centipeds

ACK!!! I hate those things worse than any other creepy crawlie. I think you have to smoosh them to death. Found this blog about them. Don't know that it will help but it's a good read. You have my sympathies.

http://www.leisureagency.org/blogatron/000002.html

I call it the "St. Croix two step" Step and twist. Plant your foot directly on top of it (wearing shoes) and twist to grind it into the ground. That's how Tabra kills them. I spray them thoroughly with 409. That kills them quickly with the added bonus that I don't have to get near them.

Trade, the blog was great but it made me more afraid. Beth, does 409 really work? We have spayed those monsters with the strongest poison that we can find and they still take forever to die. I now walk around with a mountain climbing pickaxe or a machete. My 3 year old son can spot them in a heart beat. I'll be gardening and hear him scream out bad worm mommy and there right next to me will be a 6 or 7 inch monster. I am terrified that one will bite him. I have nightmares about them when I am able to get to sleep. I cannot believe a bug has me in a state of terror. Any suggestions out there?
Thanks everyone.
Tammy

Put them in rum. They die instantly in alcohol. And then you have a preserved specimen to enter in the centipede competition in October!!

P.S. Don't drink the rum because they release their poison into it as they die.

Maybe you need to call an exterminator?

Its about 30 to 45 dollars to get your house sprayed a month. If you pay for the year in advance they will usually give you a discount (at least teremenix does). I'd rather have an exterminator and do without something else. When I see a centipede in my house it is dying slowly. Never seen one in its full glory.

Thanks everyone. We do spay the house every month inside and out. The one time we did not spay we had them in the house. We were given something to spray with by the previous owners and it seems to work pretty well but we are almost out. They told us to spay ourselves as the companies did not do a very good job. My son and I are outside very often because I garden so much. My problem is that they are everywhere outside. I find them day and night. We have bush on 3 sides of our house with lots of trash dumped there. Plywood, old boards, buckets ect. I think that is the problem. Also most of the landscaping that was done here has big rocks piled around it. I know that I am probably overeacting but I find them almost daily and those suckers are huge. Maybe I should spray inside and out with rum. LOL. My husband caught 2 giant ones today. He put them in a sealed container so we could experiment on what kills them. Yes, I am going to pour rum on them. From a distance of course. Have a good night everyone but don't turn off the bathroom light in case you have to go in the night. Thanks again.
Tammy

It's odd. In the three 1/2 years we've lived on the North Shore, we've seen 2 centipedes, one inside and one outside. I guess they prefer other areas of STX.

I've been using terminix ever since we got here and have been extremely happy. If I have a problem and want them to come out before or after my service date they always do, but have only had to do that twice in several years. They do my yard as well as my house, but the outside is the outside no matter what anyone tells you and it is impossible to provide a full proof no pest zone.

North shore is a wetter area....you'll probably see them more when they are trying to get away from water(heavy rains) then when they are coming in for water.

And I guess I have a problem with a forum discussion about wripping heads off, stomping on, spraying with "409" or rum-dunking centipedes, gongolas or whatever else you call them.

These creatures, however nasty they MIGHT seem to be to humans, do have a place where the environment is concerned and I highly doubt that they bite without provocation as is the case with the majority of creepie-crawlies here in the tropics.

I beg the forum posters who thus far have offered their advice in annihilating them do further research.

You may not like the looks of them. You are MUCH bigger than they are. Whatever poison they have inside them is nowhere near enough to harm a human being and is there only to protect them from their natural predators as in mongooses...

Oh I could go on endlessly. Pick them up and just toss them out into the bush, for goodness' sake. Very tired Cheers!

Pick them up and just toss them out into the bush?!!!! I've known people who were bitten/stung by them to have an allergic reaction--plus the pain! Please forgive me for being overly violent in the story I'm about to tell: When I was a teen living on St. Croix, I was babysitting a four year old one evening. As she played in the bath, I heard the unmistakable scratching sound of one coming in under the sliding glass doors, and saw it was a HUGE dark maroon one. On frantically looking around to find something to kill it with- I grabbed the only thing big enough to do damage -- a cast iron skillet! BBAAAAAAMMMMMMM! It left my arm vibrating like a cartoon character, but it did the job. I had to protect the child from this thing that had come into her home, uninvited!

Another story-- I had a friend who went to school at Good Hope with me whose mother apparently slept on her back, mouth open. A smallish centipede crawled up the rock wall at the head of her bed, over the reading light and dropped---- RIGHT INTO HER MOUTH. She had to be flown to Puerto Rico where she was very ill with severe swelling down her throat from the bite/sting. Sure the centipede was probably terrified--- but not as much as the poor woman! After that I made sure every night that my twin sized bed was pulled out from the rock wall at the head of my bed and no sheet touched the floor! 🙂 We certainly didn't go hunting them outside the villa, but if one wandered inside--- fair game!

