pic one- awesome!

I have a tree that overhangs my balcony and window...that houses many birds and squirrles...so screens stay shut!

I wish we could do screenless....but I think the our cat feels the same way as the top pic!

My cat would totally pull the same act as doggie here (she gets very excited when she sees the squirrels). Needless to say, the screens have to be down!

I'm not spooked by bats or bugs, but I'd rather mosquitos didn't bite me.

My screens are fixed, so it's hard to take them out and store them someplace, but I guess I would leave them in anyway ... I have seagulls that swarm my house as it is and a mean squirrel on my terrace.

But I'll probably be the only one on planet earth to admit this anyway, but yes ... I hate summer. Absolutely hate it. Bring on winter!

Screens down, AC on :)

Screens down, since I spotted our neighbor's dog on the roof!

Personally, I like screens. Mainly because mosquitoes LOVE me. When I lived in Rome, however, there were no screens, and as it was summer and about 95 degrees every day with no A/C, I slept with the windows open anyway.

Needless to say, I suffered thousands of bug bites that summer. Blech.

I'm sort of split on it. I'm not a fan of bugs and critters, certainly, but there is something just fabulously European about just throwing the window open.

Our bedroom window is screenless thanks to my bf forgetting his keys one day. We have a small little windowsill & it's the best part of my cats' day to lie on it & watch the world go by. We get annoying flies & mosquitoes but the kitties are so happy.

i feel like screens really separate me from outside, so i took them all out (even when up, they create this dingy, altered view behind the glass on the top windows). but, of course, i know have a squirrel that comes in and hides his nuts in my potted plants. no kidding.

Trust me, summer lasting two minutes is preferable to spring and autumn lasting that long. In Tokyo, summer is about 5 1/2 months long, winter another 5 1/2 months and spring and summer split the difference between them. I hate summer here.

We're strictly screens in place or all sorts of nasty insects (including flying roaches) will get inside.

Even with my screen closed, a bat managed to wiggle through a 1" gap at the top of the upper window sash and wake me in the middle of the night by crashing into my bookcase then swooping over my head. My friends have had numerous bats in their apartments too. I'd rather not make it any easier for the critters by opening my screens. Plus, I'm a mosquito magnet but even the screens aren't that effective against them.

Screens FTW - our last apt had great big doors to the deck, but no way to screen them, so we had to close it up at night or get swamped with mozzies. Sometimes birds would fly in during the day, too. Now we've got sliders with screens to get cool air all evening, without my husband going nuts chasing out all the bugs. Win-win.

Screens essential to keep out bugs -- and pidgeons!

Screens are also essential to keeping the cat in!

You NEVER see an open screen in Florida. In fact, our screens don't even have an open feature. Something about encephalitis and west nile virus being mosquito-borne...technicality in my opinion.

spooked isn't the right word for a desire to avoid mosquito bites and flies buzzing around.

Ok, maybe I'll stay here in Oakland. We don't really have bugs or bad weather, or screens.

Bats: annoying but not particularly scary. Discovering a 5-inch hairy centipede in your bed (and being bitten on the ass by said beastie): a lifetime of horrifying trauma. Window screens: priceless.

No screens here on the 15th Floor in San Francisco - no need.

Not much choice in Michigan near the water - SCREENS IN! You can hardly leave a light on outside at night without it being covered by creepy crawly mound by morning! Yikes!

re: the pic with the escaping dog--"We call this one 'Busted'."

ridge_van_winkle: I also hate summer! Too sweaty, too sticky, too bright. For the past two months I have been seriously pining for November and December - my absolute favorite time of the year.

I live near a pond in Charleston, SC, so mosquitos and humidity are rampant. Windows have rarely been open since mid-April when it got hot, and when they are, screens are ALWAYS in place so we don't end up a sweaty, itchy, miserable mess.

Another vote for pic one. Fan-frickin'-tastic!

That first pic is cool but it reminds me of a horrible accident that happened 5 years ago. A woman I know didn't have the screens installed in her bedroom windows and her beloved dog who was lounging on her bed decided he was going to chase a squirrel that he saw out in the yard. You can guess what happened next... he lept out the window, broke his neck and died in the car on the way to the emergency vet. Very sad and very preventable.

SCREENS forever! i'd love to not have them, but the cats would want out and with the 2 inch mosquitoes and roaches we have in Houston (not to mention the lizard/geckos that come in ANYway, as do the roaches) it's a no go.

in aspen, we don't have humidity, and though i live right next to the river, no 'squitos until dark. i leave windows AND doors open all day, and no problems. however, at night they are closed tightly due to very naughty BEARS!

I've had this page up all day and I can't help but keep peeking at it because that guilty, "Crap, they see me jumping out the window!" face makes me laugh every time I see it.