It is apparent that taking lethal measures to "control" non-human organisms is not a new phenomenon, nor is it one apparently undertaken by individuals or groups who have had the opportunity to ponder carefully the hypocrisy of this sort of act.

Around 10,000 years ago, at the outset of the agricultural revolution, the predominant world view increasingly became something like this: "If you compete for resources with us, we will kill you; we will hunt you down and we will deny you access to food. We will behave as if the entire planet belongs to us." This was revolutionary, for previously people co-existed with the rest of nature in a manner more closely resembling the rest of the community of life.

Our close biological ancestors lived in an evolutionarily stable relationship with the rest of the community of life for over 2 million years. It does not take a very careful look around the world to recognize that our cultural practices for the last 10,000 years have brought us to the brink of ecological catastrophe. The most modern of eras, the last 2,000 years, can be viewed in this perspective: If the history of this planet is metaphorically the World Trade Center tower in New York, then the most recent 2,000 years of human history is metaphorically a layer of paint on the roof.

My point is, behaving with the sort of arrogance displayed by those of us who exterminate "nuisance" species is a megalomaniac's fantasy, a story which is disastrous for mankind and the rest of the world. At an ever-accelerating rate, we are bent on rendering our home, the Earth, uninhabitable (for us) through our ill-advised practices.

If we want to live near an aquatic ecosystem, we should be prepared to share our general area with waterfowl and mosquitoes. If we don't want the waterfowl in our yard, we might put up a fence and get a dog. There are simple, non-lethal steps which may be taken to avoid extermination.

Our non-human neighbors in the biological community do not hesitate to take steps to prevent and fight off infestations of their nests and selves, and we need not hesitate to do so either. This is an evolutionarily stable sort of behavior. However, when we pursue a non-stable, short-sighted, arrogant manner of behavior which places the value of our aesthetics over the lives of other communities of creatures, we do so at our own peril.