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We live outside of Santa Fe and have had 2 big, old huge ugly ones in the house within the last week. Husband is a live and let live kinda guy so he tried catch and release with the one the cats cornered in my bathroom tonight (while I was in the tub!!). Then it bit him and was promptly flushed by a suddenly less forgiving husband. Nasty little creatures! (Centipedes, not husbands. My husband is pretty fantastic.)
ICK! - Just had a giant centipede in my house in Santa Fe! I have a photo (not very good) of it as it rounded a corner, but I had to put the phone down to grab a container to catch it in so I could throw it outside before it disappeared under the fridge. It was about 6 inches long, and about as big around as a piece of licorice.
ICK! - Just had a giant centipede in my house in Santa Fe! I have a photo (not very good) of it as it rounded a corner, but I had to put the phone down to grab a container to catch it in so I could throw it outside before it disappeared under the fridge. It was about 6 inches long, and about as big around as a piece of licorice.
The centipedes are fast but they aren't going to run toward you if they can help it. I've had small ones in the house and a few scorpions but they are almost always dead when I find them. I spray once a year inside and out. I have a 7-incher out in the garden by the goldfish pond but I've only seen him once in the rocks.
Lived in ABQ for 15 years and never saw a centipede, but I now live in Los Lunas and we found and 8" one in our home. This is a great place to live (ABQ) if you hate bugs. Pets never had fleas or ticks, no mosquitoes (or heart worm) to worry about either. The worse thing is flies in the summer months, they are a nuisance. And of course, always had black widows around. Now living in Los Lunas though we do have tics, mosquitoes, centipedes and such. The best advise I can give is to have a company come out and spray at least once a year. Even in ABQ because we do have cockroaches and they've also grossed me out.
Good rules to live by, always wear flip flops or something when you cannot see and never put your hands into something without a glove. Centipedes will hurt like hell and if your allergic can be life threatening. They can crawl over you and that's not the problem only stepping on them is when they will sting you. But black widows are a different story. I also heard we have the brown recluse here, but I've never seen one.
OMG this thread!! it is SO ironic you all posted this. I am in VA and we have an ABUNDANCE of nasty creatures like wolf spiders, beetles galore, waterbugs, ticks, etc... But I just got back from NM and we stayed at my fiance's parent's house which is currently empty. They had it treated with pest control so when we got there, he went in first to check everything out. OODLES of dead baby (or at least smaller) scorpions, lots of dead flies, and a dead smaller TARANTULA in the kitchen sink!! Ok I thought, we're good after he vacuumed everything up. A couple days later out of the corner of my eye I see A MASSIVE centipede on the foyer floor! It was alive and really long and thick, a light brown color? Not kidding that thing was as big as a baby snake! I almost lost it as I have a horrific fear of insects, especially huge ones.
So...since you all say it's pretty rare, I am assuming this was just a weird coincidence? I hope that was my "one time" to have to see that horrific creature!!
A couple days later out of the corner of my eye I see A MASSIVE centipede on the foyer floor! It was alive and really long and thick, a light brown color? Not kidding that thing was as big as a baby snake! I almost lost it as I have a horrific fear of insects, especially huge ones.
You're in luck then because centipedes aren't insects, they're arthropods. We see several centipedes each summer, frequently inside, but this year we seen less than prior years. We see the reddish ones, as in Poncho's photo. They eat insects and other bugs, but can sting you. We occasionally see the black millipedes, always outside and usually after a rain.
The tarantula is uncommon inside. This is the time of year to see them, as they're out looking for mates. The rest of the year we rarely see them. They're not harmful and are so slow you can easily avoid them. We like to go out and look closely at them if we see one crossing the driveway.
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