Freaky synchronicity - I found a site today that mentioned centipedes:
This guy has quite a few choice words about them.
Apparently the largest is the Peruvian Giant - it gets to 12"
yes, that’s ONE FOOT!
…and people buy them as pets :eek:
We get the small, long-legged ones here, and my SCA rattan sword is my weapon of choice for killing the bastards.
I’m all, “Don’t click on the link, Wendy, it will only lead to trouble. Don’t do it! DON’T CLICK ON THE LINK!”
And then I click on the link. Every time.
The guy in your link describes my feelings about centipedes very well, MrDibble.
Huh. I had been thinking about returning to this thread and asking if anyone knew about the family tree of centipedes, but this last link satisfied my curiosity:
“Centipedes are anything but delicate. They are Arachnids, and their ancient status makes them the great-great-great (and so on) grandfathers of scorpions and spiders, and don’t you fucking forget it.”
That makes sense. They don’t look or act very insect-y.
NoPretentiousCodename, I’ll be happy to tell all I know about Kaua’i chickens, but I think the subject deserves its own thread.
Actually, I do not believe this is true. They are all from phylum Arthropoda (arthropod means “jointed leg”), but insects are class Insecta (all six-legged), spiders, scorpions, mites, and ticks are class Arachnida (all eight-legged), centipedes are class Chilopoda, and millipedes are class Diplopoda. Crustaceans (shrimp, lobsters, crabs, etc) are another class of arthropods, and I believe those guys all have ten legs.
How did centipedes come to inhabit hawaii? The islands are volcanic, and colonized by things that could fly,drift, or swim into them. Hence, no native mammals. So how did these horrors come to live in Paradise?
I’m always reminded of the scene in “DOCTOR NO” when James Bond fins one in his bed!
As for keeping these things as "pets’-why on earth would someone do it? I saw a thing on animal planet where a kid had one-it stung him and he nearly died.
My guess, based on zero research*, is that they came over the way lots of species have traveled: on boats with humans.
- I would research this, but that would probably entail more pictures of giant centipedes, and I’ve had all I can take of those.
As stated in MrDibble’s link: “Haitian Giant Centipedes are often sold as pets, because humans are fucking stupid.”
That page kicks ass. Thanks.
Great page, love the quote next to the picture
Haitian Giant Centipedes are often sold as pets, because humans are fucking stupid.
Oh great, now I have to crouch on my chair.
I’ll also recommend hammers. I’ve had good luck with those rubber mallets that you use when you want to hammer things without damaging them. Get one of those suckers, and you can really go after centipedes without having to worry so much about the floor.
I love this thread. I hate RickJay, but I love this thread. It reminds me of the thread about the guy who ate half a spider on his strawberry, one of my most favorite threads ever.
Anyway, no one’s mentioned silverfish yet? I hate silverfish. I hate them. I haaaaaaaate them. I can’t even deal with them rationally. I have to run and hide. haaaaaaate silverfish.
Are you saying Hawaiian chickens eat these things? :eek:
Hmmmmm :dubious: …
::runs away before she gets squished by a hammer::
Except for a bat.
I concur, I regret clicking that link. Even though they used to live under our house on the big island way back when and I’ve seen lots of them. I still shudder. I couldn’t even step on one with combat boots. And a hammer would be too short. Maybe a baseball bat or golf club.
When I wrote “long range” I meant long range - several miles if possible. Those things make the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
Ok…I will make a deal with everyone here. I will take care of any scary bug that threatens you. No matter how big, no matter how creepy and icky. Bugs bother me not.
But the deal is, one of you has to save me from any and all frogs (the green tree frogs that actually have toenails …::shudder:: The toads that are as big as a sald plate ::cringe::
Oh yeah…and let me add lizards to the list. I used to live in South FL, and these things used to be everywhere. I’ve seen ones up to 10 inches long. The very thought make me want to pass out.
Hey Cherry2000 I can make you such a deal! You come here and take care of all the spiders and slugs for me, and you will never ever see a reptile or amphibian unless you see someone’s pet, as they are not able to survive here! It’s too cold!
I would read it, for sure!
I apologize for my little story.
Ha ha, no I don’t.
Seriously, though, there’s simply no doubt that centipedes are the most ghastly and evil monstrosities to ever infest the Earth, with the possible exception of Maple Leaf fans, who are slightly less gross but much harder to kill with bug spray.
I once had a basement apartment where the centipedes would come out in the bathroom at night. You’d go into take a pee, and three or four would await you, and they were big suckers. I don’t know exactly how big they were, but I think some of them wore flea collars. I would scream in fury and destroy them as fast as I could, but the little sons of bitches could run fast.
However, were I to discover centipedes of the gigantic sort linked in thie thread, there is simply only one possible resolution, which I also suggested in a recent thread for dealing with infestations of scorpions:
BURN THE HOUSE TO THE GROUND!
God I hated those fuckers. Came across two of them in the house - one almost with my bare foot - and nothing kills them but hammers. They’re armor-plated.
shudder