I was watching a surf flick last night, and in the dim light of my home theater I saw some critter crawling across the carpet toward me... thought it was a young snake at first, then realized it was a desert centipede. Thing must have been 5" long, and it managed to crawl under the leather sofa while I was grabbing the large see-through plastic glass I normally use for critter removal. So with the movie still running, I turned on the lights and carefully tipped the sofa back... no sign of the critter. I spent the next 45 minutes patrolling round the sofa, waiting for the critter to make a break. I was watching the movie at the same time, at least the good parts with actual surfing, lol. Finally, the centipede reappeared, making tracks across the carpet to the base of the east wall... thing could run like Ben Johnson on steroids. 
I tried to corral it with the glass and the covering card I use for bugs, but this thing was big and nasty and it reared up whenever I messed with it. The glass wouldn't work in the corner between floor and wall either, the thing kept hustling underneath it. Finally herded it toward the door, with the intention of flipping it outside, but it vanished into the broken threshold of my front door; there's a plastic strip atop the metal and it has a long cracked opening, so the thing disappeared. It may have found another way out between bad joinery or whatever, I haven't seen it since and I've been keeping the "draft dodger" towel more tightly in place at the base of the door. Hopefully it crawled back out where it belongs... but I'm keeping an eye out for it, lol. I looked up centipedes on the web, and sure enough, the desert variety are venomous... the Giant Desert Centipede can actually kill a human, if there's a bad reaction or whatever.
I believe this was a Common Desert Centipede, as it didn't look QUITE as nasty as its larger cousin, but it was still the largest centipede I've ever seen. Reminded me of a big ol' black Imperial Scorpion I saw one time out in Anza-Borrego, THAT thing was something like 7" long! Had a big ol' stinger on it that looked like it would pack a wallop. I read up on centipedes, and they don't actually bite, they use a specialized pair of hollow pincer-like appendages to puncture prey and deliver venom... something between a bite and a sting, but still nasty, since the pincers are filled with venom. Good thing I didn't get too close last night, because that centipede in my living room was rearing up, flopping around & waving its pincers like it was looking for something to puncture. Jeez, one more venomous critter to watch for in the high desert... where the critters pack a wallop and yard work is a combat mission, lol. Henceforth, I wear work gloves all the time outside!
Okay, that's it for now, I'm keeping an eye on the area around the front door to hopefully intercept and whack any more unwanted visitors. I usually have a "live and let live" policy toward most critters, but the venomous kind are different... I don't wanna wake up to find that blasted centipede in bed with me, lol. Thing was big enough to elbow me aside: "HEY, BUB, HOWZABOUT SOME ROOM?!?" Probably grab me by my shirt collar (if I actually wore pajamas) and haul me up, pincers twirling madly: "YOU LOOKIN' FOR TROUBLE, BUB?!?" Striking it with my machete would probably just p___ it off, lol... I'll have to start sleeping with a shotgun handy. Double-aught buck, of course. That should settle its hash... crikey, the thing was big enough to give small children nightmares! Maybe it's the residual radiation from the atomic tests in White Sands, lol, thing could star in a B-grade horror movie: 'THE CENTIPEDE THAT ATE ALAMOGORDO!!!'
I tried to corral it with the glass and the covering card I use for bugs, but this thing was big and nasty and it reared up whenever I messed with it. The glass wouldn't work in the corner between floor and wall either, the thing kept hustling underneath it. Finally herded it toward the door, with the intention of flipping it outside, but it vanished into the broken threshold of my front door; there's a plastic strip atop the metal and it has a long cracked opening, so the thing disappeared. It may have found another way out between bad joinery or whatever, I haven't seen it since and I've been keeping the "draft dodger" towel more tightly in place at the base of the door. Hopefully it crawled back out where it belongs... but I'm keeping an eye out for it, lol. I looked up centipedes on the web, and sure enough, the desert variety are venomous... the Giant Desert Centipede can actually kill a human, if there's a bad reaction or whatever.
I believe this was a Common Desert Centipede, as it didn't look QUITE as nasty as its larger cousin, but it was still the largest centipede I've ever seen. Reminded me of a big ol' black Imperial Scorpion I saw one time out in Anza-Borrego, THAT thing was something like 7" long! Had a big ol' stinger on it that looked like it would pack a wallop. I read up on centipedes, and they don't actually bite, they use a specialized pair of hollow pincer-like appendages to puncture prey and deliver venom... something between a bite and a sting, but still nasty, since the pincers are filled with venom. Good thing I didn't get too close last night, because that centipede in my living room was rearing up, flopping around & waving its pincers like it was looking for something to puncture. Jeez, one more venomous critter to watch for in the high desert... where the critters pack a wallop and yard work is a combat mission, lol. Henceforth, I wear work gloves all the time outside!
Okay, that's it for now, I'm keeping an eye on the area around the front door to hopefully intercept and whack any more unwanted visitors. I usually have a "live and let live" policy toward most critters, but the venomous kind are different... I don't wanna wake up to find that blasted centipede in bed with me, lol. Thing was big enough to elbow me aside: "HEY, BUB, HOWZABOUT SOME ROOM?!?" Probably grab me by my shirt collar (if I actually wore pajamas) and haul me up, pincers twirling madly: "YOU LOOKIN' FOR TROUBLE, BUB?!?" Striking it with my machete would probably just p___ it off, lol... I'll have to start sleeping with a shotgun handy. Double-aught buck, of course. That should settle its hash... crikey, the thing was big enough to give small children nightmares! Maybe it's the residual radiation from the atomic tests in White Sands, lol, thing could star in a B-grade horror movie: 'THE CENTIPEDE THAT ATE ALAMOGORDO!!!'
Last edited:
