer overgrazed and those grazer now have more resources due to the predation of the wolves.
In the case of a life form stuck in a web that is clearly abandoned I don’t see the harm in that.
In the case of an endanger species being rescued from a predation situation I can see the value in that.
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That’s a good point about the bias against predators. From what I understand, people around Yellowstone haven’t looked kindly on the presence of wolves even if it’s better for the environment. I think a lot of predators end up being unpopular, not just because of their perceived advantage but because of various cultural factors. When it comes to spiders, a lot of people think they’re creepy or gross, so it might make them biased against the spiders and how “bad” they’re supposed to be.
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Very true. Not to mention that animals don’t seem to have as much of a choice or as many factors to consider when “choosing” a diet. They eat whatever they’re given or what they can find in their surroundings. I believe animals are often smarter than we give them credit for but I’m not sure they’re intellectually capable of sitting around and considering the ethics of their diets, even if they could change them. If they were, that wouldn’t necessarily be a good thing. Barring situations like invasive species, a spider is probably eating the way its ancestors did and is part of its local ecosystem.
This is unlike us humans. We’re often physically and intellectually capable of considering our choices and adjusting them to different situations. And of course, most of us aren’t sourcing food and eating like our ancestors did 5000 years ago.
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yea true but otherwise i let the spider eat it
Usually when prey is too big or dangerous spider does the best to cut it from the web. Saw it here https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/20162421
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The only time I have done this is when I was absolutely certain that the web’s maker was dead and gone. I am good at remembering every individual spider (usually theridiids) around my neighborhood and the stables I frequent, so it has become easy to notice when somebody is in the process of dying or already dead. I figure the caught animal need not stay trapped (and probably suffering for a prolonged period, though the capacity for certain species to suffer is contested) if nobody is immediately depending on that caught animal to live. Caught animals who are far too large to be killed by the predator can be removed without hurting the predator as well, though I’ve never done this. The only other instances in which I “rescued” caught animals is when I was very young and did not know any better. Generally, this does not happen often, so I rarely even need to ruminate over it.
I can see a case being made for native threatened species being caught by invasive predator. Say, a migratory monarch caught by a brown widow, perhaps. I have never witnessed this personally.
I’m seeing a lot of comments pertaining to the emotional connection one has to the caught animal. If one has an actual bond with the caught animal (a companion bird or lizard who got loose, maybe), that is appropriate, but far from the same as simply admiring a species as a whole. That is not reason to deprive the predator animal of food.
I’m vegan, but in my opinion, since identifying as such I’ve only further learned that other species should not be held to human standards of morality, precisely because they are not human. Human intervention can be excused to prevent significant levels of unnecessary suffering, or to undo otherwise irreconcilable human damage to the land and its inhabitants. There is no “correct” moral choice if there are no choices aside from starvation, and because carnivores and most omnivores do not have the luxury or usually even the capacity for choice, animal consumption is a necessary action for survival, free of moral conundrum. There are some aforementioned cases to be argued, but in sum, that is my two cents.
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I really agree with that, never interfere with nature, you might (probably will) make things worse.
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