Jesus, this thread is creeping me the hell out.
As for the hairspray treatment - I’ve used that on other insects. Spray and if particularly demonic that day, light insect on fire. If very gracious feeling, then I would wrap tape, sticky side out, around a pencil and tap the pencil on the back of the insect where it would stick, legs flying around before flinging the pencil into the great blue yonder.
Tibs.
Oh,…found this: http://www.midwiferytoday.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1962
Quote: Background: Centipedes have an elongated, segmented body with each segment bearing a pair of legs. The name inaccurately implies one hundred legs when, in fact, the number of legs varies between 20 and more than 100. They range in length from 1 to 9 inches. end quote
::whimper:: 9 inches? ::whimper::
Well, if you interrupted its fucking, I suspect that it was irritated.
This thread reminded me of something I posted on the subject almost two years ago.
I used to live in a house that had a strange gurgling tub, too. One morning, I went in for my early shower (this was my freshman year in high school), and there were at least two dozen squirming larvae in the tub. Greyish-brown, maybe an inch to an inch and a half long, thin and wormy with a hard shiny exoskeleton, like small millipedes.
It was weird, but I’m not creeped out by bugs, so I washed 'em down the drain and showered. Next morning, they were back again. Clearly, they’re living in the plumbing or under the house or something, and coming up the drain during the night. I washed 'em down again and poured bleach into the drain. That should fix 'em, I thought.
For a while, it seemed to have done the trick. But then maybe a week later, I found even more of the little squirmers waiting for me first thing in the morning. At that point, what was making my skin crawl was not so much the general thought of the bugs, but what would happen if someone didn’t look into the bathtub before stepping in, and crunched the little guys with bare feet.
That’s not the worst part, though. The worst part is that a couple of weeks later, after washing the bugs down the drain had become a routine, the tub developed a strange gurgle. First time, it happened to someone else, but it kept doing it afterward, so we all got to experience this lovely moment. You’d be in the shower, the drain would start to slow down, and you’d hear heavy burbling and clanking from the pipes.
And then the squirming millipedes would come back up the drain and swirl around your feet.
All together now: Ewwww.
We had a guy go into the crawlspace and take stuff apart, and after that, no more wormies. I have no idea what he found down there, but, at least at that time, I didn’t want to know.
Sorry if I gave any of you entomophobes additional nightmare material, but I just had to share.
For those of you who missed it when it was discussed in this thread, here’s a link to a webpage that has a picture of the more enormous and disgusting centipede ever. For those of you who will have nightmares, be forewarned…this thing is at least a foot long.
Urk.
Several years ago, I went with a friend and his family canoeing down the Rio Grande. Our first campsite was about a hundred feet above the river, in the high desert.
There were a few centipedes there.
Okay, a fucking million or so. I mean literally one of those black-and-orange, six-inch spawns of hell every square foot, for as far as the eye could see. I’d never seen them before, and had to be told what they were. They must’ve been swarming. shrug
Well, we had to spend the night there- it was too dark to go on by that time. So we went to the shelter we were spending the night in, swept them out, and set up our sleeping bags. The shelter only had two walls and a roof, and we knew the fuckers would just start coming back in… so we built a big roaring fire and then spread the coals in a line to cover the two missing walls.
All night long I could hear them swarming over the sand and rocks.
I didn’t sleep much that night. :eek:
I am SO glad I moved to Seattle: we have no bugs out here.
capybara, a vinegaroon is like a little scorpion. Instead of having a venemous tail, they have a vinegar-ous one. The problem with them is that, unlike scorps, vinegaroons have figured out we people leave a lot of food around. So they come into houses much more often than scorpions.
Centipedes are freaky, but I have to say that it’s always pretty exciting to think that a bug is a centipede and then discover it’s a millepede. At least in that case you know it won’t bite you as you dispose of it.
The Wrong Girl , I’m thinking that might be the reason Bo ignored it…he’s probably tangled with them before. The wimp.
Velma , The Asian variety of ladybugs do indeed bite. I was surprised too, but the little bitches do bite, and it hurts! They were supposedly brought here to take care of the aphids, but are causing some unpleasant effects, such as their tendancy to swarm, and bite!
For as much as centipedes are bothersome they are not prone to stalking and attacking humans. They are fascinating, from a distance and there are many worse critters out there.
Let’s take the South American Kissing Beetle or “Vinchura”, it will come to you in the night, feed off your blood and leave you a little present in the form of a parasite called Trypanosoma Cruzi. The parasite is not injected but rather, is delivered when the bug defecates to make more room for all that yummy blood it’s sucking up.
