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What is venomous, has thirty legs, and was hiding inside my closet? [w/pics]

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Things could be worse

gm_roaches.jpg
 
Mugen said:
Once I woke up in the morning and my upper lip felt kinda weird. I felt it and it was hairy which was surprising because I shaved last night and to my horror I lifted up a big ass centipede.

oh hell man!
 

Beaulieu

Member
You guys are overreacting.
I live in canada
I have had house centipedes in my basement
Not a big deal. They are fast as ****, but you usually wont see them, they stay in the walls and eat bugs. They wont attack you or anything.
 

Xdrive05

Member
That's a house centipede. They eat cockroach eggs so they're kind of beneficial (if you have those). There's a lot of back and forth over whether they can actually sting a human, because their mouths are so small. But I think some people have managed to get hurt by them, it's just very rare. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

They're just creepy as hell in the meantime. And you don't want one under the covers with you. That's for sure.
 
-House centipedes feed on spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish and other household pests. They kill their prey by injecting venom through their fangs.

So actually, we should be happy with them? Ok, they shouldn't kill spiders, cause spiders kill parasites and other pests too.


Edit: maybe this has been said already, but there's no way I'm browsing through this thread. I know gaf too well.
 

Apoc29

Member
I live in Canada and I've only seen a few house centipedes.

One time I saw one on my wall halfway between the floor and ceiling. I turn around for one second to find something to smash it with and when I turned back the ****er was gone. I mean, it just vanished. Either I was hallucinating or that thing can ****ing teleport.
 

Kuramu

Member
House centipedes freak me the **** out. I don't wantto be within 3 feet of those things, they run so fast. But one brave HC did me a favor once, so i'm leanient with them. There was a huge ass spider next to my basement toilet I was affraid to clear out. Sitting on that toilet was not a fun time. But one morning, I found 5 striped legs in the web, and the spider had been removed.

For your sacrifice of limb, I salute you, house centipede.
 

tombur

Member
GIANT centipedes are what you should be afriad of... there are videos of one eating a mouse on youtube. I wont link it, because its fcking horrible, but its an easy search.
 

iapetus

Scary Euro Man
Cauliflower of Love said:
I read this like 8 times, I kept reading pets. I'm thinking "how the **** is this beneficial"?

Do you know how much a pet cat costs in veterinary bills alone? These things are doing you a favour, I swear.
 

Loki

Count of Concision
I live in Brooklyn, and I've had a few of these things in my room over the years, mostly during the Summer. The ones I see have a similar shape, but with somewhat shorter legs and less striking coloring (they're basically gray/silver; in fact, many here call them "silverfish"). They run like the dickens. Usually they're around 1" in length; there are exceptions, though. True story:


Last Summer I was in my room on the computer, and I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turn around and look down and it's one of these things but super-sized. The creature was at least 4" in length and 2+" wide. It was massive. I froze, being deathly afraid of insects of even normal size, never mind Yeti-bugs. I didn't have any shoes or socks on, so stepping on it was out of the question (besides, I wasn't sure if a stomp would kill it). My first instinct was to run to the bathroom and get a wad of paper towels so as to smash it, but I knew from past experience that these buggers were lightning quick; I said to myself, "if I go get towels and come back and this thing is gone, I'll never be able to sleep in my room again." So, without taking my eye off of it, I grabbed one of the thicker textbooks on my shelf and threw it down on the beast from a great height; then, just to be certain that when I picked the book up it wouldn't scurry away, I stood on the book with both feet.


No one ever believes me when I tell them how big this thing was. The exterminator I spoke to (oh, you had best believe I called an exterminator after seeing this thing) said that sometimes these centipedes can get bloated like that if they take in too much water. The thing was as long as my palm and nearly as wide, and I'm a big boy. And I'm not even including the legs, I'm talking about the body. <shudder>
 

Baker

Banned
J2 Cool said:
I have those things. My room's in a basement. Computer against the cement wall. I see one of those crawl across every once in awhile. At which point I very cautiously stay away from my desk, rolling the seat away and using just one hand for the mouse. At least for the next 10 minutes.

