House Centipedes

[JCRoberts]

So, it appears as though "house centipedes" have decided to reside in our house. I have two questions.

1) What is the best way to get rid of the little terrorists?

2) How do I prevent my wife from freaking out every time she sees one?

Thank you for your assistance.

[RandallFlagg]

Ugh! I usually call the local exterminator to spray for less than $100.

[Stellar Dendrite]

Put your beebers on stun.

[RandallFlagg]

OH! And make sure that they have a guarantee that you're bug-free for a loooong time. And if you see any more, call them back and they should re-spray for free.

(I usually call them back even if I don't see any bugs)

[cripplecreek]

Just hope they're on your side.

[A Balrog of Morgoth]

Thank God you don't have the honkin big poisonous centipedes like the ones in the Virgin Islands.

[general_re]

You could just leave them alone - they'll eat any spiders, crickets, etc., that they come across, and thus keep down the population of other nasties. Of course, it doesn't sound like your wife is likely to think about it in those terms, so alternately, go to your local pest supply joint and ask for Borid - it's a powdered boric acid formulation that you squirt into crevices and under the baseboards and such, where they're likely to hide. That should do it, if you're unable to persuade the wife to go along with the Wild Kingdom approach ;)

[Nowhere Man]

I will welcome our great Centipede Overloads. All Hail the Cetnipede Overlords!!! B-)

Seriously, I don't really know what to do, but centipedes freak me out and millipedes are a lot worse. One of my buddies' father served as an M-60 gunner in Vietnam on a Huey. One time a foot long millipede crawled on him and he empted a belt into it from his M-60. Years later, at home, a millipede crawled on him while he was under the crawlspace under his him and he freaked. Millipedes are nasty and gross.

[Samwise]

I'm with your wife. I call the exterminator. I was happy to learn that they are not dangerous. That might help her too. Here is a link I found.

If someone else has some good tips, will you ping me? I hate the things, and they came back once.

http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/iiin/housece.html

[cripplecreek]

I was at a friends house just a few hours ago and his neighbor has a family of skunks living under her porch. The skunks haven't been a problem but it's a disaster waiting to happen.

[Samwise]

One time a foot long millipede crawled on him

OK. I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

[cripplecreek]

Ive got a million earwig army massing under my flowerpots.

[Nowhere Man]

OK. I'm going to have nightmares tonight.

You and me both. Millipedes are around when there has been lots of rain too. One time, my 18 year old calico cat found one about 4 inches long, she started to play with it until I killed it and tossed it out, blech!!!!

[JennysCool]

For the Cemtipedes:

For the Wife:

[injin]

I 'combat' centipedes invading our house on a regular basis .
I find that Raid Fumigator bombs work well to but down a film that disables and even kills the 'Peeds for weeks , if not month afterwards. If there is a population of roaches , centipedes will follow them . It's nature ! They can sniff um out...Have a pair of long handle cooking thongs handy to pick them up with helps too. You don't want to let them get too close ! Then flush um ~~~~

[labette]

Answers:

1. Hire an exterminator. That way, it won't be YOUR fault the next time she sees one.
2. Keep her blindfolded, just in case.

[SilentServiceCPOWife]

Thank God you don't have the honkin big poisonous centipedes like the ones in the Virgin Islands.

We lived on St. Croix when I was a kid and the bugs there were terrifying. One night my father woke up because he felt something crawling on his chest and he brushed it off instinctively. When he turned on the light, he found that it was a large centipede.

[A Balrog of Morgoth]

My dad was an STSCS who was a range controller down there during the mid 1980s.

[Americanchild]

Millipedes are nasty and gross.

Hehe! Those GIANT millipedes from Africa are actually kind of cool! And they have these neat little symbiotic mites that live on them and clean their exoskeleton bands. The mites won't get on you though, 'cause they don't like people...

[Nowhere Man]

Hehe! Those GIANT millipedes from Africa are actually kind of cool! And they have these neat little symbiotic mites that live on them and clean their exoskeleton bands. The mites won't get on you though, 'cause they don't like people...

I've seen one of them, well I think it was a giant millipede from South America, IIRC. My buddy was hauling pets for his friends at the pet store he worked at. I remember he came over the house, opened the back of his pickup and showed me a giant millipede. He also had two Egyptian "sand cobras/vipers," VERY venomous, they were kind of looking at me funny, and some tarantulas. He did lose one, a tarantula, in the truck and it was wandering around there for two or three weeks until he found him. One of his friends had a total of 25 snakes, including 10 cobras, one was even an albino, but he got rid of them when one of them bit his girlfriend on the butt and she ended up in the University of Pittsburgh's ICU unit for a week and they had to get anti-venin flown in.