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Location: not sure, but there's a hell of a lot of water around here!
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Was watching a movie the other night, ground floor conde just above the beach in beautiful downtown Kihei..... see something out of the corner of my eye, ITS A FRIGGIN CENTIPEDE!!!!! Was a pretty good movie, just getting to the suspenseful part........ Soooooooo, kept one eye on the unexpexted guest, the other on the TV.... Commercial comes up, grab a tupperware container, catch the centipede,,, (it wasn't really heading anywhere, must be a movie buff) and escorted it outside, dropping it onto the lawn about 25 feet from my lanai.... Back to the movie.... about twenty minutes go by, see something out of the corner of my eye,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, SAME FRIGGIN CENTIPEDE!!!! I mean, gotta be, but what are the odds? Soooooo, this time the centipede wants a closer look at the movie,, (if this happens to you while watching 'Hurt Locker", email me,,,,, could be on to something). then it cruises over to the chair next to me, and crawls up the rattan/bamboo leg, making itself right at home. next commercial,, grabbed the always reliable tyson vac, (lots of SUCTION), hooked up the hoser thing, and, bye bye and aloha centipede episode #2, this time, though,, out the front door,,, ( watt you tink??? I stay stoopid or sumtin!!!?) aole centipede......... Funny thing being,,, THE SAME FRIGGIN CENTIPEDE WAS BY ON MONDAY NIGHT TOO!!! no joke,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I might adopt, if the popokis don't mind..one thing I've learned about centipedes in my slighlty more than 2 weeks in the Islands,,,, if you don't panic, and get all pupule, they can be very slow moving, but the second you freak out, and they sense all the hectic movment,,, THEY GO LOLO!!! AND, ONCE ALL THOSE LEGS GET MOVIN,,, LOOK OUT!!
Many decades ago I was told that they always travel in twos; so after that every time I had an encounter I would spend extra time looking for the other. I don't know how true that is but I know that centipedes in the same family look identical.
As for them sensing the fear I think you may be right. They also spring when given enough time (imagine a string tied around their waist and pulling it up and then somehow they leap that way). I have never seen this maneuver performed by the Hmmmm >100 meetings I've had with these creatures (lived in the country on Kauai many decades; have been bitten 3 times, never stung). And another thing is it's always that "flash" thing in the corner of the eye that alerts to their presence with my experience.
I have seen them crawl up walls, hang from ceilings, invade beds, sleep in the laundry,curl up in electric sockets (usually find them dead when changing the plate) etc... You can find them anywhere there is an opening to the house (drains is another one).
That reminds me of a time while working as a waitress in a 4 star restaurant (pre-professional days). I was standing on the line (line is where staff waits for the food from the chef) talking to the chef and I felt my ankle-length plantation skirt's hem bother my calf (must be a loose thread). So I casually swept my skirt to displace the thread and it happened again very quickly (a feeling of being tickled by a feather). Well now I have to look; while pulling the skirt up to see what was going on my eyes literally popped with fear, my brain exploded and I lost all sense of time - there was a centipede crawling up my leg on the interior aspect of my calf muscle with it's head crawling toward my patella and the tail fluttering above my medial malleolus (the centipedes legs were doing the wave) AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! is what happened next along was a swift sweep of my hand and the thing landed on the floor with all staff members now present.
Well the thing was killed. What happened was I was standing next to a floor drain (in large restaurant kitchens large drains are common due to the fact they hose the floor down and need proper drains) anyway...... it probably wasn't as long as perceived but the shock; so I proceed into the private dining room where I was serving a party of 16 ladies where everyone just stared at me. What do you say? Nothing and proceed with another centipede story.
been here in Kona 11 months and have found one dead 8 inch brown (or red) centipede in my house and 1 large one in my small grassy yard. I walk my dog almost every morning, border collie mix, on this secluded upper road behind the house and have seen numerous brown ones after a nightly rain. Most of them were dead from being run over but a few were alive. They also have a smaller one here the locals call it a "blue" centipede, which i just happened to see and catch one in the garage today. I'm told this one is more poisonous than the brown. Since I breed and raise the Jacksons chameleon I will pick up road kill ones and catch the ones around the house and feed them to the lizards, after making sure the head has been cut off.Don't care for the chicken remedy because then the roosters start hanging around, and believe me they don't just crow in the morning. I've heard them all hours of the night. Very annoying. Don't want the "pedes" in my house so i carefully use an insecticide just on the outside up close to the house. Seems to work. I do check my bed and clothing every night and morning. Not too many things give me the hibbie jibbies, but these really are creepy looking. If you are planning on coming out here " be warned".