Jerks off to centipedes confirmed.
 

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
Icanplaythat said:
Things could be worse

(various bugs)

Glad to say I've never seen any of these before.

I used to be freaking scared of centipedes (probably still am on some level) but after seeing that aforementioned giant centipede video back when it was originally linked here, house centipedes don't seem so bad. And if they eat bugs, hey, even better. Though the ones I've seen are pretty small. And I've never seen them move really fast the way you guys describe.
 

HolyStar

Banned
Yeah, out of all the insects, cockroaches are the worst (just because of how greasy they look and how dirty they are) and stuff. Ants I really don't mind and spiders aren't bad unless they are poisonous. That bug right there looks horrible.
 
Defuser said:
Have fun with spiders, bedbugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish and other household pests now.

Spiders kill most of these pests as well, and are less likely to bite you, and less scary in my opinion
 

fallengorn

Bitches love smiley faces
I'm fine with house centipedes but I can't stand roaches. God, why do I always click on these threads...
 

demon

I don't mean to alarm you but you have dogs on your face
Wow these things can get big!


capt.lon80608311303.britain_lon806.jpg



Imagine one of these things waiting for you in your shoe, or your pillow case at night, or hiding under your covers right as you get into bed, or crawling on your face and laying eggs in your mouth in the middle of the night. creepy!
 

widgetraf

Member
Loki said:
I live in Brooklyn, and I've had a few of these things in my room over the years, mostly during the Summer. The ones I see have a similar shape, but with somewhat shorter legs and less striking coloring (they're basically gray/silver; in fact, many here call them "silverfish"). They run like the dickens. Usually they're around 1" in length; there are exceptions, though. True story:


Last Summer I was in my room on the computer, and I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turn around and look down and it's one of these things but super-sized. The creature was at least 4" in length and 2+" wide. It was massive. I froze, being deathly afraid of insects of even normal size, never mind Yeti-bugs. I didn't have any shoes or socks on, so stepping on it was out of the question (besides, I wasn't sure if a stomp would kill it). My first instinct was to run to the bathroom and get a wad of paper towels so as to smash it, but I knew from past experience that these buggers were lightning quick; I said to myself, "if I go get towels and come back and this thing is gone, I'll never be able to sleep in my room again." So, without taking my eye off of it, I grabbed one of the thicker textbooks on my shelf and threw it down on the beast from a great height; then, just to be certain that when I picked the book up it wouldn't scurry away, I stood on the book with both feet.


No one ever believes me when I tell them how big this thing was. The exterminator I spoke to (oh, you had best believe I called an exterminator after seeing this thing) said that sometimes these centipedes can get bloated like that if they take in too much water. The thing was as long as my palm and nearly as wide, and I'm a big boy. And I'm not even including the legs, I'm talking about the body. <shudder>


I for one, have a can of Raid by my bed all the time. There's also one in the bathroom. I've rarely had to kill a bug without nuking it with Raid or dropping a slipper down on it. There is no way I am going to touch those things with my feet/hands.
 

tokkun

Member
To answer the numerous questions, I live in southern Wisconsin. I used to live farther north and never saw a house centipede before, but I've read that they migrated up from Mexico, so I'd guess that anywhere in South and Midwest would have them.

They're actually not all that bad; this house had a lot of ear whigs when I moved in, and once the centipedes started getting big, I didn't see any more. They're better than roaches, but recently my town has gotten an infestation of stag beetles, which I think are worse than roaches.

The bad thing about house centipedes is that you will go into a room and turn on a light, and there will be one sitting right next to your hand. Or you'll open a cabinet, and the centipede on the cabinet door will be right next to your face.

I still kill them on sight, though.

Here's a wallpaper-sized picture of a different centipede I killed. Set it on your roommate's desktop if you hate them.
1600x1200
 

tokkun

Member
retardboy said:
All I know is, I think I see pubes in that picture. Has that thing been down your pants? :D

I used to have a female roommate. Maybe she had centipedes in her vagina.
 
Smiles and Cries said:
where are you guys located?

