All the things I've ever killed...
Since awakening from the dream below the thought of "all the things I've ever killed" has nagfully lingered over me.. Have decided to compile a list (to be added to as I remember more, or in the unwelcome event that I kill more things).
Decided will only include life I have directly destroyed. Ignoring deaths indirectly contributed to by virtue of my food intake. Having once being a meat-eater, and now a fish-eater, I have certainly colluded in the slaughter of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent animals. However, I never "pulled the trigger" and as such (perhaps coldly in denial) their blood has failed to stain my conscious. Anyway...here goes my confession:
1) Plenty of Plant Life
I've plucked flowers, killed weeds and stood, stamped and sat on various flora and fauna throughout my life. I must of murdered an innumerable amount of greenery. Apart from killing I've constantly maimed - flippantly pulling branches from trees, mowing down grass, picking fruits and berries, pruning this, pruning that... Of course we humans assume that plant life is not sentient, void of consciousness, completely without soul. But who are we to know...
2) Thousands of Insects
Gleefully I've squatted flies. Spraying them and their like with noxious, suffocating gases. As a child I set up insecticoid Guantamano bay's, imprisoning creepy-crawlies of all shapes and sizes, only to pull off their wings, snap their antenna or drown the still squirming creatures. Remember inventing a game that I played for hours, bouncing a tennis ball off an army of ants climbing the wall...I kept on going, massacring till all of them were mashed.
3) Arachnids
I've turned on the taps and watched spiders, small and large, waving all eight legs, vainly trying to paddle as they spiral down the plughole.
4) Cockroaches
I've squished and squashed my fare share of these, admittedly vile, looking beings. Why would a God of love, compassion and beauty create the cockroach? Who knows, but their unpleasing appearance is certainly no excuse for my murderous actions.
5) Worms
Not for a long time now, but I recall in my youth, over-doing my experimentation with these creatures ability to regenerate when cut in half. Child-hood curiosity led me to ascertain if the ugly, wriggly things could regenerate from ever smaller segments...Once you get past quarters it turns out they can't, but in the name of science my trials continued.
6) Ticks
I've burnt ticks off dogs ears, then squashed the pus-filled parasites with my heel.
7) Lizards
Similar scenario to the worms. Was fascinated by the lizards ability to regrow limbs. Would capture them, decapitate appendages, watch and wait. After much study, with dozens of "volunteers", was able to conclude that lizards are unable to regrow their heads.
8) Mice
I've lain poison. I've put out back-breaking snap taps, smeared with tantalizing, tempting snacks like peanut butter and slithers of chocolate, slices of cheese. I put out glue traps and buckets of beer. I'm guilty of trying to kill these vermin in every imaginable way possible. And now and then I've succeeded. And to think we share 99% of our DNA...We're practically related, yet I didn't think twice.
9) A bird
Seven years old. Skipping down the street with my sister beside me. A family of tiny songbirds passes by, flying low, leaving a trail of chirping. By some freak accident my skipping foot, raised high in the air, blocks the path of one tiny bird and causes a mid-air collision.
The little creature fell to the ground. We picked it up. It was still alive but motionless. We took it home, me crying my eyes out whilst my sister assured me
"He'll be okay. We'll call the RSPCA and they'll know what to do."
She rang the number, whilst I cradled the tiny, light as air, bundle of pretty brown feathers in my hands. I can clearly see it's little head right now. It was still making chirp-chirp noises and its eye were constantly blinking, but the body didn't - couldn't - move.
Of course, the RSPCA didn't come rushing out to save a tiny songbird with a broken skull. They just said "Let it die peacefully". I remember we tried to give it water, dripping droplets from a pipette...Then I held it, gently stroking its downy back, singing to it with my sobs as it slipped away.
We made a little bed for it. I prayed before I slept. Next morning it was dead. I cried and cried, convinced I had murdered this beautiful, innocent beast. We buried it in the garden and I kept on crying.
Definitely the largest thing I've ever killed. And certainly the most traumatic.
10) Bacteria/Germs
I've bought all those Antibacterial surface cleaners and soaps. I've put Detal in water and scrubbed whole civilisations of microbes to their doom. But in my defence I'm sure I've also - especially in my student days - afforded such life-forms many opportunities to thrive and multiply.
11)....To be continued.
Decided will only include life I have directly destroyed. Ignoring deaths indirectly contributed to by virtue of my food intake. Having once being a meat-eater, and now a fish-eater, I have certainly colluded in the slaughter of hundreds, if not thousands of innocent animals. However, I never "pulled the trigger" and as such (perhaps coldly in denial) their blood has failed to stain my conscious. Anyway...here goes my confession:
1) Plenty of Plant Life
I've plucked flowers, killed weeds and stood, stamped and sat on various flora and fauna throughout my life. I must of murdered an innumerable amount of greenery. Apart from killing I've constantly maimed - flippantly pulling branches from trees, mowing down grass, picking fruits and berries, pruning this, pruning that... Of course we humans assume that plant life is not sentient, void of consciousness, completely without soul. But who are we to know...
2) Thousands of Insects
Gleefully I've squatted flies. Spraying them and their like with noxious, suffocating gases. As a child I set up insecticoid Guantamano bay's, imprisoning creepy-crawlies of all shapes and sizes, only to pull off their wings, snap their antenna or drown the still squirming creatures. Remember inventing a game that I played for hours, bouncing a tennis ball off an army of ants climbing the wall...I kept on going, massacring till all of them were mashed.
