slwatson
Fortunately the redheaded centipede isn't particularly poisonous (unless you are unfortunate enough to have an allergy, like some people have to wasps or bees).
But Scolopendra gigantea is huge, eats mice and birds and anything else it can catch on the ground (say, kittens or small puppies).
It is poisonous enough that it has been known to kill small children, elderly persons, or people who are ill. It's sting/bite is very painful, but equally painful (and potentially scarring) are the hooks it grabs onto you with if frightened.
They are fast and dangerous. They are often found hiding in closets, clothes, shoes. They are the bane of agricultural workers, especially he guys who have to haul around the big stems of bananas. They often sling those up on their bare backs and there are a variety of insects and arthropods that hide out in those and will bite.
I only ever saw one in the house but that was quite enough for me, thank you! Another time one tried to crawl in the window of the car while I was driving. My son screamed and I looked and saw it waving the upper part of its body around, ready to dive inside. I screamed at my son to roll up the window, which he did VERY RAPIDLY INDEED!
Pulled off the road into a bar parking lot. A guy came over to see what we were screaming about and saw the thing waving around - it's tail was stuck in the window somehow. He managed to knock it off the car and tried to stomp it to death, and then it seemed it just DISAPPEARED! Couldn't find it anywhere. THey are SUPER fast so probably it scuttled away across the dark parking lot. Finally he shrugged, smiled (he spoke no English and in the panic all of my paltry Spanish had disappeared) and went on into the bar.
When we got home, I made my son sit in the car while I got out first and checked to make sure it wasn't crawling up the side of the car from underneath or something. Then I had him open the car door and I LIFTED HIM OUT to be sure.
I still occasionally have flashbacks, wondering if the thing had managed to crawl up the guy's pants leg without being noticed and then viciously stung him after he went inside. I know that's HIGHLY unlikely, but I've never been able to disabuse myself of the notion that he ended up getting hurt for trying to help a total stranger out like that.
Now that I have induced the horrors and heebie jeebies of these things into a whole lot of people who by now wish they'd never ever heard of them, my work is done! LOL!
Still no names for my parakeets. I fear they shall forever remain nameless. I refuse to name them until they start eating their veggies! Naughty birds!
EDIT: So I just went and looked up MORE information about the Texas Redheaded Centipede, and it turns out it is very nearly as bad as the Giant Centipedes in PR and around the Caribbean. The first article I read implied they weren't "that bad", but they're ALMOST that bad. Bad enough in and of themselves.
Lets hope we never have to see either sort again, what?
I'm always on the look out for them when I go home for visits in the summer.
. His space is at one end of my work desk in the garage which is within singing distance to a rather large quarantine cage and ICU. I did some sound experiments with this little guy and it turns out that he responds best and actually breaks into long arias when paired with male tenor opera singers.
They absolutely creep me out!