Centipedes - IslandJoan?

OOOOh!!!! I just remembered the video of the centipede eating a bat!!! Check it out.
And there's another one of a giant centipede eating a mouse!!!!!!!

ONLY FOR THE BRAVE!!

http://www.weshow.com/us/videos/post/search?text=Giant+Bat-Eating+Centipede

Oh my...that is the most horrible thing I have ever seen.

Holy *%#@!!!!!

Ok I did read the subject of the videos, BUT I was not prepared for that!!!! Surely those aren't real!?! Can a centipede really eat a mouse or bat? That's just crazy!!!

Oh they are real, for sure. But...they are GIANT centipedes which live in, I think, South America and the Pacific. While we do have large centipedes here, I think the approx. maximum length they reach is in the 6-9 inch range and not much larger than that. The Centipede Outdoor Store in C'sted (a few doors around the corner from Rumrunners) has several large specimens in jars. They have a contest every year, sometime in October I think, for the largest centipede. Everyone brings them in. I've heard some the largest on STX live in the Cane Bay area! Go check them out if you really want to get the willies!

Okay, I really shouldn't have read this thread. I have had imaginary centipedes biting me all day! I'm going to have to watch out for the real ones!

We had one last month that was about 6 inches long...just crossing the floor in the evening and I had never encountered one before. I didn't know they moved so fast! I squealed to my husband, who, with the handiest tool available, flattened its head with the TV clicker, but the rest of the body kept going....I didn't watch, but he assured me that, after a bit of whatever that I didn't want to know about, the deed was done.

WOW! Never thought to look for video's on the subject! I imagine they do much of the same here tho! I had a cool specimen which I had saved until he finally broke into pieces. He was about 8 inches long and I found him already dead. I took him to the states with me to show family! I'm a country girl, what can I say! lol!

One night we had company over and all of our kids were sitting on the floor on a blanket watching TV, one of the kids came over and said that a millipede had run under their blanket. I asked him, did it move fast or slow? He said fast! I knew right away it was NO millipede! (as you know they move slow). He was quite big in size and we chased his but down and killed him. Thank goodness he didn't get one of the kids!

Does anyone have an opinion on how effective spraying is for keeping centipedes out of the home? I imagine there are a multitude of experiences and great tricks as well. I've read the posts but I was curious about their natural habitat in so much as whether they generally like dry areas and seek shelter in homes when it rains, or are there more centipedes where it's wet, if anybody knows. With children, I'm trying to balance in my mind the pesticide vs. centipede equation as both are less than desirable but probably neither avoidable. 🙂

I would think having an exterminator spray monthly should do it. Our condo association has that done and I have never seen one there yet.

We spray our sliders doors every week for our villas and we find that this deters all kinds of critters as can be seen dead on a regular basis! We use Raid for the most part, but make up a strong batch of a pesticide occasionally. I don't like doing this, but we have to!
Our house gets a little neglected, therefore we see more critters there.... not to mention, that our place is a wooden structure which is harder to keep the critters out!
Another good way to deter them is NOT to have any Mango trees right next to the house. We had one right behind us and we had Scorpions on a regular basis! Cut it down (bummer) and have only seen one Scorpion since in a years time.
Centipedes rarely come into our places, tho on occasion (twice). They like cool, dark places. Under rocks, wood piles, etc. This is the same for Scorpions. Scorpions tho, eat a diet of ants so if you have a lot of ants, they will come in for them.
Hopes this helps some.

great help... this is priceless info for the newbie. 🙂