When you spot an insect interloper, do you reach for something sturdy to use to whack it into oblivion or do you shout to enlist your significant other to do the deed?
According to a nationwide survey, most women would take matters into their own hands, and that’s the way the men in our lives like it. The survey reports most males believe that pest defense is an equal opportunity duty. In other words, whoever spots it, swats it.
“Bugs stir our emotions — from fear to fascination,” says Susan Kirkpatrick, spokeswoman for Orkin, the pest control company that commissioned the telephone survey of 1,000 women and men. “But it’s a fact these tiny creatures can cause some very real damage.
“For example, carpenter ants have been known to eat electrical wire insulation, which could lead to shorts and fires.”
While annoying to most, bugs are, perhaps not surprisingly, more off-putting to females than males. Still, more men reported being fearful of bees and wasps than did women, though more women admit to a fear of spiders.
Other findings:
– More men than women would return a bug to nature rather than kill it (24 percent vs. 15 percent).
– A majority (51 percent) find butterflies and moths the most fascinating bugs.
– Most respondents (87 percent) would suffer the greatest embarrassment if a guest found a cockroach in their home. However, having guests notice fleas, ticks, termites, spiders, ants or bees would cause little consternation.
