There are many creepy creatures that find their way into one's home in Baja Sur. In my opinon, none is more foul than the giant centipede (
Scolopendridae ? ). We've had 7" specimens fall from the palapa and into our bed!
The P-nchers on these animals are impressive and I have to think their bite must be terrible. However, I've yet to talk to anyone who's been bitten.
Has anyone out there taken a pinch from these beasts?
Several Baja Californios have told me that the giant centipede can also stick into your skin with his many feet when in a defensive mode. One of even
claimed only a red hot ember would make the centipede release his grip! Yikes.
I'd be interested in hearing your centipede tales. Anything to help seperate fact from fiction and help me sleep at night!vandenberg - 1-10-2009 at 02:07 PM
20 some years in B.C.S. and never seen one.
Seen small ones, maybe 3 inches and they may even be millipedes .windgrrl - 1-10-2009 at 02:11 PM
Why, thank you for the chance to tell my giant centipede story.
We owned a charming old "war-time" house with an original cast-iron bath tub. I spent many hours enjoying the therapeutic benefits of that comfortable
old tub over the years. However, we were always worried about the plumbing and the subsequent renovation if we had to replace the plumbing - we would
just have to do the whole bathroom, including breaking the tub to get it out of the house.
The tub taps were wearing down, and despite being painstakingingly rejuventated from time to time, were so old, they were no longer available as far
as we had researched. The drain itself was very narrow, made of cast parts and took a immediate sharp turn just below the surface of the tub with a
probably none-code pipe elevation running to the big drain in the basement.
Water drained well for the most part, but one day the drain backed up and no amount of unclogging with the plunger would unclog the drain. We were
certain that our reno fears had come true. However, the surprise on inspection was giant, soggy centipede lodged in the drain. I was happy not to have
been home during the operation of unclogging the drain, as I had a latent fear of weird things coming up through the basement drain due to a bad scare
reading "Creepy" magazine as a child.
I have always wondered how the giant centipede got lodged in our drain. Now I should mention that we live in Canada and anything that is a
creep-crawly is rather tiny in these parts. We have centipedes (or are they millipedes) and scorpions, but they are so small you would hardly notice
them unless you were very observant.
My only theory is that one adventurous bug jumped in our luggage on a past trip to Costa Rica and maybe even lived a while in our house, before
checking out (in) the drain. There were certainly more things slithering, jumping and flying around in Costa Rica than I have ever seen in the
Caribbean, Venezuela or Mexico.
My advice? If you come back from a winter vacation...check those bags over! If you live in Canada, well, there's always the chance to leave the bags,
vehciles, trailers, etc. outside in the winter and freeze them. I understand 2 weeks freezing is sufficient for bed bugs.Cardon Man - 1-10-2009 at 03:04 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by vandenberg
20 some years in B.C.S. and never seen one.
Seen small ones, maybe 3 inches and they may even be millipedes .
Wow, that's a long steak without centipedes. Though I will say it took me over 10 years of playing around in Baja before I saw my first. But last year
we killed 4 or 5 big ones in the months of September and early October alone. The heebie-jeebie factor is through the roof with those foul creatures!Cardon Man - 1-10-2009 at 03:07 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by windgrrl
Why, thank you for the chance to tell my giant centipede story.
Nice one windgrrl. Be glad that centipede never visited you while relaxing in the tub. You'd be ruined for life!vandenberg - 1-10-2009 at 03:12 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by Cardon Man
Quote:
Originally posted by windgrrl
Why, thank you for the chance to tell my giant centipede story.
Nice one windgrrl. Be glad that centipede never visited you while relaxing in the tub. You'd be ruined for life!
.... they should do a hell of a backstroke....oldlady - 1-10-2009 at 03:20 PM
Nope, Van. We've had a few of those suckers commit suicide (centicide?) in the pool. You are welcome to stop by in the morning next summer and scoop
them out!surfer jim - 1-10-2009 at 03:32 PM
With all the drug violence baja is bad enough.....but thus REALLY scares me.....
Somebody got a BIG picture of one of these so I can have bad dreams?windgrrl - 1-10-2009 at 05:44 PM
