Let's talk about bugs.

I know it's been awhile since I've updated. Sorry about that. Life has been busy and crazy (as per usual) and blogging about everything has once again fallen to very low on the list. But tonight, as I am laying on my bed and watching the first two...three...ok, maybe five or six by the end of the night...episodes of Stargate Atlantis, I'd like to discuss bugs.

Yes, bugs. Specifically the common house centipede. Sounds cute, doesn't it? Awww, you might think, that's like a nice bug in a children's story, right? Well, yes, I'm sure that centipedes have made appearances in many a picture book. They also make appearances in our house. Really doesn't seem too bad? Meet our house guests...


Now, I want you to stick out your index finger. Look at how long it is. That's how long they are. And they move fast. I've killed two already, and been on the hunt for another one that just scuttled at about 100 miles an hour under my door and out into the hall and then disappeared.

Now, I am not generally the squeamish kind, and I don't have problems with bugs when they're outside. Emphasis on the NOT being in my room part. Seriously, though, I have definitely never seen a bug this big or one that moves this fast. And certainly the creep out factor is probably as huge as the bug. (Note: Seeing one zoom across the floor of the bathroom at 4 in the morning, I legit thought that I was hallucinating.)

Wikipedia ensures me that I need not worry about bites, though the centipede does have poison. The article, here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scutigera_coleoptrata has many more details and some other lovely pictures.


Here's one eating a cherry tomato


and the potential that they have to grow...














Really, these critters are not only super creepy, but a great incentive to clean my room so that I can see them when they come back. Yes, the mice have not arrived yet, but the centipedes have. And I'll never think of cute centipedes in picture books the same way again.

love, Bethy

PS Google image also has pictures of centipedes eating other centipedes, as well as a centipede eating a mouse. Yes. Eating a mouse. Yum.