JCC Damn Centipedes - Bug Advise Wanted

Centipedes. I was never a fan but don’t have a problem dealing with them if one gets in my house. Outside I leave them alone to hunt other pests

Every night this week I’ve killed one or more Centipedes around the fireplace in my living room. This is a new occurrence. Friday night there could have been six.

I just killed a second one tonight. To make matters trickier the way the fireplace mantle is built makes it hard to use a flyswatter and very easy for a centipede get out of sight and hide.

A properly sealed fireplace will eventually solve this problem. I’m repairing or replacing the doors later this year, but have other improvements that need done first.

Until then, does anyone have advise on stopping centipedes? I’d rather not use chemicals. I read windex kills them dead. But I’m skeptical. I’ve sprayed two with Windex but they got into hiding spots - so I don’t know if it worked.

Lastly I think there is a bird nest in the chimney with babies who recently hatched. I’ll occasionally hear chirps like it’s feeding time. I’m wondering if there could be a connection with the nest and the recent centipede incursion.

 

Where are you from?

I need to add it to my “Do Not Visit. Ever.” list

 

Are you using a trackball, or a joystick?

Are they the really big ones, like this?


....or the tiny ones?

This site here has some tips.... the main one being they might be more helpful than harmful.
https://www.familyhandyman.com/article/heres-why-you-should-never-kill-a-house-centipede/

 

Trackball?? Like the video game centipede?!? Haha. I wish!!!

These centipedes are one or two inches long. So the little ones but still big enough.

I agree centipedes are beneficial for killing other pests, but I don’t want them infesting my house.

 

Damn centipedes. Just killed another one. I’m killing one or two a night still in the living room. All leaving or going to the fireplace. Anyone have experience with this.

There is a chimney swift nest in the chimney. They are getting louder and more active - which makes me think they may be getting ready to leave the nest. I’m wondering if the birds are bringing in the centipedes to feed their young and the bugs are escaping the nest down the chimney and around the damper in the chimney.

 

I sure hope they don't crawl up your rectum while you sleep.

 

That’s be a crappy thing to do.

 

It's the silverfish that annoy me. Now I would like to state my reasons for why they are annoying. Here are the reasons:

1) 'silverfish' is a creepy name for a bug, and ominous, like 'land shark' or 'toilet eel.' I don't want you to fear toilet eels, but maybe just have a look before you sit down.
2) supposedly they eat clothing and books (and from the infamous storage room scene in Breaking Bad apparently also paper money).
3) if all they care about are books and clothes, why are they always in the shower with me? It's better than a shower spider, but still much less preferable to no shower bugs.

Those were my reasons for being annoyed by silverfish. I hope you found this post educational.

 

Centipedes kill spiders and other nasties.

Take yer pick.

@Rylo Ken Our college dorms were infested with silverfish. We were all pretty sure the entire place was going to collapse.

 

The best insects are grasshoppers. I remember many years ago I was walking outside and noticed a grasshopper chewing the head off of a cicada.

 

Grasshoppers become locust which is a pretty big check mark against them for me.

Checkout the North America Locust online. I hope they are actually gone and not just dormant.

How about no nasties?

Spiders do not bother me at all. I don’t get that freaked out by centipedes. Its the volume I’m getting lately. I’ve killed over two dozen centipedes in my living room in the past two weeks. There aren’t enough spiders or other nasties in my house to support that many.

I don’t understand why this is happening. Unless it’s the birds in the chimney (who I’m hearing right now) bring them in to feed their babies.

 

They also eat photos. Some of my parents' old photos have been damaged by silverfish.
Also, they eat the wallpaper glue.

 

It should be the name of a classic car, the 1954 Buick Silverfish, not some disgusting glue-eating centipede pretender.

 

These bug bastards love Friday night appearances. Two tonight.

A middle sized centipede hustled over the area rug. I killed it with a Kleenex. Those are my favorites. See it and take care of it. Like auto pilot, It’s like they are crossing some huge barren waste in the middle of the living room. No where to hide. But the fast ones can almost get to cover before I have the agent of their demise in hand.

The second centipede was maybe the biggest yet. This beastie was pushing three inches in length. It was a deep brown color down the middle that lighted to a dark carmel on the legs.

This was on the edge of the fireplace towards the ground. My least favorite interaction. My weapon this time a telescoping fly swatter 25.5 inches long.

This is the third time this has happened. I go to swat the centipede and it leaps to dodge the blow.

