Sabre52
Cave Dweller 
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 2, 2013 17:37:50 GMT -5
Howdy folks, Got called out on another rescue yesterday. This little fellow about 8" long was romping down a hallway creating havoc. I think this centipede is the Red Headed Scolopendra and this rascal is not even large for what we get. Biggest I've heard of around here was over a foot and an inch across the widest back scutes. Cool critter! I just took a few pics and relocated him to a big pilé of old logs and bark.The wife says they are creepy but I kind of like them. Got to say though, I had one disappear up my sleeve while digging crinoidal limestone up at San Saba and I danced around a bit till he were dislodged. Here's a pic......Mel  |
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Post by Bluesky78987 on Oct 2, 2013 18:29:48 GMT -5
Ewwww!!!! Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck!!!! I hope you weren't walking around barefoot when you saw that Mel! I'm not too bug-squeamish but one of those would send me away screaming!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 2, 2013 18:39:52 GMT -5
hahahahaha I would love to have seen that.
I thought centipedes are poisonous. Am I wrong?
Jim
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,612
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Post by jamesp on Oct 2, 2013 18:45:03 GMT -5
Never knew we had centipedes so large. wow I am sure some can bite Jim.
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 2, 2013 18:47:48 GMT -5
*L* Come on Susan, I think it's kind of pretty, kind of like a black metallic robot creepy crawly. It wasn't found in my house. Got a call from a friend to come get it. It was a hostile little critter though. While I was herding it around on the lawn with my hand so I could take pics, it got pissed off and actually reared up like a cobra and took a whack at my finger. Mandibles are quite impressive. About a 3/4" spread with big ole fangs.....Mel
Yup, they are poisonous but not deadly.
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Post by gr on Oct 2, 2013 18:59:41 GMT -5
not long after we moved up to northern Az. , my wife woke me up at 2 in the morning screaming, " get it off me" I it was one of those about 4" long. Let me tell ya! That is no way for a man to wake up!! It was hard going back to sleep after that. It didn't bite her but left track marks on her back where it had been.
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Post by catmandewe on Oct 2, 2013 19:04:12 GMT -5
This summer digging up at Davis Creek we found about half a dozen centipedes at about the 20 foot deep level inside a little pocket in the dirt. We relocated them to outside the pit but we weren't sure if they were dangerous or not.
Tony
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 3, 2013 21:42:32 GMT -5
Sabre52 - I love the red headed scolopendras. No, they won't kill humans, but watch how fast a mouse dies and you will have major league respect for life. Mel they sell those red heads in pet stores for $10 you got 'em in your home! lol I got bit by the little SoCal golden one. Took me 15 seconds to shake it off. Pain was totally off the scale. Finally fell asleep at 2am after promising myself if I was still awake at 2 I was going to the ER. Agony defined. A week of a terribly itchy thumb ensued. gr it is rumored the "toes" each have venom, perhaps the source of the welts? catmandewe - 20 feet underground? That is actually important knowledge for the scientists studying such animals. Are you going back next season? Can you imagine a path to the surface from that deep, in that soil?
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Post by Pat on Oct 3, 2013 22:03:31 GMT -5
Oh! My! It is interesting, but I wouldn't want it crawling on me either. 4" long would make it scary. Then you wonder if there are more around, and get the creeps.
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bhiatt
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since July 2012
Posts: 1,532
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Post by bhiatt on Oct 3, 2013 22:09:05 GMT -5
thats pretty cool looking. Havent seen anything like that in person.
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Post by tntmom on Oct 3, 2013 23:08:47 GMT -5
All I can say is..... I love TX but..... glad I've been in WA for the last 20+ years! I'll help brand a steer, but don't you ever ask me to pick one of those things up!!!!
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Oct 3, 2013 23:49:09 GMT -5
yeah I'm no fan of centipedes, but cool that you could get it out alive.
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ash
spending too much on rocks
Prairieville, Louisiana
Member since July 2012
Posts: 361
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Post by ash on Oct 4, 2013 9:40:31 GMT -5
Wow those things are big! A foot long centipede is a eatin machine I bet! They envenomate from the two poison claws on each side of their head i believe. I read that they have a mean bite...I will take your word on that one Scott!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2013 10:27:03 GMT -5
Dead on ash. two venom delivering chelicerae chewing and delivering the toxins.
Mel are these common?
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Sabre52
Cave Dweller
Me and my gal, Rosie
Member since August 2005
Posts: 20,503
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Post by Sabre52 on Oct 4, 2013 12:43:54 GMT -5
Scott: Seasonally common. They like high humidity, so wet weather in spring and fall. In the fall, they seem to coincide with the tarantula migrations. Seem to like to invade houses to get cooler on hot days just like the bark scorpions do. Problem is, most folks use permethrin band applications along doors and walls so most all are killed as that chemical is really deadly to centipedes.
I think the venom delivery system is pretty unusual. Two modified forelegs below the head have been equipped with grooved claws like fangs to deliver the venom. In a centipede this large just the bite itself must be painful as those pointy parts are quite formidable even without the guarantee of a venom load. The rascal I photographed struck my thumbnail when I was herding him and I could really feel the fangs hit and attempt to grab on. Those are really strong arthropods....Mel
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Post by Woodyrock on Oct 7, 2013 1:08:34 GMT -5
Of all god's creatures I hate centipedes.Snakes, spiders, scorpions, you name it do not bother me. I still have nightmares of the centipedes in Viet Nam. When you are up to your neck in jungle water, trying to be totally quiet, and have there things crawling on you, it is pure hell. I know they were not the same specie, but that big and bigger. If you tried to brush them off, you got bit.
Woody
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2013 10:40:13 GMT -5
Mel keeps this one in his workshop. It eats all the little nasties for him.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2013 10:43:22 GMT -5
Woodyrock could not tame the vietnamese ones so his trench mates had to resort to other handling techniques. 
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Post by rockpickerforever on Oct 7, 2013 19:43:15 GMT -5
Scott, those two photos just gave me the willies!!! I agree with Woody, can handle most things, but those things are what nightmares are borne from. Ewwwww.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 8, 2013 15:23:23 GMT -5
I love giant centipedes!
It's Jeruselam crickets I hate!
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