Centipedes in Pittsburgh

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

Sounds like a smart man. Chemicals are more dangerous than centipedes.

Yeah, I don't mean to be judgmental, but the amount of people reacting with a murderous rage just because another living thing (which is actually beneficial to have in your house) looks icky kinda surprises me.

The only thing which worries me about bugs (minus the kind that bite, sting, or infest) is they might crawl into my mouth or something when I sleep. Otherwise they can keep doing their thing unmolested.

[trackstar13]

Originally Posted by eschaton

Yeah, I don't mean to be judgmental, but the amount of people reacting with a murderous rage just because another living thing (which is actually beneficial to have in your house) looks icky kinda surprises me.

The only thing which worries me about bugs (minus the kind that bite, sting, or infest) is they might crawl into my mouth or something when I sleep. Otherwise they can keep doing their thing unmolested.

House centipedes are not necaserily beneficial, especially because they can be highly prevalent in houses that have termite and carpenter ant infestations since they love to eat said bugs. Even though they feed on the aforementioned bugs, they don't do enough damage in order to put a dent in their population. In other words, you would not want to treat a termite infestation with house centipedes. It is much better to exclude bugs including house centipedes by installing better door sweeps, sealing cracks and holes, installing new windows, and running a basement or whole house dehumidifier. Also, as a cautionary tale for all of you chemical users, a friend of mine unknowingly poisoned his cat by spraying chemicals outside his house and his cat ate a few contaminated house centipedes. His cat got very sick and almost died and the vet bills were crazy. Be very careful what chemicals you use for household bug control, especially if your pets are eating the bugs.

[IdahoDee]

One of these ran out of my shoe when I picked it up to put it on the other day. It jumped off my shoe and ran down the hall. I chased it down and killed it with the shoe even though my first response was to run the other way - because I didn't want to find the same bug in my shoe ever, ever again. I now check my shoes before I put them on and I'm still a little traumatized by it.

[slamont61]

This thread brings back some not-so-pleasant memories... Not much of a bug problem in Minnesota though, don't miss them one bit.

[fleetiebelle]

Originally Posted by IdahoDee

One of these ran out of my shoe when I picked it up to put it on the other day. It jumped off my shoe and ran down the hall. I chased it down and killed it with the shoe even though my first response was to run the other way - because I didn't want to find the same bug in my shoe ever, ever again. I now check my shoes before I put them on and I'm still a little traumatized by it.

I hate it when you see one and have to leave to find something to dispatch it with. By the time you get back with a shoe, it's gone. But where is it?

[IdahoDee]

Originally Posted by fleetiebelle

I hate it when you see one and have to leave to find something to dispatch it with. By the time you get back with a shoe, it's gone. But where is it?

The thought crossed my mind to just let it scurry away because it was moving FAST. But, since I had the weapon in my hand (the shoe it jumped out of) I was able to chase it down. It would have been long gone by the time I got back if I had to look for something to kill it with. And then I would have had to wonder if it was building a nest and raising a family in my shoe every time I went to put them on.