tomdfc Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Got a surprise the other morning when feeding the fish and cleaning the leaves out from one of the pots - a very nasty-looking centipede-like creature had appeared overnight. (Not the best picture but if you maximise it you should get a clear image,) I have some knowledge of centipedes locally (been in Sansai for a few years) and understand that there are some you very much want to avoid. This one certainly looks like it's in that category. It looks much worse than the famed Centipede Scolopendra - and appearance is usually a good indicator. I've googled to try to pin this one down but no luck so far. Any ideas? Best disposal recommendations? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomdfc Posted May 10, 2011 Author Share Posted May 10, 2011 Oops - picture this time, hopefully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I'll take a risk and identify snakes before I decide what to do, with centipedes there is only one course of action as far as I am concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianf Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I'll take a risk and identify snakes before I decide what to do, with centipedes there is only one course of action as far as I am concerned. I'm not sure of the name of this one, but my maid tells me that it is extremely dangerous and its bite/sting can kill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macx Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Was it swimming on top and under the water? Going after the fish? Killed one recently, about 8inch long. Tough, nasty bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomdfc Posted May 10, 2011 Author Share Posted May 10, 2011 Not obviously swimming around, nor eating the fish. But been there a couple of days so must be happy. Or spawning? This one about 5 inches long. How did you kill it? I'm thinking of long tongs, into a pot and a dose of caustic soda. chas Was it swimming on top and under the water? Going after the fish? Killed one recently, about 8inch long. Tough, nasty bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Macx Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Not obviously swimming around, nor eating the fish. But been there a couple of days so must be happy. Or spawning? This one about 5 inches long. How did you kill it? I'm thinking of long tongs, into a pot and a dose of caustic soda. chas Was it swimming on top and under the water? Going after the fish? Killed one recently, about 8inch long. Tough, nasty bugger. Heard the wife screamed. Look down, saw it crawling out from under the car. I was having a cup of coffee on the patio. I grabbed the closest thing which was a spade. Very fast bugger. Chased it all over the place. Gave it a hard whack, but couldn't severed it in half. It took a six or seven hits before it stopped moving. Yep, I mangled up the cement pretty good You could put it into a bottle of whiskey and serve it to the village macho boys. Probably want to drop it into a jar of rubbing alcohol first, otherwise it might be hard to get the squirming thing through the small mouth of the bottle. Thanks for the pic. Informative. Good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orang37 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) Sawasdee Khrup, Khun TomDFC, ... edit ... after creating this post we realized that evidently our brain was not caffeinated enough when we eyeballed the photograph ... we were looking at the ceramic rim of the jar as if it were a section of the critter's body ... duh-oh ... Khun SBK is absolutely right: that is a centipede ! fyi: Chiang Mai has a wonderful site for insect photography and information: ThaiBugs.com You might enjoy the content under the home page menu item "Insect Facts:" the menu choices: 'Millipedes, 'Centipedes. Looks like the site creator decided to remove the ability to contact him, since the 'About tab on the main menu leads to a "page not found" browser error. best, ~o:37; Edited May 10, 2011 by orang37 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbk Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 No, it is a centipede, we get these all the time down South. They can be huge, they are nasty and poisonous. I whack off the head with the machete and then pin the body until it stops wiggling and smash the head until its flat. It requires dexterity and two weapons of some kind. Do not let them near you. They are fast, aggressive and nasty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dellboy218 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 No, it is a centipede, we get these all the time down South. They can be huge, they are nasty and poisonous. I whack off the head with the machete and then pin the body until it stops wiggling and smash the head until its flat. It requires dexterity and two weapons of some kind. Do not let them near you. They are fast, aggressive and nasty And they also like snail bait pellets! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cm das Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Found a big fat one in my house under construction today. The worker had a heck of a time trying to smash it with the butt of a thick plastic water bottle. Eventually he got it but it was some fight. They are ugly, freaky looking things for sure. And with all the rain around here they're increasingly out & about. Watch where you put your hands & feet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckarooBanzai Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Are you sure it is not dead already? Far as I know they are not sub-aquatic nor are they lethal to humans. But they do hurt like hell for perhaps a day and there is no pain remedy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ianf Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Are you sure it is not dead already? Far as I know they are not sub-aquatic nor are they lethal to humans. But they do hurt like hell for perhaps a day and there is no pain remedy. Not lethal? I don't really know but my maid, a lady of 55 years of age, tells me that they can kill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thaddeus Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Are you sure it is not dead already? Far as I know they are not sub-aquatic nor are they lethal to humans. But they do hurt like hell for perhaps a day and there is no pain remedy. Not lethal? I don't really know but my maid, a lady of 55 years of age, tells me that they can kill. If you are on the verge of having a heart attack anyway it may push you over the edge, if you are in reasonable health you will survive. But, a friend who had been bitten by one of these once said "it won't kill you, you'll just wish you were dead" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckarooBanzai Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Just a suggestion - take the critter out of your jug and plop it into a bottle of Thai Whiskey. You can then sell it for at least a 300% profit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomdfc Posted May 10, 2011 Author Share Posted May 10, 2011 All Thanks for the input. We're a wee bit wiser now and some of your posts were on the nail ........... and I also got an input from someone who writes a column for a Thai wildlife magazine. Yes, these centpides were bad news and most certainly to be avoided. He asked what it was doing in the water and whether it was eating the fish. Initially, we couldn't be sure and couldn't get close enough to find out. Someone in this thread also questioned why it was in the water and whether it might not actually be dead. Well, now, it is - and it wasn't down to my heroics. . This morning there was a lot of movement in the fish pot but it turned out to be down to the fish starting to tear lumps out the the already-dead centipede. The theory? A few days back we had our annual pest