Hey, Little Ant... are you hungry?

We've been enjoying quite a bit of insect study lately...

Are you familiar with Hey, Little Ant ?  It's the perfect book to pull out when ant piles begin to reappear with the return of nice weather.  The book stars 'Kid' and 'Ant'.  The story is a conversation between the two.  The Kid figures he'll squish the ant, why not?  The Ant tries his best to convince the Kid why he shouldn't be squished.

Should we squish bugs?  Depends on the bug?  Depends on the situation?  Depends on the Kid?  This day my boys decided to feed & study the ants.

 How many were there?  I didn't know the answer to that.

 There were lots!

 This is how the book ends:

Should the ant get squished?  Should the ant go free?
It's up to the kid, not up to me.
We'll leave the kid with the raised-up shoe.
What do you think that kid should do?

That ending drives Snoopy crazy, he wants the author to SAY what the kid does.  My personal philosophy with insects, arachnids and all creatures big and small is let them be (mosquitoes and flies excluded).  I'm the kind that tries to gently remove the spider from the house without killing.  Has that attitude rubbed off on my kids?  Sometimes yes and sometimes no.  Bibs went through a stage (when he was 2) where he ate ants and small spiders.  Why?  I don't know.  Because he could I guess.

What would you do?  Squish or let live, that is the question.