Ok, I like living in the country and all but this is a bit much...

[Kate in Arabia]

I was getting iftar ready (making pakoras -- fried potatos) and suddenly a centipede dropped down onto the stove from the vent, which is high up on the wall but right over the stove.

 

And not one of those little critters I'm used to seeing in the States, it was easily a foot long. It was pretty close to this guy:

 

 

I was pretty proud of myself that I didn't start screaming like a banshee, lol, but quickly left to get help -- and then didn't return until it and all evidence of its presence was gone.

 

Funny thing, the boys were absolutely no help, wouldn't even take newspaper in to dh to help with the cleanup, but dd (3) was right in there and getting into it, lol. Dh wrapped the whole thing up in newspaper then wrapped it all around with masking tape -- I'm sure he would have used duct tape if it was at hand -- he didn't want to take any chances with it possibly making a miraculous recovery.

 

Lizards I can handle (we get a lot of those), but this? uh, no!

[hsmamainva]

EWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

 

:shudder:

 

You deserve combat pay for that one!!!!!

 

Ick Ick Ick Ick Ick

 

:willy_nilly:

[lovemyboys]

I was pretty proud of myself that I didn't start screaming like a banshee, lol, but quickly left to get help -- and then didn't return until it and all evidence of its presence was gone.

 

Funny thing, the boys were absolutely no help, wouldn't even take newspaper in to dh to help with the cleanup, but dd (3) was right in there and getting into it, lol. Dh wrapped the whole thing up in newspaper then wrapped it all around with masking tape -- I'm sure he would have used duct tape if it was at hand -- he didn't want to take any chances with it possibly making a miraculous recovery.

 

Lizards I can handle (we get a lot of those), but this? uh, no!

 

Accckkkk! Centipedes are way up on my creep list. I'm much better with snakes and spiders. We've had to deal with some of these (about 1/2 as long) in a couple places we've lived.

 

Dh had the one like photo in south pacific.

 

And I thought large, flying roaches were bad. I'm sooo much better with lizards too. Glad you could be so calm.

[Leah]

Eewwww, eeeeeewwwww is right! I too can handle lizards and even spiders, but almost anything else...yuck!:tongue_smilie:

[Kate in Arabia]

Ick Ick Ick Ick Ick

 

:willy_nilly:

 

Ok, I was pretty much enacting this emoticon, minus the open mouth/screaming. I kind of paced in circles around the living room with my hands/arms covering my face, lol. All things considered, I thought I did ok!

 

A true WTM-er at heart, I did briefly ponder whether we could somehow preserve something of it to examine when we study centipedes/millipedes next week, but since I couldn't bring myself to even go back in the kitchen while it was in there I was clueless. I guess I could still fish it out of the garbage, but I'd have to find someone else to do whatever needed to be done to "preserve" or do whatever else, I'm still not recovered.

 

Totally would not make it on my own in the wild :mellow:

[Plucky]

Wow. That's an impressive insect. I'm not squeamish but that would traumatize me.

 

BTW, what is living in the country there like geographically? I imagine it's a desert but that's probably a pretty ignorant assumption. What kind of climate?

[Mrs. Readsalot]

Once I killed one that was climbing across the family room wall. The impliment of death was the largest kitchen knife I had, poor thing didn't stand a chance. I also killed several others outside our home in Hawaii. I, like you, cannot stand it when something pops out at me. Once I know what I am dealing with I am generally OK with it unless splatting it will make a huge mess. This was the case with the large flying cockroaches in Hawaii(and they call it paradise :glare:) Splat one of those guys and you are going to have a mess. I usually just swept them out of the house with a broom.

I am sure you will be on edge for days.

[Kanga]

Wow, that is impressive! Okay, I will stop complaining about the flies now!

[mazakaal]

Yikes! I'm not going to complain about mice any more.

[KAR120C]

I am so retiring to the Yukon! I'm sure they don't have bugs there.... right? RIGHT??

[Jean in Newcastle]

Not to make it more traumatic or anything but are those things poisonous or just yucky but harmless? (My science lesson for the day.)

[Tammyla]

Wow. I never knew they could get so big, and I'm so glad it is out of your kitchen. :grouphug:

[Kate in Arabia]

BTW, what is living in the country there like geographically? I imagine it's a desert but that's probably a pretty ignorant assumption. What kind of climate?