Oh, just bring them to STT Res' restaurant where all critters are welcomed and where she only serves vegetarian food. *-)

STT Resident, You are so right. I can peacefully coexist with most all creatures. Centipeds eat other insects which makes them beneficial to the environment, however if one decides to share my bed uninvited and bites me when I roll over I will chop his head off. I guess I should just leave them alone outside as it is their habitat but the thought of one of them biting my 3 year old and him screaming in pain for 4 hours, which is how a woman described her bite to me, makes me crazy. I admit again that I am probably overeacting as we had snakes back in Virginia and I had no problem just grabbing them by the tail and flinging them out of my garden and they were much more dangerous than a centiped. Maybe I am just frightened of the unknown. I think the fact that you can chop them in half and 24 hours later they can still move makes them seem like creatures from the night of the living dead. In any case hopefully in time I will get over my terror of being attacked in the middle of the night and be able to sleep peacefully again. Cheers dear.
Tammy

I strongly suggest getting bids from the local exterminators. It is well worth it to have your home inside and out sprayed monthly. I would not want to worry about anyone in my family being bit, especially a child. They are nasty creatures and who wants to get close enough to kill them. Sorry STT Resident, I know they serve a purpose, but not in my home.

And what my dear lady do you believe is there general ranking and reason for being on that great big chain of life the almighty has bestown upon us.

Squish them I say.

Aloha,
We have the critters in Hawaii, and I agree that what I find in my home is fair game. I take a knife and cut off their heads as I figure that's more humane if they die quickly. My girlfriend is a Buddist and only takes a pair of tongs to pick them up with and throw back outside in the brush. We do lots of yardwork because of the gardens and such, I don't kill them outside however, have learned to wear those gardening gloves with the rubber and always am careful to watch things I pick up from the ground. Since we had solar panels for our electricity, running a light at night was not an option. A good ol' flashlight to run to the bathroom works just as good.
They supposedly eat cockroaches, which sounds good to me. Every critter has it's own beauty. And, comment to Promo guy about us being at the top of the food chain, guess we need to do a better job of protecting our planet than we have been doing, otherwise,...well, figure it out.
Mahalo, Maui girl.

Your comment about Buddhist girlfriend reminded me of what was happening at a temple in Asia where fire ants were a big problem. Yep, they will continue to be a problem.

I'm also not worrying about the planet. Al Gore's got it all figured out and I'm putting all my faith in him. I give daily offerings at the feet of my Goreacle.

Aloha Promo guy,
Liked the story about the fire-ants. As far as giving daily to the "Goreacle", I hope you mean by your actions and not just with your words. (I'd like to think it's what you meant!).
- Maui girl

They come into my house, I'll "wrip" their head off or do whatever it takes to kill the nasty things. And if there was a child visiting, look out. There are enough of the sickening things around that I doubt they're going to be on any endangered species list. Give me a break! *-)

My dog has been infested with ticks. I've pulled tons of them off of her, had her dipped (which I hate) & cheerfully drown them because she has them again. The stuff on the neck isn't phasing these things. Guess I ought to take them outside & set up a tick habitat.

Oh, and don't forget to walk your roaches outside too.

Easy to talk tough on a forum, eh??? Let's see you do it for real!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any sort of pest that crosses my threshold that is uninvited and unwanted is fair game for instant extermination -- I agree with everyone who said this previously!!!

Trade, when I first moved to the island my ancient old cat (then 17 now 18 ) got fleas. He has been an indoor cat since he was 6 weeks old and NEVER had fleas before. I must have tried every product out there before I FINALLY found something that worked -- maybe there is something along these lines for ticks on dogs.

Here are the two products I use:

Capstar -- a small pill that I give to my cat(s). This pill is completely non-toxic to the cat, but it starts killing the fleas almost immediately. I was skeptical at first, but this product is AMAZING -- the fleas just drop off. Have your vacuum handy though!!!

This with Revolution (what is sounds like you are using also) applied to the nape of the neck once per month.

The Capstar pill seems to kill a lot of the fleas instantly and the Revolution finishes the remainder off and helps to prevent more from arriving on the pet.

I wonder if there is some sort of a pill out there that works for ticks. Does anyone know?

What about frontline. That is what we use on our dogs for fleas and ticks. I sure hope it works here.

Dougtamii: To me Frontline and Revolution are basically the same. I had a heck of a time getting rid of the fleas on my cat, maybe you won't find it as difficult with dogs. Maybe it even depends on the individual animal itself -- I don't know. I swear by Capstar and will never be without a supply of it in my house again. The cat(s) still get it every now and then for good measure -- and the fleas are long gone!

Promoguy: LOL!

Trade: Promoguy is right -- let's see some action. You sound like one tough Dude(tte) -- bring 'em on :D!!!!

A bit off of the centipede topic but for any you who like homemade remedies instead of spending a ton for stuff from the vet . . . try using Dawn dishwashing soap to wash your dog (it kills the fleas). To keep the fleas away add four tablespoons of vinegar per gallon of water for your dog. It's safe and keeps the fleas away.