been here in Kona 11 months and have found one dead 8 inch brown (or red) centipede in my house and 1 large one in my small grassy yard. I walk my dog almost every morning, border collie mix, on this secluded upper road behind the house and have seen numerous brown ones after a nightly rain. Most of them were dead from being run over but a few were alive. They also have a smaller one here the locals call it a "blue" centipede, which i just happened to see and catch one in the garage today. I'm told this one is more poisonous than the brown. Since I breed and raise the Jacksons chameleon I will pick up road kill ones and catch the ones around the house and feed them to the lizards, after making sure the head has been cut off.Don't care for the chicken remedy because then the roosters start hanging around, and believe me they don't just crow in the morning. I've heard them all hours of the night. Very annoying. Don't want the "pedes" in my house so i carefully use an insecticide just on the outside up close to the house. Seems to work. I do check my bed and clothing every night and morning. Not too many things give me the hibbie jibbies, but these really are creepy looking. If you are planning on coming out here " be warned".
This made me smile! I'm with you; I know they are God's creature, but if/when I come across one a centipede or a scorpion, inside my home, they're not long for this world.
We had a huge (8 inches) brown one just outside our back door in the carport and when my husband opened the door, it raised up like it was ready to attack. Scrared he heck out of him, he dropped a 15lb weight on it.
Then another time my husband and son were Juraissic Park and a large one slithered across the TV screen, initially they thought it was part of the movie. Needless to say the TV was lucky to make it through the attack.
To address the legality of chickens in Hawaii. I know that on Kauai you can't harm the feral chickens...they are protected. Ever since Iwa and Iniki (hurricanes) they were blown all over the island. Since then you will find many a chicken on Kauai; everywhere. As far as attracting them to your yard, all you would have to do is put out food. If you were to build pens, you'll need a permit. But remember; where there are chickens, there will be roosters. I've actually become immune to the rooster's crow...and they will crow.
I now live in Laie and your story cracked me up ddnoonan . Oh yes, the centipede war stories. I've actually been bitten 3 times (all on Kauai where I grew up). We have the ancient centipedes over here in Laie (that's what my landlord calls them). The landlords I know are too cheap to spray and the environment is just too perfect for them here. They do climb and they come into the house after it rains. I get one of those 7 inch brown monsters about once a month. Although I try to confront my fear of them; I'm bigger, I'm stronger, I've been to college...alas, I still completely freak out when I see one.
To me it doesn't matter. Everywhere you go you will find something that you don't agree with. I'm glad that you didn't let the centipede experience throw you off of moving here ddnoonan. How would it sound if people knew an arthropod kept you from your dreams.
To address the legality of chickens in Hawaii. I know that on Kauai you can't harm the feral chickens...they are protected. [...] If you were to build pens, you'll need a permit.
I don't think that's true now, and I am dubious it was ever the case. I once asked the county if it was legal for the neighbor to shoot chicken with a BB gun in a dense neighborhood, and they said yes.
I don't think that's true now, and I am dubious it was ever the case. I once asked the county if it was legal for the neighbor to shoot chicken with a BB gun in a dense neighborhood, and they said yes.
I don't think that's true now, and I am dubious it was ever the case. I once asked the county if it was legal for the neighbor to shoot chicken with a BB gun in a dense neighborhood, and they said yes.
I stand corrected. Only certain birds are protected. I read that the recipe for a feral chicken is to get a big stone and put it in the pot of boiling water with the feral chicken. When the stone is soft the chicken is done.
And there is much disagreement about how the chickens multiplied so much. Some say hurricanes, some say they were always there but I know that there weren't that many chickens running wild until after the hurricanes. Then again it could be just timing since those birds love to breed.
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