Actually it's hot and right now quite humid. We live on the coast (we're right at the Strait of Hormuz); we have the Persian Gulf on one side, and right up behind us are the Hajar mountains. Not a lot of natural greenery, pretty much scrubby and sandy. Our garden area is mostly sand, but it's filled with tiny bits of shell and some fossilized tiny shells. Most of the flora is typical desert -- date palm trees, cacti, etc.

 

We lived in Abu Dhabi for about four years and had rain a total of maybe one week each year, and the rain was generally a misty kind of thing. Here in Ras al-Khaimah we get serious rain off and on for about a month. I assume it is connected to being so close to the mountains, but haven't looked into it. A couple years ago was the first time snow had ever been recorded here (climate change, anyone?), there was a dusting of snow on top of the mountains in Ras al-Khaimah.

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4135857.stm

 

It is just now getting to where you can be outside without immediately wanting to go right back into the AC, lol. Starting mid-October through March or so will be fabulous, so everyone should plan to visit me then! :D

[Kate in Arabia]

Not to make it more traumatic or anything but are those things poisonous or just yucky but harmless?

 

Thanks a lot, Jean :glare: :lol:

 

Seriously, don't know and don't want to go there. Maybe the next time we visit the wildlife center I'll see if there's any info there about it. I have seen many things in our garden (lizards, salamanders, giant roaches, some kind of big beetle, enormous caterpillars, feral cats, range of spiders, etc.) but never seen one of these out there.

 

Actually, I was wondering, if I just put the whole newspapered bundle outside in the heat, would the whole thing dry out over time and be suitable for investigating? I don't think I have it in me to open it up *now* and poke around, but if I could just put the whole bundle outside for a week or so, and then open it when it would be less alive-looking, I could probably handle it.

 

Would it be kind of mummified? A dried husk? A pile of crumbles? I don't even know myself much about the body structure (haven't gotten to it yet in our studies).

[Camy-7 boybarians 1 lady]

Oh, my word! I would not like that at all! My sister lives in Taiwan, and she recently battled a flying cockroach (the size of a small bird, she says) in her apartment. Those pesky warm weather friends! Blessings.

[Kate in Arabia]

Once I killed one that was climbing across the family room wall. The impliment of death was the largest kitchen knife I had, poor thing didn't stand a chance.

 

Ok, I'm just wondering at the state of your wall after you "took care of business", lol. Dh used a shoe, luckily for him the centipede had already made it off the stove (around the central burner that was on, amazingly) and was making a break for the kitchen door. It was not quite large enough to have reared up and opened the door, so I'm not sure what it's plan was.

 

But I heard him in there, the shoe pounding the floor and some groans (not from the centipede). Dh may be re-thinking our relocation, lol.

 

As a side note, I was putting together some animal cards for ds (7), pics of the animals we're studying along with their names in Arabic. The name for centipede is "umm arba' wa arba'een", which literally means "the mother of forty-four". I didn't look long enough (or closely enough) to count its legs to see if the name is accurate ;)

[GSMP]

I am so retiring to the Yukon! I'm sure they don't have bugs there.... right? RIGHT??

 

Ummmm...just pesky little black flies from what I understand from a friend who lives in Wasilla, Alaska.

 

I am going there myself. I have decided a semi bug free zone even with cold temps is worth putting up with....:D

 

I knew I shouldn't have looked.....Hey Mommaduck!? Look what Kate has..:D

 

They have those in PA also...I know!

 

:lol:

[sgilli3]

Hi Kate,

I live just below you in Sharjah...I would have had a fit if I had have seen something like that...though, we did have a goat run into the kitchen one day and bail up the very panicked children !!

[dirty ethel rackham]

OH Gross!! I have held a tarantula, a hissing cockroach, an African millipede under the guidance of the entomologist at the museum, but would have been totally freaked out if any of those creatures, or worse, your particular uninvited guest, were to appear in my kitchen. I agree that you deserve combat pay!!! Can you take the day off claiming PTSD?

[Sharon in SC]

I feel your pain. We found a live baby copperhead snake in our driveway a couple of days ago. I couldn't get my mind off of the thought, "Where there's a baby, there's a momma!"