The other two leapers propelled themselves directly at me. And I’m not sure how but both times I pulled the fly swatter back and hit them in air again before they reached me. The first time I hit the centipede to the ground needing a moment to find it again before death by shoe.

The second one I hit it in mid air with the edge is the fly swatter cutting the centipede in two. Afterwards I could only find one half of the intruder.

Tonight the three incher jumped off to the side and did a double jump or ricocheted off a sculpture. I lost sight of it for a moment then it came at me full speed around the brick base of the mantle.

It was a really juicy one. First audible squish I heard with the fly swatted.

I may spray the inside of the fireplace with bug spray tomorrow.

 

^ this is so epic!

Sorry this is happening to you.

I would get an exterminator or call the GI Joes; they had to deal with stuff like this in the 80s.

 

Thanks for your sympathy.

It’s weird because these are about the least invasive bugs you could have in a house. If this was roaches, termites, ants, silver fish, earwigs, maybe even stink bugs - I’d have called for help.

I used to have a ‘phobia’ be creeped out by centipedes - but familiarity breeds contempt and I’m not so freaked by them as I just kill them.

That said I don’t want my new house to be infested with bugs - even if it’s just one or two a night.

That said I’ve never encountered anything quite like this. I’ll keep reporting as this continues to developer.

 

Killed two more tonight. First one in nearly the same spot as Friday Night’s big beastie. Must be something attractive over there. Killed it with a flu swatter. One swat.

Then saw a midsized centipede along the baseboard on the opposite side of the room. This one was nearly black with very long legs. It was partly hidden under an unused telephone receptical. I sprayed it with Windex to flush it out. It was lightening fast. Took three swats with the swatted before I got it. It almost got to cover behind long window curtains. That third swat didn’t kill it as it tried to limp back the other direction. Four swat killed it dead.

After cleaning the telescoping fly seater a second time tonight it came apart. I fixed it and it appears to be back in action. But I don’t want to be without a swatter.

I ordered more fly swatters and glue traps. I’ll spray bug killer in the fireplace tomorrow.

 

The centipede situation has become less of a nightly problem. So let’s take a break from bugs tonight.

About an hour ago I was upstairs and heard hooting outside. Going to the other side of the house it became loud. There must be an owl in the trees. I couldn’t see anything from a side window.

Grabbing a flash light and slipping on shoes I went downstairs and outside. Scanning the trees on the side of my house I saw nothing. Turning around towards the house I was greeted by a pair of enormous yellow eyes peering down at me from atop the chimney.

A Great Horned Owl. I’ve never seen one in the wild before.

We looked at each other for a long moment. The owl’s body dipped lower for a closer look at me. As I fumbled to keep the flash light on the owl and get my phone’s camera out the owl stood to a taller height and dove headfirst off the chimney.

It glided down at a relaxed speed. When it was next to me opened it’s wings. It flew off making no sound whatsoever ever low to the ground. Then it went upward and perched across the street on a neighbors roof.

After a few minutes the owl walked up to the highest point on the roof. It stayed there another 15 minutes before flying off into the night.

 

I love owls. But my understanding is that they’re morons.

 

There's certainly the possibility that they are.

 

Last week I awoke to the screaming of a jay. It was so loud I figured it must be perched on the roof above my bedroom window, so I got out of bed and slammed my window a few times in an effort to disturb it - no such luck. I went out into the upstairs hallway and the screaming continued, and I swear I've never heard the damn things being so loud. Then I heard things being knocked over downstairs. It had fallen into the chimney (obviously what the initial screaming was about) and had finally made it all the way down to the opening of the fireplace in the living room. I found it sitting on top of one of the kitchen cupboards, occasionally making a dive for the (closed) kitchen window. I opened it and shut the kitchen door until the damn thing found its own way out.

Gone, but not forgotten, though. Nearly every day since I've thought to myself "wow - I'd never have thought to look for bird-**** there."

 

house centipedes are indeed scary looking but I let them be unless they find themselves in the shower or near a bed. A house is an eco system and they help to deal with other pests like spiders while not leaving anything behind like cobwebs. Plus they're much more gross to squish.

 

I've killed two in the past two weeks, and I can't remember if I've ever seen any around the house before. Maybe it's some sort of prelude to invasion?

Silverfish on the other hand... I decided to spray my fireplace because those buggers tend to view it as some sort of hotel.