You know how groggy you are first thing in the morning? Well, imagine seeing this in your bathroom sink:
House centipede, thanks to University of Nebraska Department of Entomology
No, not this particular centipede, but one very much like it.
And it was moving!
Stifling a scream, I looked around for something, anything, to smash it with. A shoe, a book, a tissue.
Finally I grabbed a scented candle in a glass holder (figured I could wash the bug-juice off that!).
Worked just fine, and I quickly flushed him (or her) down the sink.
Now I don’t know about you, but bugs — particularly prehistoric-looking bugs — give me the willies.
I’m talking about things like centipedes, earwigs, cockroaches, scorpions, that sort of bug.
No, they’re not technically “bugs,” but who cares? They’re pests, they don’t pay rent or house notes, and they don’t belong in my living quarters!
The bad thing about living in the South (besides the hurricanes, of course!) was the proliferation of roaches. Didn’t seem to matter how clean you were, either. And when I lived in Texas we had scorpions to contend with.
Blame the hot weather, which this year they’ve shared with us.
Figures they’d share unpleasant critters, too!
The weather folks have said this probably will be a bad year for pests. Our Midwestern winter, they said, was too easy. Not near enough snow and ice. Too few cold days to kill them all off.
So we’re paying for this mildness with a bucket-load of bugs. Delightful.
Centipedes, in case you were wondering, are nocturnal and typically live under rocks or logs or leaf debris. The house version likes damp areas like bathrooms, so my little critter was just doing what came naturally.
Too bad. Now it’s gone.
Centipedes don’t really have 100 legs (it’s more like 15 pairs), but they can move fast. If you find one, it’s best to squash it and vacuum up the remains.
Or just smash it and send it down the drain.
Your choice.
Question — Which “bugs” are your least favorite to have in the house?
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
It would not be a thrilling start, but better than a snake in the house! I don’t like spiders in the house either! I just like people and dogs in mine!
Snakes are way up there on my Keep Out list! Spiders don’t bother me much, though bats and birds are up there, too!
Debbie, I certainly would prefer a centipede or spider over a snake! I don’t like caterpillars either. I guess any buggy thing that belongs outside and ends up inside is creepy. That’s the one nice thing about the cold weather (and it’s still cold here in the Northeast)-it keeps the bugs at bay.
I kind of like caterpillars. Especially the cute, woolie-worms we used to let crawl up our arms when we were kids! But snakes? No, not in the house!
Not a bug…but slugs. Hate slugs. I can handle any bug that comes into my house, but slugs? The house has to be bulldozed.
Poor Oma — don’t bulldoze the house. Just take a shovel, scoop up that slimey slug, and toss it W-A-A-A-Y away. Not in the garbage can — it’ll just escape (slowly) and you’ll still have to contend with it!
My least favorite bugs in the house? All of them!
Okay, that’s probably cheating. I’d have to say roaches. I lived in an apartment and worked in a restaurant that was overrun with them and they are so disgusting. The really big sewer roaches were the worst. Ick.
I’m also not fond of bugs the boys bring in the house (after me making it clear NO bugs are allowed in the house – dead or alive.) Over the weekend, I opened up a container that was supposed to hold earbuds, but found grass instead. When I dumped it in the trash, I freaked out when beetle bugs started scurrying toward the sides of the bag. By ‘freaked out’ I mean screamed, jumped up and down and yelled while I rushed the trash can outside. Hubby was in the shower during all of this, but do you know what he did when I told him the story? He laughed. I smell payback coming 🙂
Definitely payback time! I suppose that’s one of the “hazards” of having boys. Girls typically don’t want to keep bugs of any kind on hand. I’m right there with you on the roaches. When I lived in Mississippi, we had tree roaches big as your hand — we always kidded that we were going to teach them how to bring us coffee in the morning. (Yeah, I know….gross!)
SPIDERS! They like my lower level bathroom… the bath tub in particular. Thankfully it has a hand held sprayer and I’m not afraid to use it!
Isn’t that funny? I’m not too bad about spiders. The really BIG ones bother me a little, but I’d rather see and kill a spider than a worm or a mouse!