3) Arachnids
I've turned on the taps and watched spiders, small and large, waving all eight legs, vainly trying to paddle as they spiral down the plughole.
4) Cockroaches
I've squished and squashed my fare share of these, admittedly vile, looking beings. Why would a God of love, compassion and beauty create the cockroach? Who knows, but their unpleasing appearance is certainly no excuse for my murderous actions.
5) Worms
Not for a long time now, but I recall in my youth, over-doing my experimentation with these creatures ability to regenerate when cut in half. Child-hood curiosity led me to ascertain if the ugly, wriggly things could regenerate from ever smaller segments...Once you get past quarters it turns out they can't, but in the name of science my trials continued.
6) Ticks
I've burnt ticks off dogs ears, then squashed the pus-filled parasites with my heel.
7) Lizards
Similar scenario to the worms. Was fascinated by the lizards ability to regrow limbs. Would capture them, decapitate appendages, watch and wait. After much study, with dozens of "volunteers", was able to conclude that lizards are unable to regrow their heads.
8) Mice
I've lain poison. I've put out back-breaking snap taps, smeared with tantalizing, tempting snacks like peanut butter and slithers of chocolate, slices of cheese. I put out glue traps and buckets of beer. I'm guilty of trying to kill these vermin in every imaginable way possible. And now and then I've succeeded. And to think we share 99% of our DNA...We're practically related, yet I didn't think twice.
9) A bird
Seven years old. Skipping down the street with my sister beside me. A family of tiny songbirds passes by, flying low, leaving a trail of chirping. By some freak accident my skipping foot, raised high in the air, blocks the path of one tiny bird and causes a mid-air collision.
The little creature fell to the ground. We picked it up. It was still alive but motionless. We took it home, me crying my eyes out whilst my sister assured me
"He'll be okay. We'll call the RSPCA and they'll know what to do."
She rang the number, whilst I cradled the tiny, light as air, bundle of pretty brown feathers in my hands. I can clearly see it's little head right now. It was still making chirp-chirp noises and its eye were constantly blinking, but the body didn't - couldn't - move.
Of course, the RSPCA didn't come rushing out to save a tiny songbird with a broken skull. They just said "Let it die peacefully". I remember we tried to give it water, dripping droplets from a pipette...Then I held it, gently stroking its downy back, singing to it with my sobs as it slipped away.
We made a little bed for it. I prayed before I slept. Next morning it was dead. I cried and cried, convinced I had murdered this beautiful, innocent beast. We buried it in the garden and I kept on crying.
Definitely the largest thing I've ever killed. And certainly the most traumatic.
10) Bacteria/Germs
I've bought all those Antibacterial surface cleaners and soaps. I've put Detal in water and scrubbed whole civilisations of microbes to their doom. But in my defence I'm sure I've also - especially in my student days - afforded such life-forms many opportunities to thrive and multiply.
11)....To be continued.
posted by The Dreamer | 4:24 AM
12 Comments:
Earthworms don't regenerate, you sob
Erm...yes they do actually (as your link actually confirms - pasted below), but thanks for your comment anyhow! :-)
Q. Can earthworms regenerate themselves?
A. Yes, but only the front or head end of the earthworm will survive and the amputated tail portion will die. This remaining front portion must also be long enough to contain the clitellum and at least 10 segments behind the clitellum. This makes up about half the length of the worm. The new posterior segments grown will be slightly smaller in diameter than the original segments and sometimes a bit lighter in color
No, they don't. They can regrow their tails, but it's not the same as generating a whole new worm, which is perfectly clear from the text you pasted.
Of course they can't regenerate their entire bodies - no organism can. The term "regenerate" is used by biologists to describe partial regrowth and is not meant to imply a complete regeneration of the body - I was using the word "regenerate" in this context - it wasn't meant to be taken as meaning "complete regeneration" so sorry if it came across that way. Think you interpreted the word in it's more commonly used, literal sense - which was not what I meant - so sorry for any confusion caused.
The dictionary definition (below)of "regenerate" highlights the distinct biological interpretation of the word:
1)To reform spiritually or morally.
2)To form, construct, or create anew, especially in an improved state.
3)To give new life or energy to; revitalize.
4) Biology - To replace (a lost or damaged organ or part) by formation of new tissue.
cock
Ha,ha :-) Thanks for your articulate response. Are you 14 years old? - Or do you just have anger issues?
Made me laugh anyhow, so thanks.
"Made me laugh"?
Everything isn't always about you. You must have a really big head.
Among you stands one whom you do not recognize (John 1:26). I will show you the way.
It's easy, you just have to go into the first building between St Clement's and the Library, and look for the guy in the cowboy hat.
hahahaha - I knew it! (well I strongly suuspected) that no self-respecting angry-14-year-old-web-surfer would bother reading my blog (let alone post comments!)...oh, but I WAS enjoying the fantasty that I had some (admittedly deranged) fan out there...oh, well.
Although, when you started quoting the bible I did begin to wonder :-)
Tsouboy - I should explain - samchrist must be someone I work with...I suspect Adam! Is that you Adam? go on own up :-)
It must be Adam - I've only just registred the reference to me - apparently just paranoia, but I'm not so sure - having a big head!!!
Oh, Adam, you had me going for awhile there!!!
Yeah, it's me. If it makes you feel any better, I'm incredibly ill. Are you using some of your crystals to put a hex on me? I'm sorry I made that joke about your head...
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