Have you ever seen a house centipede? Bet you have. But just in case you haven't been introduced, prepare yourself:
Yes, it is indeed really nasty looking. They move incredibly fast, too, in that scuttling way that, say, cockroaches do.
I do not enjoy seeing these in my bathroom, which is where they always seem to be. I don't see them a lot, but when I do, my first reaction is not, "Why hello, old friend!"
However. Awhile ago, I saw this article on the beneficial nature of centipedes in the house. In sum, they eat a lot of other nasty bugs, including ants.
I thought of this the other day when I went into the bathroom to take a shower and found a centipede in the sink. It was stuck in there, unable to get enough purchase on the rounded porcelain to scuttle out. I also noticed that the little black ants that invade the bathroom every spring and that I had been seeing for the previous few days were not in evidence.
So I didn't kill the centipede. Instead I just swept it out of the sink and let it run off into a corner. Go on, little buddy. Feast on ants. Any enemy of the ants is a friend of mine.
Until.
The next morning when I got out of the shower and grabbed my towel to dry off, I felt something crawling on my leg. I immediately did the instinctual flail about wildly to GET IT OFF GET IT OFF GET IT OFF RIGHT NOW, and what do you think went racing along the tub?
Yeah. My buddy the centipede. Probably the very same one I granted the reprieve to the day before.
I'm all about live and let live, little ant-eating creature, just don't live on my towel, okay?
After approximately the same situation as that...I always shake out my towel before drying. :)
ReplyDeleteTime to watch out for the bumble bee in the jeans . Beth
Ooooo. Um no. That is the BIG no. I leave all insects outside alone, but if you touch me, IN MY house, you die. End of discussion. No matter what other good you might do, that is the big, fat, do not cross line.
ReplyDeleteGood luck teaching it that.
-moi
Oh my goodness! Something crawling on your body without your permission; nightmare scenario. Good to know they have a beneficial purpose, not like roaches, still.
ReplyDeleteHmm ... guess I'll have to re-think my scorched earth policy toward those ugly dudes. Only because I just killed the first ant of the season two days ago. On the second floor, which means there's some on the first floor I just haven't noticed yet. Joy.
ReplyDeleteI never saw one of those until just a few years ago. Climate change? And another thought--do you think we could get them to take care of the squirrels in the attic?
ReplyDeleteLet me tell you about my nightmare moment come true the other day...
ReplyDeleteWe have this tiny bathroom off our bedroom and I went to use the toilet the other day. I finished up, wiped and tossed the tp in the toilet when out of the corner of my eye I saw something move. Just then this giant water bug (think huge cockroach) was climbing up of the tp floating in the toilet. I was quick enough to flush him before he made his raft landing, but if that thing had crawled across my butt, they'd be having my funeral!
I now make sure to shake any towel or jacket, before I use them.
I welcome them for the simple fact that they eat other pest insects. I also love house spiders, they're friends too.
ReplyDeleteHappens to me with the spiders.
ReplyDeleteI let them live on in the house and garden with the deal that they'll eat all the nasties, but inevitably I end up flailing like a released lunatic trying to GET IT THE FUCK OFF ME WHAT ARE WE THE GOD DAMN ADDAMS FAMILY?!
It's a careful dance.