Good morning! How about a gross bug to wake you up and get you going?
These things grow in other parts of the south and maybe other areas but they’re definitely here and I’ve never seen one before we found this one.
Centipede
Orkin calls them Texas Red Head Centipede. The Dallas Zoo calls them Texas Giant Centipede. One thing for sure, it’s in Texas, it has a red head, it’s giant and it’s a centipede so they’re both correct!
Centipede
And, they sting . . and, it hurts. No, I didn’t get stung . . yet, but I read about it. You can bet that since I seem to get stung by everything, it’s just a number of days til I do get stung.
Do you remember those things that made creepy crawly bugs way back . . when I was a kid . . 35 or 40 years ago? It kinda looks like one of those. It looked plastic and shiny . . it didn’t even look real . . but it was.
Just another thing to watch out for around here . .
Sharon in Michigan says
That is so disgusting…it makes my skin crawl!! I can handle most bugs but not centipedes! I discovered I have a family of 3 baby red squirrels living in the roof in the corner of my sewing room. While those are a nuisance and must be removed – at least they’re cute!
Hilary McDaniel says
Judy, when I first moved here, I DID get bit. It crawled up my leg and wrapped itself on my knee. It was 11″ long. I called my brother who lives next door. He came over and pried it off my knee. The stingers dig in when you try to release it. It felt like a scorpion on every tentacle. We got it off. Barry chopped it in half. We bagged it and went to ER. It was extremely painful. And dangerous. You can have a reaction that closes your throat. The ER said that was the largest they had seen. I was treated, but I limped for a week. Those buggers are BAD. BE CAREFUL. I’ve never seen another one in over 8 yrs. They stay buried in the ground or compost piles. I think they are rare to see.
Sherrill says
GROSS!!!!! I’ve lived in Texas a LOONNGG time and NEVER seen one. Sure hope I never do.
JudyL says
We seem to be blessed with quite a variety of weird bugs and critters around our place.
wanda ll says
Better get Vince to spraying that spray we talked about. You don’t need anything else biting you or Vince or even one of your cute, loveable pets.Now where is that spray?????
Maggie says
The toy that made bugs was called Creepy Crawlers. At our house we had a version that made candy bugs and that one was called Incredible Edibles. Not sure how we got that one in the house past my mom. Then not only were they bugs but they also did not taste good.
Denise - justquiltin says
oh I used to be so jealous of my best friend because she had a Creepy Crawler maker! LOL But she shared 🙂 That is one ugly critter, I can take most bugs, spiders don’t bother me, but centipedes in any form make me shudder. Leaving with the woods overhanging my door I get a fair amount of “normal” size centipedes each spring but thankfully they do not come Texas-Sized!
patti says
there is nothing in the pic to indicate scale, just how giant is “giant”? yep, ‘creepy crawlers’ is the name that immediately came to mind while reading your post, funny how those of us of a certain age can instantly be on the same page when we get a reference point. it would be so hard for me to live where there are as many bugs/insects/creepy crawlers as you have. i’ll take my mice, squirrels, and raccoons around here any day.
JudyL says
It isn’t always easy living with the bugs but there are so many things I love about our area that the good far outweighs the bad.
Susan says
They’re pretty shy, though, aren’t they? Where did you see it? I would occasionally see its relatives in AZ, but that’s one thing that never munched on me.
JudyL says
It was on our front porch.
Leslie says
I got bitten by a centipede in Hawaii the night before my son’s wedding. Not fun. Be careful.
Terri says
ewww it’s cousin lives up here. The ones here are the color of that ones legs. As creepy as ours are yours is creepier because of the different color head and body! an bigger!! only in Texas……
My cousin lives in Wylie and her cat killed a rattlesnake ON her front porch last week. Nothing like living in the wild west 🙂
AngieG9 says
That thing is really icky. I’ll take a spider any day–I think. The tail on your centipede looks a like a scorpion tail. Check your shoes and socks every morning.
barbara woods says
we have almost the same thing here in Georgia and i hate them. I like to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night barefooted so orkin has to keep them out of our house
Vivian Oaks says
Ewwwwww!!!
Leslie says
We have these in Georgia also. I work at a garden center, and in moving pallets around, you see them underneath them. Yuck is right, and I did not know they sting. Glad to know. I am convinced this is the buggiest area I’ve ever been.
Joan in NE says
Now that is a creepy crawling bug!! Sure would not like to meet it in my house. With any luck Boots will be a centipede hunter too.
Peg H says
EEEEUUUUWWWW!!!!! I’m so glad I never came across one of those in Texas. I live in Ohio now and was completely freaked out the first time I saw a centipede – but it was one of those brownish-grayish kind (I call them ghosty bugs) and none of them have been over 2″ long. That Texas one is terrifying! On a side note: one of my favorite things about Ohio are the four distinct seasons. Yesterday I learned there are more than four. Apparently there’s “spider season” too, and we’re in it right now. In Texas it’s “bug season” all year ’round!
Linda Steller says
Ewww! Glad we don’t have them here.
Ranch Wife says
LOL – we just had a run in with one about 10 days ago, but ours isn’t as pretty as yours. 🙂