control treatment, including spraying the garden and patio area. We think that did the centipede in. Not sure how it came to be in the water. Maybe it fell from the tree above. Another scary thought. Two final pictures attached to close out. Again, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farang0tang Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 (edited) However, you may have another problem now. I can distinctly spot some ghostly exoplasm drifting away from the critter (pic 1 above). beware the centi-peee! Edited May 10, 2011 by Farang0tang Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elektrified Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I've had dozens of those in my garden over the years. With the early rains, the wildlife is thriving up here. Scorpions, centipedes, frogs, snails, slugs, snakes, and termites - all in abundance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angiud Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 This morning I (and 5 Burmese) was cleaning my new bought land from shrubs, small trees et c. when a sudden scream got my attention: one of the boys playing with my brand new brush cutter just got a huge centipede, I swear around 30 cm/1 foot. Sadly I didn't have with me my Canon with which I get pics of every animal I see around, but anyway they provided to kill instantly and put in an empty bottle, to be filled later with some kind of lao... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throatwobbler Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 The fastest I've ever seen Thais move was when a centipede ran into a group of them having a BBQ. I normally don't like killing things but centipedes are one of the few exceptions I make. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throatwobbler Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 This video should answer a few questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckarooBanzai Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 You people are over reacting! I have had a centipede exactly the same as the one shone by the OP crawl over me foot. You do not stress them then they do not bite you. Just like a snake, You don't ?F with them then they will not ?F with you. Relax! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Throatwobbler Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 You people are over reacting! I have had a centipede exactly the same as the one shone by the OP crawl over me foot. You do not stress them then they do not bite you. Just like a snake, You don't ?F with them then they will not ?F with you. Relax! I agree with you generally. What worries me is standing on one by accident. Every Thai I've ever known has one response, and that's kill it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuckarooBanzai Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 You people are over reacting! I have had a centipede exactly the same as the one shone by the OP crawl over me foot. You do not stress them then they do not bite you. Just like a snake, You don't ?F with them then they will not ?F with you. Relax! I agree with you generally. What worries me is standing on one by accident. Every Thai I've ever known has one response, and that's kill it. I do not disagree - but relax anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigCan Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Buckaroo's got it. My boyfriend and I were in bed one night, fully clothed, just chatting. His eyes got very big all of a sudden and he stood up slowly and said 'Dakab.' He then proceeded to shake his t-shirt and one of these bad boys fell out. Took us a good 30 minutes to usher it out of the house (very Thai style housing, we had had a few wandering around before but never in our clothing!). We have a no kill policy, just took it away from the house to an open field. To each their own but to me there is something exceptionally sexy about a guy who can calmly react to having one of these in his shirt and then usher it out without breaking a sweat. No bites, must have smelled his sexy karma. When I first arrived I also woke up to one of these mothers crawling up my inner thigh. This was before I ever knew they existed. I went from sleeping to standing like a freaking ninja. Took me a good hour to usher it out of the house but there was no way I was carrying it down the street in the dead of night. After battling it for an hour, and getting the shock of my life I barely got any sleep that night. As I set off to work in the morning I saw it in the street flattened by a motorbike. Effort wasted! Gave me a good chance to inspect the under claws though. Thanked my lucky stars it didn't sink those into me! Two personal stories that I think are fun and part of the joys of Thailand. (Again, to each their own. If you have kids, or no field, or you just feel okay about killing them, that is fine by me. Just sharing some stories!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbk Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Mmm... sorry but I am not a live and let live when it comes to me, pain and nasty critters. DH has been bit by one of these and the pain was awful. I have been stung by a black scorpion and after the burning pain that shot up my arm subsided couldn't feel the end of my thumb where it had stung me for a week. I have one rule and one rule only, if it's poisonous and in my house, it dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallmagician Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 My wife and I just this moment discovered one of these critters in our bedroom. I moved the furniture, whilst she ran around with the broom screaming like a banshee. She broke the broom handle she hit it that hard - still took about 10 wallops to kill the thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Buckaroo's got it. My boyfriend and I were in bed one night, fully clothed, just chatting. His eyes got very big all of a sudden and he stood up slowly and said 'Dakab.' He then proceeded to shake his t-shirt and one of these bad boys fell out. Took us a good 30 minutes to usher it out of the house (very Thai style housing, we had had a few wandering around before but never in our clothing!). We have a no kill policy, just took it away from the house to an open field. To each their own but to me there is something exceptionally sexy about a guy who can calmly react to having one of these in his shirt and then usher it out without breaking a sweat. No bites, must have smelled his sexy karma. When I first arrived I also woke up to one of these mothers crawling up my inner thigh. This was before I ever knew they existed. I went from sleeping to standing like a freaking ninja. Took me a good hour to usher it out of the house but there was no way I was carrying it down the street in the dead of night. After battling it for an hour, and getting the shock of my life I barely got any sleep that night. As I set off to work in the morning I saw it in the street flattened by a motorbike. Effort wasted! Gave me a good chance to inspect the under claws though. Thanked my lucky stars it didn't sink those into me! Two personal stories that I think are fun and part of the joys of Thailand. (Again, to each their own. If you have kids, or no field, or you just feel okay about killing them, that is fine by me. Just sharing some stories!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bully Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I use to kill them by Shelldrite or the mulibug killerspray of ATM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackr Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Not lethal? I don't really know but my maid, a lady of 55 years of age, tells me that they can kill. Aah, must be true then if the maid reckons so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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