# Bitten by a centipede - in my sleep! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 20, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997 "2005-06-20T04:57:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/1 "2005-06-20T04:57:51Z")
It’s 5 AM, and I’m peacefully snoring in bed, hell-bent for sleeping until hell, at least 9 or 10. Luxury. Suddenly, I’m jolted out of slumber by a searing pain in my right middle toe. I mean like white-hot sewing needle through the phalange pain. “Gah!,” I scream profoundly. I’m suddenly standing beside my bed without any memory of going from a horizontal to a vertical orientation. I’m simply lying down one instant and hopping up and down, throwing back the covers the next. As the covers fly back, I see a smallish black object soar directly toward my face. I react with all the well-considered aplomb you’d expect from a naked guy jolted out of bed at 5 AM by someone stabbing him in the foot with a hot icepick. That is to say, I squealed like a 5-year-old and made lots of largely ineffectual flailing motions with my hands and feet. By sheer luck, I ended up stomping the little demon into oblivion. Centipede. ICK. Only about an inch and a half long, but god, what a wallop. The pain had by this time spread through three toes, and the original injured one had a small, angry red bump on it. For the next two hours, I sat with my offended foot in cold water to keep down the throbbing pain. So much for sleeping late. Stupid centipede. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/2 "2005-06-20T05:08:56Z")
Good story! Too bad about the toe(s)-glad you at least spushed the little bugger. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/3 "2005-06-20T05:19:57Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > Good story! Easy for you to say - you don’t live within 50 miles of the OP like I do. And nobody ever warned me about venomous centipedes! Makes me wonder what other dangerous animals I need to know about here… Anyway I hope your foot is feeling better now. ---
**Author:** ![DrMemory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DrMemory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrMemory)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/4 "2005-06-20T13:15:53Z")
Welcome to the club. They mostly come at night…Mostly… ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/5 "2005-06-20T13:22:13Z")
There have been two or three threads about centipedes lately, none of them positive. I think we should make them the official hated invertabrate of the SDMB. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/6 "2005-06-20T14:19:17Z")
Yes, let’s. Centipedes should all die, and be replaced with some sort of cute, fuzzy, friendly smaller-bug-eating bug. That would be better. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/7 "2005-06-20T15:19:02Z")
> [@Lissla Lissar](#): > > Yes, let’s. Centipedes should all die, and be replaced with some sort of cute, fuzzy, friendly smaller-bug-eating bug. That would be better. A fuzzy bug that eat smaller bugs? Sounds like a tarantula to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/8 "2005-06-20T16:03:43Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Easy for you to say - you don’t live within 50 miles of the OP like I do. And nobody ever warned me about venomous centipedes! Makes me wonder what other dangerous animals I need to know about here… > > Anyway I hope your foot is feeling better now. Well, I’ve lived in this general (very general) vicinity for most of my life, and this is the first time it’s ever happened to me, so I wouldn’t worry all _that_ much about it. 🙂 Also, my cats are cute and fuzzy, and they like to chase and eat bugs…but I’m not sure they’re just right for the ecological niche. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/9 "2005-06-20T16:58:47Z")
[minor hijack] Why is it that most of the nasty biting-stinging-evil critters live down South?[/hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/10 "2005-06-20T17:09:03Z")
Well, just in case you guys haven’t seen this enough times I shall post the obligatory [centipede](http://www.hilarynelson.com/Hobbies/Bugs/Centipedes/DSCN1035.JPG) link. I feel it is my duty. Was that the guy? ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/11 "2005-06-20T17:57:55Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > Well, just in case you guys haven’t seen this enough times I shall post the obligatory [centipede](http://www.hilarynelson.com/Hobbies/Bugs/Centipedes/DSCN1035.JPG) link. [Crocodile Dundee] 'Ats nawt a centipede… _['Ats](http://www.mokihana.com/big%20centipede.jpg)_ a centipede! [/Crocodile Dundee] ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/12 "2005-06-20T18:13:34Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > [Crocodile Dundee] > 'Ats nawt a centipede… > _['Ats](http://www.mokihana.com/big%20centipede.jpg)_ a centipede! > [/Crocodile Dundee] My guy’s waaaaayyy uglier, smaller, but uglier. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/13 "2005-06-20T18:17:21Z")
> [@danceswithcats](#): > > [minor hijack] Why is it that most of the nasty biting-stinging-evil critters live down South?[/hijack] Richard Nixon? \ ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/14 "2005-06-20T19:16:47Z")
[Crow T. Robot] Ah, good old-fashioned nightmare fuel. [/CTR] ---
**Author:** ![Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/41988e/32.png) [@Dazzling\_White\_Diamonds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dazzling_White_Diamonds)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/15 "2005-06-20T23:34:14Z")
Not all of those nasty suckas live down south… they also reside right here in good ol’ West Central Indiana. I’m not normally squeamish about such critters, but you give me something with more than 8 legs (and that’s being generous! I generally like 'em to have 6 legs or less, tyvm…), and the _squick_ factor increases exponentially. I encountered a rather large specimen of the long-legged, banded type as I was getting ready for work one morning, and I sounded like a bull in a china shop! I was knocking stuff over left and right, and making this god-awful sound in the back of my throat. I killed that sucka with much ado. Thinking all was once again right in my world, I resumed getting ready for work. Evidently, the first one was just a warm-up, because what should come along but one TWICE THE bleeping SIZE of the first one! Inches people, the thing was INCHES long! I immobilzed the thing with some hairspray and then killed it, too. Bleargh. I still shudder and cringe when I think of that morning. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2005, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/16 "2005-06-20T23:49:15Z")
I once stumbled on a nest of 'em while I was breaking up a section of roof that had been left in my back yard. I got three bites, including on nice red welt just above the elbow. The one that gave it to me was at least as long as my arm\*. I assume the critters took care of the rest that evening, because I didn’t see centipedes with any more frequency than anyone else. - Disclaimer: some descriptions may be exaggerated due to unmitigated horror. Your centipedes may vary. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2005, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bitten-by-a-centipede-in-my-sleep/308997/17 "2005-06-21T07:05:04Z")
My three year old found a centipede in the yard and named him Sherman. She told me “Sherman is my friend” and kissed him. Soon I heard “oh no Sherman broke”. Luckily she was able to find Sherman II (and III, IV…)