Just Say No to Centipedes

Recently I was reading a post by Daddy Likey and it referenced centipedes. There was a drawing and a link to a big ugly picture of a centipede. If you go to her blog, do NOT click on the link as it is sure to frighten you. I know you will probably click it anyway as that is what I did.  She then posted a follow up where she offered her father's explanation as to why centipedes are awesome. I wish I could believe that, but centipedes creep me out.  The thought of them makes me shudder.

It all stems from an experience in my childhood home.  Now, I never liked centipedes and would kill them on sight.  They gave me the heebie jeebies, but even more so after this incident. I was down in our basement which was like any other basement, dark and damp in some places.  I was over in the laundry room by the sink cleaning something or another when I decided it was too dark.  I reached up to the pull cord on the light bulb when I felt something fall on my head. What happened next still gives me nightmares.  I reached up to the top of my head and my hand felt a CENTIPEDE ON MY HEAD.  I screamed, squealed, flung the centipede into the tub, squealed some more and ran upstairs.  Up there I did crazy dances and moves to ensure that I had rid myself of the centipede (even though I saw it in the tub).  All day I imagined things crawling on me.  Things with hundreds of legs. Centipedes.  Now, whenever I see one, which is rare, I remember that day and that feeling and immediately touch the top of my head. In fact, I want to touch it right now. That is how clear the memory is.  I shared this memory with B to which he responded "Gross."  It is really more creepy than gross, but I think he got the point.

Now Daddy Likey's father talks about the benefits of centipedes and how they eat all of the other bugs.  That sounds great - in theory.  However, I would rather see big biting ants, lazy spiders and the mosquito I killed the other day then have a centipede run across my path.  And the ones that grow up to 10 inches long? Seriously? I can't even think about it. And her father says the centipedes are more concerned with escape.  Well, he never met the centipede from my childhood home because the surest way to escape was NOT to land on my head.  Did the centipede think I was not going to notice and carry him to safety?

Okay, enough about that. I have the creepy crawlies again.  My point? Centipedes are fast moving, many legged evil things whose creepiness is not forgiven by the fact that they eat other bugs.  Oh, and if you are ever in a dark basement, wear a hat.