[lovemyboys]

I am so retiring to the Yukon! I'm sure they don't have bugs there.... right? RIGHT??

 

 

:lol: That's exactly what dc said here when they saw the photo. They were figuring it was at least a foot long.

 

The ones that size in the islands are poisonous btw. ick.

[Dayle in Guatemala]

It's incredible what you find, isn't it? That was absolutely disgusting! I would have screamed like a little girl and passed out. You're my hero!!!

[Remudamom]

You are hereby awarded the tough broad medal for not having a meltdown.

[jpklehm]

Eeek, I'm staying in Michigan!! OMG, I'm squeamish, so that would really frighten me... Good for you that you even considered your science curriculum while pacing the living room floor! SWB would be proud!

 

Good luck,

PAM

[A.J. at J.A.]

Wow. but that would traumatize me.

 

 

:iagree::iagree::iagree:

[Frankie]

If I'd have found that, I'd still be screaming. Most assuredly I'd be popping an Xanax. :ack2::scared::svengo:

[Chris in CA]

Ick!!!!!!!!!!!! You are amazing, I would have :auto: Far, far away

[Spy Car]

Just to show you that boys will always be boys, I'd have said "how cool" and run to show my son (who I know would have been delighted :D )

 

Enjoy Eid al-Fitr :001_smile:

 

Bill

[melissel]

You are hereby awarded the tough broad medal for not having a meltdown.

 

Seriously. I try very hard not to be squeamish for the girls' sake when bugs appear and have doing pretty well, but I would definitely have been shrieking on a chair in a different room for that one. That's like something out of a horror movie!! Egads...

[LG Gone Wild]

I would have been breaking the don't-take-the-Lord's-name-in-vain rule so, so, so many times.

 

Yes, they are poisonous. I thought those things only liked caves and humid places. :confused:

 

If that happened to me, I'd probably start smoking again.

[ChristusG]

Ummm....if I knew that there was even the remote possible chance that one of those things could get into my house, I dont think I would ever get a wink of sleep.

 

That would TOTALLY freak me out!!!!

[Kate in Arabia]

Ummm....if I knew that there was even the remote possible chance that one of those things could get into my house, I dont think I would ever get a wink of sleep.

 

I'm *really* trying not to think of this, thanks for the reminder, lol. What are the odds that I would have been standing right at the stove when "Legs" decided to drop in? If I hadn't been there, where would he have gone? And how many have already gone before him? :001_unsure:

 

Ok, I *seriously* need to set up a mind block now. And figure out how to close the vents when they aren't in use. And get a large housecat; a cat would at least alert us to the presence of something like that, wouldn't it??

[pqr]

 

You deserve combat pay for that one!!!!!

 

 

 

 

I know that you meant this in jest, I know you meant it to be funny.....but it is not.

 

To compare finding a bug with the menial pay that our best and bravest get for laying their lives on the line is not funny.

 

If we did not have our military at war it would have been a lot funnier.

 

Sincerely pqr

[Paula in PA]

They have those in PA also...I know!

 

:lol:

 

Um, did you mean, that something like that may be found in my lovely state? You didn't really mean Pennsylvania by PA, did you? :willy_nilly:

[gardenschooler]

My cat would run from that! But yes, please consider getting a cat, if that will help.

 

EWWWWWWW!!!! AAAAAAAAAACKKKKK!!!!! Shudder, shudder, twitch

 

And I'm not even afraid of most critters, but that one - EEEEEEEK!!!!

 

I can't believe you didn't scream. I usually scream like a girl while I'm killing something, until it's good and dead. Just to scare it, you know.

[GSMP]

Um, did you mean, that something like that may be found in my lovely state? You didn't really mean Pennsylvania by PA, did you? :willy_nilly:

 

I'm afraid so Paula....PA as in Pennsylvania. They might not be quite that big but they were big enough that I slept in my truck when I went to visit my friends.

 

She understood. She knows how bug phobic I am. From what she told me it is mostly in the much older farm houses you see them in. Especially if you are renting from the Mennonites.

 

Sorry.....:grouphug:

[Michelle in MO]

a better woman than I am! I would have raced out of the house!

 

Hats off to you for keeping yourself so composed!

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

Ok now I feel totally silly to have ever complained about our intruders...

 

A pair of wild rabbits walked into the kitchen one day....