I never seen anything like this around here Northeast US

I'm in NW Ohio, but my bedroom's also in a basement, which I believe they're more likely to be found in.
 

WedgeX

Banned
My house (in MI) is periodically infested with these things.

Sticky traps and heavy objects is the way to go! But uuugggghhhhh the twitching...
 

nitewulf

Member
Smiles and Cries said:
where are you guys located?

I never seen anything like this around here Northeast US
uh, i live in nyc...and they are very common. i do have a nice backyard though...perhaps they are less common in apartments and stuff.
 

nitewulf

Member
Loki said:
I live in Brooklyn, and I've had a few of these things in my room over the years, mostly during the Summer. The ones I see have a similar shape, but with somewhat shorter legs and less striking coloring (they're basically gray/silver; in fact, many here call them "silverfish"). They run like the dickens. Usually they're around 1" in length; there are exceptions, though. True story:


Last Summer I was in my room on the computer, and I see a shadow out of the corner of my eye. I turn around and look down and it's one of these things but super-sized. The creature was at least 4" in length and 2+" wide. It was massive. I froze, being deathly afraid of insects of even normal size, never mind Yeti-bugs. I didn't have any shoes or socks on, so stepping on it was out of the question (besides, I wasn't sure if a stomp would kill it). My first instinct was to run to the bathroom and get a wad of paper towels so as to smash it, but I knew from past experience that these buggers were lightning quick; I said to myself, "if I go get towels and come back and this thing is gone, I'll never be able to sleep in my room again." So, without taking my eye off of it, I grabbed one of the thicker textbooks on my shelf and threw it down on the beast from a great height; then, just to be certain that when I picked the book up it wouldn't scurry away, I stood on the book with both feet.


No one ever believes me when I tell them how big this thing was. The exterminator I spoke to (oh, you had best believe I called an exterminator after seeing this thing) said that sometimes these centipedes can get bloated like that if they take in too much water. The thing was as long as my palm and nearly as wide, and I'm a big boy. And I'm not even including the legs, I'm talking about the body. <shudder>
what did you do with the book? and wow, welcome back!
 

Crab Shaker

Doesn't pay his sources
oh f*ck that shit.

I'm so glad the worst I ever see in my apartment is a harmless spider staring down at me.

I remember once I went to Mexico, and was staying at this vacation place out in the mountains...There was one dead, probably a baby of the giant variety that eats mice, right next to the bed I was going to sleep in. Let's just say I got very little sleep that night, and what I did sleep was mostly sweaty nightmares of that shit crawling on my face.
 
Hmmm, I remember when I was young, that I was going to be late to school, I put my socks and then my shoes, by the time I arrived at school, I felt something strange in my shoe, I took it off and I see a f*cking roach there, since then I always check my shoes.
 

Loki

Count of Concision
nitewulf said:
what did you do with the book? and wow, welcome back!

I cautiously scraped the remains of the monstrosity off the cover, first prodding it to make sure it wouldn't spring back to life somehow, and cleaned it off. Then I framed the book to commemorate my victory over the leader of the insects. :D

And thanks, good to be back. :)
 

Kelsonk

Member
Never seen one, but if I did I'd be terrified if I did. I think it's the speed that's the most terrifying. If the centipede wanted to, it could race toward you, crawl up your leg and onto your face and start pouring venom down your throat before you even knew what was happening.
 

quaere

Member
Gotta get them when they're young. The big ones can resist even the forces of a full size vaccum cleaner unless it's directly over them, which gets damn hard considering how fast they run.
 

Yixian

Banned
FUCK! I fucking hate millipedes. Not a fan of arthropods in general really, definitely the worst phylum of animal.

Check this one:

Scolopendra_gigantea.jpg


Omg wtf, how does that thing even work? Wait, don't tell me, I don't even want to know. Go go global warming kill these motherfuckers!
 

Yixian

Banned
Dice Man said:
But as the climate warms, we'll just get more of them! Go go freezing temperatures!

There's only one thing for it. Everyone buy a Hummer and by the 2012 Olympics the world will look like this:

lava%20ball.jpg


That'll teach the bastards for existing!
 
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