Justifiable (and artistic, and scientific) cruelty to animals

[hudebnik]

The comments page has a flamefest about the morality of killing hundreds or thousands of ants in the name of Art. Which side one takes in the argument seems to depend largely on whether one has ever met a fire-ant. I have, and I'm fine with it :-)

Thanks to Phlip for the link.

Comments

[la-peregrina.livejournal.com]

Probably prepped the mound at night, when the cooler ground temps leave the ants more-or-less dormant.

[siderea]

Ah! I am not hip to the ways of fire-ants.

[la-peregrina.livejournal.com]

If you live in the South for any length of time, you learn about them one way or another. Once they got here accidentally off a South American cargo ship docked in Alabama in the 1930s, the sugar cane crop here experienced a sharp drop in the infestation of cane-borer worms. The ants eat those worms. Unfortunately, migrant workers have the misery of dealing with the ants on top of other hardships.

[siderea]

Oh, wow. I had no idea there was a sense they were beneficial. I mean, beyond making pretty aluminum statuary.