OK, I have to ask - Centipedes??

[Amanda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Amanda]

So, I was reading the Maui Revealed book (which is great!! thanks for the tip on the books), and in the "things to watch out for" section, there is a mention of centipedes on Maui.

Basically it says that they are aggressive predators not to be messed with and that their bite can be as painful as a gunshot wound !!! It did say that they are rarely seen, but I figured I would just take a little poll on whether or not any of you have ever had ... an encounter

[Beaglemom3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Beaglemom3]

Yes, up close and personal !!!

When I was 22 and lived on Oahu, I was awakened one night by something I felt around my wrist. Thinking that it was the lace edging on the sleeve edge of my nightie, I just half-awakedly (is that a word), tried to brush it off. I ended up standing up on my bed screaming like a banshee until my housemates came in and killed it. They sprayed liquid freon on it (before it was banned - 1974). Horrible, awful, took me a looooong time to sleep peacefully ever again.
It was a centipede. I ended up with an arm about the size of a football. The bite was just small-fanged, but the swelling is what I remember most. Saw the doc, Rx'd with antibiotics and a couple of lasix (fluid) to set me right.

True story. My roomies still like to remind me of the blood-curdling scream.

I lived in leeward Oahu, right across from the cane fields, but it wasn't the centipedes that were hideous. No, it was the cane spiders which got into the house when they harvested the cane. To harvest the cane, they burn the fields which leaves the stocks or sugar cane. Unfortunately, it drives all the cane spiders out and most of them seemed to like my little house. The centipedes must've told them .
B

[falmouth3 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close falmouth3]

Oh yuck! My husband saw something in Maui Revealed about cane spiders when we were there in Sept. Luckily we didn't see any, but he was just mentioning them again just yesterday.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

We have never seen them inside a timeshare or rented condo in Maui but I have seen plenty of other bugs inside a condo on the big Island.

Here is a large picture of one in HI. Scroll down a little bit.

[Amanda Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Amanda]

Wow that website has some really nasty bugs on it! But I couldn't help looking, thanks !!! Now I know where to go for unidentified buggies...

Yuck

[w.bob Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close w.bob]

We were staying at the Kauai Coast Resort Sept of 05. We had a two bedroom unit and my daughter and her husband were staying with us. After we finished breakfast my son in law was in the shower and my daughter was making the bed in their room when she started screaming. I ran into the room and she said something was under the covers. I pulled the covers down and a centipede fell out of them. I picked it up with my hand wrapped in the blanket I pulled off the bed and threw it out over the lanai. Luckily no one got bitten. I was fairly large and if I remember correctly it was green in color with other colors running through it.

[shopgirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close shopgirl]

We have centipedes in Denver and see them often in our back yard, especially in the hot part of summer, but I have never been bit by one and they don't see to move fast. I notice them in my flower pots. I guess I should be more careful, but perhaps they are not aggressive and not poisonous. I have yet to have one on me.

I am not scared of spiders or bugs of any kind. Snakes are just a little bit scary, but we have garter snakes in our yard all the time. They like our flagstone rocks and sun themselves around our pond. I went out to pull weeds around the pond and saw four snakes on the rocks. They like the water, too. My stepdad totally freaks out when he sees a snake and I told him not to look by the pond when he takes care of our yard while we are gone. As long as he cannot see them, he seems to be okay. There are always snakes back there, with all those giant rocks and the hot sun. Our neighbor killed two rattle snakes about 20 years ago that the kids all heard when they were outside playing. We have scary stuff around here. We also have ticks that hang out by the older parts of our fence. I would hate to have to worry about a dog. Our cats stay indoors.

[Carol C Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carol C]

I'm not afraid of snakes, bugs or most other critters either. I've learned to identify poisonous vs non-poisonous snakes, since I'm an avid gardener. Most snakes are gardeners' allies. I also like bats because they eat mosquitoe, but unfortunately none of the bat houses I've installed in yards attracted bats to make them home. I don't like mosquitos or those pesky sand fleas or no-see-ums in Mexico...thank goodness for SkinSoSoft and my fast-action swatting maneuvers.

[dvcforus Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dvcforus]

I am very, very afraid of spiders and any insects, so now I am rethinking every going to Hawaii (or anywhere very tropical for that matter!). I already had some fears b/c my friend grew up in Hawaii and had this weird bump on her arm when she was a kid. Finally, the doctor lanced it and guess what was inside -- something had bitten her, laid eggs and they hatched....so add this to my Hawaii bug stories!

[katheren Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close katheren]

House centipedes

Probably the most revolting thing I've ever seen. Move fast as hell, and are big and creepy enough to scare even the most macho of folks. I looked 'em up online coz I had no idea what they were, and apparently they have a painful bite as well. I don't know if they are similar to the Maui ones, but god if I never see one again, that's quite alright by me.

[rainy~daze21 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rainy~daze21]

now I am going to dream of bugs tonight--ewe!!!!

[Juleen Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Juleen]

Haven't seen one in a condo, but have seen one at the Kauai Airport--ugh! Nasty things! Locals say the only antidote is to stay drunk for three days until the worse is over! :O)

[Juleen Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Juleen]

Oppps, hit the send button a little too soon. Someone mentioned the cane spiders--oh my, those things are huge! I still chuckle about a posting on another Hawaii board. This gentleman had taken his girl friend to Kauai to propose. The second day they were there, a cane spider walked out in the middle of the living room. Being the protective male, he immediately screamed like a girl and hid in the bathroom until she killed it! My mental piciture of that still amuses me. Happily, the guy did pop the question and despite his rather unprotective spider response, she did accept. And, how many of you know that there are scorpions in Hawaii? Friends of our saw one at Hapuna Beach on the Big Island.