I am laughing because just a couple of days ago my 16 year old was having a fit because of a flying moth in the bathroom and would not take a shower until I went in with a broom and a fly swatter. I could not find the darn thing and Cole kept insisting I look again…Really like I would have told him the moth was gone when it wasn’t and he would have figured it out when he was in the shower…I am not that kind of mother. Well, I am but the moth really was gone. Have a feeling, and hoping I’m wrong that it is going to be a buggy summer. I hate to kill things and spend a lot of time “relocating” but I do agree the house is off limits.
Cole’s experience with the moth was too much! Sounds just like something Domer would do — still, at the ripe ole age of 21! With Domer, though, it’s gnats. He can’t stand ’em and will go to great lengths to eliminate ’em. I don’t stress over gnats much, but things with LOTS of legs really bother me!
How about finding one of those multi legged things in the shower…after you are naked and wet …yep. That’s my story. Hubs had already left. Bottle of shampoo smashed him just fine. Another time, I found one those nasty palmetto bugs in the bathroom. I wasn’t about to smash it…so put a cup on it upside down. Hubs got a great surprise when he got home. It was a small wonder the nasty thing didn’t drag it it’s litlle house to the bar for a cocktail!
We build our houses over their territory, then we wonder how come they keep showing up!! Guess they’ve been here longer than humans and probably will outlive all of us. Thanks for sharing your experience — good thing you had a shampoo bottle to squash him!
I don’t know about indoors, but outdoors, I have an unnatural aversion, almost a panic, about grasshoppers. If one’s on the patio, I go inside or throw something at it from a safe distance. Isn’t that lame?
My sister and I used to catch grasshoppers — in our hands, no less! Now? No way! Maybe it’s the surprise HOP, but I don’t want one of those things inside, either. Especially one of those Southern grasshoppers, which are considerably bigger than the variety we have here — oh, and they spit, too!
Hands down, the ones I don’t like are cockroaches, especially the flying kind. When I lived in Maryland, we’d get crickets in the basement, which was weird and creepy to hear them inside the house. Here in California, it’s easy to get deluged with ants. San Diego, they say, was built on an ant hill (because it never gets cold enough to kill them off). Yikes!
I’m not terribly fond of ants, either. A lone soldier is one thing, but unfortunately, they tend to bring in the troops!
Debbie, all bugs give me the heeber jeebers! I’m cringe at the thought of encountering that centipede in the sink. Talk about a morning jolt! I lived in the Caribbean for many years and the bugs I witnessed there were the scariest and creepiest I’ve seen anywhere. I still have memories of flying cockroaches that send me back to therapy! hee hee! Spiders don’t scare me but everything else, oh my goodness! 🙂
Ewww, flying cockroaches! The only spiders that scare me are the poisonous, deadly ones like the black widow and the brown recluse. Those I don’t want to mess with! Despite its beauty, I suspect the Caribbean is filled with strange and exotic creatures!
I’m feeling very itchy right now reading through all of this. I hate EVERY bug in a house. I feel if they invade my space…I’m gonna get them. But my worst experince was with a hive of bees in the walls of my house. We eventually had to hire a specialist and it was very costly.
Bees in your house?? Yikes, that must have been awful! Those things have stingers and you don’t want to make them mad! Glad you found experts to eliminate them for you! Sorry about making you itch — I get that way, too, when I see pictures of those leggy bugs!
Oh man, I hate those centipedes! As much as I try to be kind to every animal, I agree with you those super freaky bugs get to me the most. I always flush them without smashing them though. I’ve always liked to think that they at least survive long enough to make it to a dry spot.
You’re kinder than I am. However, with all the chemicals floating around in our sewer systems, I tend to doubt they make it out alive! By the way, do you actually catch these critters before flushing them — and if so, how?
Sort of a conscience thing I guess. ha ha. Give them the highest chance. It sort of depends on the situation. If they are a slow bug or don’t seem that freaked out, they’ll get captured via plastic cup and a half paper plate then tossed outside. If time is short I’ll grab them lightly with some tissue and flush them.