The greeting cry of the East African plains ape to the house centipede in the half-bath

[truepenny]

"Waa-aaaaah! Fuck!"

Comments

[michaeldthomas.livejournal.com]

LOL.

At least it wasn't a millipede or a cluster of cockroaches.

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

Millipedes are benign. Centipedes are the venomous ones. And they give me the screaming willies too.

[rarelylynne.livejournal.com]

Either way, SQUICK CITY.

YUCK.

[michaeldthomas.livejournal.com]

True, but I think millipedes have more primal ick factor.

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

They don't bother me. We had the giant ones (6-10") when worked at the zoo and we all had to let them crawl on our hands and arms and let kids pet them. They move really slowly, can't bite and only eat decaying vegetable matter. Plus they feel kind of like a telephone cord. Centipedes move way too fast and their elbowed stick-out legs are far squickier-looking to me.

[ashnistrike.livejournal.com]

Yes. Exactly. House centipedes are the only critter that gives me that visceral *squick* that most people apparently get from snakes & spiders. (I'm not fond of other sorts of centipedes, especially in the house, but it's not as strong of a reaction.)

-Nameseeker

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I dunno. Between this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:NarceusAmericanusMillipede.jpg) and this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:House_centipede.jpg)? It's pretty much a toss up, but it's the centipede that makes my skin crawl.

[rarelylynne.livejournal.com]

I have to say that the centipede squicked me out more, but I'm most decidedly phobic about bugs in general. I'm the opposite of Indiana Jones; I can handle snakes. Bugs, not so much.

I still haven't seen Arachnophobia, for obvious reasons

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

I agree--millipedes, believe it or not, strike me as almost cute. Centipedes are horrific.

[tekalynn.livejournal.com]

I'd say the centipede. The millipede is adorable. The centipede would make me jump if I saw it in the bathtub.

[luna-the-cat.livejournal.com]

Disagree. Millipedes are cool. Centipedes BITE. Not cool. Not cool at all. But what's worse, they LOOK like they bite. I don't know about you, but my primal back-brain has absolutely no uncertainty at all about which is worse.

[michaeldthomas.livejournal.com]

You have all convinced me. I retract my earlier statement. Centipedes are officially ookier than even the longest Temple of Doom millipede.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

I'm with you on the cockroaches, though. EWWWWW.

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

I hate cockroaches more than almost anything.

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

Was lloronas_eyes, by the way; I changed it because I like bears.

[kate_nepveu]

Words are insufficient to express my hatred of house centipedes.

You have my deepest sympathy.

[sboydtaylor.livejournal.com]

May I suggest this:


The greeting cry of the East African plains ape to the house centipede in the half-bath: A Poem

Waa-aaaaah!
Fuck!


Still not as short as the Ode to the Antiquity of a Flea

[fidelioscabinet.livejournal.com]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.

That is all.

[callunav.livejournal.com]

Eldritch horror indeed.

One of the more trivial and yet pernicious things for which I will never forgive my mother is teaching me to have a phobia of centipedes--although, to be fair, I don't suppose she did it on purpose.

[coffeeem.livejournal.com]

Do not Google scolopendra heros arizonensis. Especially do not search images.

After that, avoid living in hundred-year-old houses in Arizona undergoing renovation.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

Dude. I will keep that strongly in mind.

[crookedfeet.livejournal.com]

DO NOT REMIND OF THOSE THINGS ! Gaaah! DO NOT WANT!

[stillnotbored.livejournal.com]

While at the hotel for WFC last November, I opened my eyes while in the shower and saw this 'thing' on the ceiling--just hanging there over my head. I had no idea what it was, never having seen one before, but I wasn't pleased. I didn't scream, but it was a near thing.

Bear and Amanda couldn't understand why I had someone taller then me, and thus able to reach it, dispose of the house centipede.

[technomom]

Ewww - our younger cat tried to get rid of one of those last year and had a swollen lip for about a week.

[rabidfangurl.livejournal.com]

Ah, you have encountered the rare Eastius Beastius. I have see many in my day, as they are endemic to the old dorms of my college. Though, honestly, the mice were more annoying.

[karenthology.livejournal.com]

I hate those things!

[spartezda.livejournal.com]

Aw. I rather like centipedes . . . the South American ones that catch bats especially tickle my fancy.

[arkuat]

Thank you. I was about to think that I was the only one reading this thread who actually likes house centipedes. I'll refrain from praising them in any detail here.

It is true that if you handle them at all, their legs generally fall off on you, which is pretty icky and zombie-like even.

[aberrant1.livejournal.com]

In my limited experience, the way to get over a fear of centipedes is to move into a house where the bathrooms are inhabited by scorpions instead.

Centipedes are downright cute, now.