The Western Conenose which lives in the U.S. looks like this and it’s southern cousin has a similar appearance.
Anyways, once that parasite makes it into your bloodstream you may develop something called Chagas disease. This disease may take 10-20 years to reach a chronic state and will reduce your lifespan by an average of nine years. Very few people develop any immediate acute symtoms and there are no symptoms during the intermediate phase. I should point out that there is no treatment for this disease once it hits the chronic phase.
From the CDC:
“Ten to 20 years after infection, people may develop the most serious symptoms of Chagas disease. Cardiac problems, including an enlarged heart, altered heart rate or rhythm, heart failure, or cardiac arrest are symptoms of chronic disease. Chagas disease can also lead to enlargement of parts of the digestive tract, which result in severe constipation or problems with swallowing. In persons who are immune compromised, including persons with HIV/AIDS, Chagas disease can be severe. Not everyone will develop the chronic symptoms of Chagas disease.”
Gimme the centipedes any day.
Every fall, my house gets infested with ladybugs. I find them literally everywhere, clinging to curtains, windows, doorjambs, in the laundry, in the bathroom, in the beds…but I don’t care. I like them. You just get used to sweeping, shaking, or brushing everything before you eat it, sit on it, etc. This goes on for about two months, and then one day, they all disappear. Over the winter you find a few dessicated little ladybugs corpses locked in death grip to some piece of furniture, but’s that all- they just sort of vanish. It’s like some portal opens from an alternate ladybug universe, they come for vacation, they leave again, and the portal closes.
On a somewhat more horrifying note, I found a brown recluse in my garage one day. Ignoring the Indian with the lone tear who popped up on my shoulder, I smushed the bastard lest he kill us all.
Everything was fine this morning, when I bit into my breakfast burrito, covered in salsa, from McDonald’s…until I read the bit about the larva in the shower. And looked at the picture of the centipede on the guy’s arm.
But now I’m afraid to throw up in case that happens to attract centipedes.
Tibs.
Velma, oddly enough, I am scared of butterflies! They completely gross me out. They flit and hover too much, and ever looked at their nasty little bodies without the wings? Yuck!
Centipedes. I don’t think we have them in SC/Ga. I’ve never seen one outside of pictures.
However, if I did, I am fairly sure that I would FREAK THE FUCK OUT!
Especially since they bite.
Yeeow.
I don’t know how you guys do it…
I guess you’re right, Sidle . It is weird that people are afraid of some bugs and not others. While thinking about this, it occurred to me that the more legs a bug has, the more people are going to be creeped out by it.
Bugs that bite/sting are different. It makes sense that people don’t want them around, but why do we discriminate based on the bug’s looks?
Oh, I see how it is! We only want the “pretty” bugs around! Well, what about the not-so-attractive ones? Must they be squished solely for not being born a butterfly?
::Waking up one day and looking out my window::
“There’s a tiny picket line marching around our house! And I’ve been served with a summons?”
SO: “what’s going on?”
“It’s the centipedes, spiders, and silverfish! They’re protesting unfair ejection from the house. Descrimination based on species. they claim we are prejudiced towards “crawly” bugs.”
There is only one thing to do. I get in my car and run over the picket line. They are too gross to live.
Do you want my hairspray and lighter, Velma?
Tibs.
I am going to buy some hairspray. Good for you, Velma
Wow, this is like a support group. I thought I was the only one. Centipedes are the most vile, disgusting creatures on the planet, and they should all be exterminated. Thank you.
I played with lots of bugs all the time as a kid, but my tolerance for the critters diminishes as I age. I didn’t know centipedes were venomous until a few years ago when I moved to a state that had the wretched beasts. (We’re talking about the critters with the long, feathery legs that travel at mach one, right?)
I had one in my apartment about a week ago - it hauled ass across my kitchen floor and ducked under the fridge before I could stomp it. But I was clever. Oh yes. I waited for it. And about five minutes later, when it streaked back across my floor, I was ready for it - me and Mr. Boot. I try not to kill bugs - unless I know they’re venomous or they’re tropical-sized (or they’re the colony of ants that have decided to take up residence in my kitchen).
I don’t mind all the centipede’s legs - but there’s something about their speed that just creeps me out. Give me a nice, fuzzy wooly-worm ambling across the floor anyday.
Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. Must remember to buy hairspray.