Critters that I don't like:

[azurelunatic]

I'm unfond of rodents. I used to like squirrels; living in Alaska cured me of that. I used to not mind gerbils; I then lived with them. I don't jump and shriek or anything like that, I just think that a rodent's natural place on the food chain is somewhere below that of anything that should be kept as a pet. Rodents are good for feeding to snakes and birds. (A friend of the family was a raptor rehabilitator.) Squirrels (pine-rats is the literal translation from the Chinese) are nuisance animals, and destructive to property, and also get in the roof and are hyperactive all fucking night.

Spiders. Yes, they eat bugs, but anything larger than the tip of my finger is not something I want very near me. They're perfectly fine out-of-doors. Indoors, no. Tarantulas are too big and hairy, but a nicer size to be caught and dealt with than smaller spiders.

Indoor insects. They belong outdoors.

Cockroaches. They are not good as pets, and are very likely pests. Plus, they're too resourceful for a pest animal. See squirrels.

Small dogs. They're too high-strung, generally, and loud. Exceptions that I like are mellow and not loud.

Creatures with squashed-looking faces. Ugly. Some people think it's "adorable". I suspect that the same people also collect the gawdawful useless ugly "collectibles" too, because they're so precious. My Quaker sensibilities are outraged. (My Quaker sensibilities are also squicked by collecting toys that no one's ever going to play with.)

Immature humans who can't grasp abstract concepts after they are concretely explained. Usually the threshold age for this is six/seven-ish.

Immature humans who don't recognize that "You don't think like me about this!" is not a crime against nature. Sure, it may make the person who thinks otherwise someone that you do not wish to socialize with, but it's not unnatural, generally speaking.

People who are abject slaves to the will of another outside of a safe/sane/consensual BDSM relationship. Been there, done that, burned the t-shirt.

Poisonous/venomous creatures. They and I can stay very far apart. Unless I learn how to handle them safely, I don't want them near me. I have no real wish to handle them in any case.

Ants. Especially the little biting kind. 'Co used to like eating carpenter ants. I used to take her to the anthill, and hold her above the trail, and she would peck up ants as they walked past. It was like an assembly line of snacks. I approve of chickens who like to eat ants. All the other hens thought she was a bit nuts, but there's no accounting for taste. Little biting ants in my kitchen aren't very welcome at all. Little biting ants in my bed are less welcome. I was trying to look up the journal entry about the biting ants in my bed, but Google is being less than helpful.

Comments

[mcsquare.livejournal.com]

I'm totally with you about the rodents. I don't like them. I just don't. I don't get people who keep rats as pets. To me a rat is dinner for my cat. Okay, so my cat is the most non-fierce animal ever and is probably incapable of actually killing anything, but you probably get what I mean.

I with you about the spiders too, since I'm horribly arachnophobic. Oh, but you forgot to mention centipedes. They're awful. I lived in two apartments that had them. Nothing should have that many legs...nothing. *shudders*

I found your journal through lj_nifty, btw. I'm just bored and procrastinating. Just wanted to let you know so you didn't think I was a wierdo or something.

[azurelunatic]

I haven't encountered very many centipedes; I'm from Alaska, so all centipedes were under an inch long.

Love the icon, by the way.

[mcsquare.livejournal.com]

I live in Vermont and you wouldn't think they'd get that big here either, but they certainly get big enough. It's not so much the size (though that doesn't help), but the sheer amount of legs that gets me.

Thanks. :) Katchoo is my shero.

[azurelunatic]

I don't have that much problem with the legs. If anything, my worst problem with insects and other little creepy-crawlies is the exoskeleton, because they don't squish easily enough.

Oh, and did I mention yellowjackets? I hate them. And bald-faced hornets. I hate them too. Bees, I can stand, but yellowjackets exist for the purpose of being pissy about stuff.

[azurelunatic]

Actually, rats are the one exception I might have to the rodents thing. They're smart enough to be honorary people, some of them. The well-behaved ones.

Rabbits, on the other hand, are the sort of rodent I view with suspicion.

[azurelunatic]

And those horrible fluffy round "pig" things, however I'm supposed to spell them when I'm not drunkish.

[mcsquare.livejournal.com]

Oh, I like bunnies. But the problem with rats is that I think "rat" and I always immediately think "bubonic plague" after that. It's just habit.

They say pigs are smart too. I wouldn't know. I'm a diehard cat chauvinist. :D

[azurelunatic]

I only think that about rats if they're not clean rats.

[azurelunatic]

Oh, and thanks -- I do love it when people tell me where they surfed in from, 'cause I'm curious like that. Not especially worried about weirdoes, but since I surf into other people's journals randomly, it interests me to know how other people show up here.

Yep, I'm definitely intoxicated. Yep ype pepy.