Happy Halloween?

[bironic]

I arrived home a little while ago after 7 days away and turned on all the lights to flush out any critters who'd ventured forth in the prolonged dark/quiet. (Normally not an issue, but there was a mouse sighting a few weeks back.) Sure enough, when I returned to the bedroom, the biggest house centipede I've ever seen had frozen halfway up the wall by the headboard. I don't even know how to describe its length and girth to you.

Cue a slow, don't-turn-your-back-to-it retreat into the living room to fetch the vacuum, because I've tried brooms and sponge mops with these guys and things don't end well.

Of course, when I hooked up all the hose extensions, climbed onto the bed and tried to suck it up, it made a dash for freedom before falling somewhere behind the radiator.

THE GOOD NEWS is that I don't have to write "and so I can never sleep in there again," because after I unpacked I spotted the little (giant) bugger on the under-rim of a lampshade and chased it around with the hose until it succumbed, following which I, uh, taped the hose shut in case it survived the trip.

(I suppose it's better than in college, when the centipedes always seemed to appear on the ceiling directly above a bed, instigating a staring contest in which you had to weigh the risk of slowly sliding away vs. it falling on your head?


In lighter Halloween events, Logan airport had decorations up in our terminal, including a cluster of foam tombstones that said things like:

RIP
For rent:
Small one-bedroom apartment

#BostonHumor

Here is a non-scary critter story!

While in California I attended a talk by a scientist who did her PhD thesis on squirrels, specifically nut-caching habits. How do squirrels decide and remember where they store nuts? How frequently do they dig them up and move them around? What is the average forgetting rate? Who steals nuts from whom and how often?

Mid-presentation, she looked for her backpack on the lawn where we were all standing.

Scientist: Where is my storage bag?
Attendee: You can't even remember ONE nut.

Comments

[marginaliana]

I have never taped the hose shut in that situation but it suddenly seems like a deeply sensible precaution.

Also, omg, I love the Logan Halloween humor!

[bironic]

I've put it in a blockquote now for more tombstone-like presentation. :) There was something odd, though, about exiting the jetbridge to find a small Grim Reaper hung on the door, pointing the way to the gate.

(The tape solved the problem of standing there feeling unable to turn off the vacuum for fear of living through some version of It Came From Inside the Canister.)

[yhlee]

The squirrel scientist story is hilarious. Thank you for sharing. :)

[grammarwoman]

Huzzah for triumphing over the bug! I haaaate house centipedes. They look like giant hair clogs in motion, and you can feel them squish when you smash them under a tissue. *shudder*

[bironic]

Glad you were also entertained!

[bironic]

LOL, hair clogs. I am trying to change my mindset to think of them as fuzzy and cute, since they are soft and not crunchy, but so far no success. :) This particular one was much too big for a tissue, ugh, and now I will stop thinking about it because it's time to go to bed and I'd like to not dream about them!

[grammarwoman]

Sorry, and sweet dreams!

[minoanmiss]

I completely agree, and am commenting here instead of in the body of the post in order to remind Bironic only of the squirrel story. BWEE.

[bironic]

much appreciated :D

[shati]

Noooo, I'm glad you caught it! D: I know objectively that they're not the worst house pests, but something about them goes straight to my lizard brain, especially the giant prehistoric looking ones.

I got in an hour-long standoff with a centipede on my bedroom ceiling earlier this fall where I wound up spraying Windex and throwing cough drops at it because I had no other projectile weapons. I think we both lost that fight.

[roga]

Okay wait now I have to ask how long this centipede was. What's considered big??

[bironic]

ugggggggh why did I do a Google image search

this is how much I like you and want to answer your question

Usually they are grayish and like an inch or two long, fuzzy-looking:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/House_centipede_house_cat_2.jpg

This one was more like 4 inches and dark brown:

https://www.whatsthatbug.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/giant_house_centipede_hong_kong_justin_2.jpg

[bironic]

Ha! The ceiling ones are not fun, especially when you have to be more or less underneath them to get at them.

[roga]

Omggggg that is so gross why did I click on that while eating

KUDOS TO YOU FOR SURVIVING THE EXPERIENCE

[bironic]

*gold medal emoji*

I feel both sorry and validated by your reaction, heh. Thankfully these things tend to be the smaller type and appear during changes of season rather than consistently. Bleccch.

[cinco]

That centipede was FOUR INCHES LONG???????? (I did not click the links!)

Anyway, I just came in to say that that squirrel story is hilarious. What a rude yet awesome audience member.

[bironic]

:D FWIW, it was said in a teasing way during the generally jovial talk, and the scientist laughed as much as anyone.

Yeah, that was my best estimate of its size, although it's hard to tell exactly, with the halo effect of all the little legs and the antennae and the fact that these things look larger or smaller depending on where you spot them (say, on the light blue wall vs. on the orangey wood floor where they blend in more). Also I didn't stare at it super long or snap a photo because it would have prolonged the trauma. :) Blehhhhhh.