Centipiedes

You can't see what it says on the paper, but the caption reads as is
"Kilauea, Kauai, Hawaii
January 2000"... and it's 8 INCHES!!!

Okay, after reading Kerry's blog about cane spiders, I thought about what I'm really afraid of... centipedes!!! You guys cannot believe where I found one. I was in Kohala at my boyfriends house, getting ready to shower. So, I get ready to step in the tub... and guess what is crawling in the bath tub... a 6 inch centipede. OMG, I was screaming off the top of my lungs. For as long as I can remember I've always seen centipedes because of my dad's farm and now in Kohala when we're there. So, I want to know what can happen to you if you get bitten by a centipede?

Centipedes are fast moving, and I mean fast. The darn thing has from 15 to 173 segments and a pair of legs for each segment! They are venomous, predatory, terrestrial arthropods. Most centipedes are nocturnal. These arthropods live mostly in tropical climates but are also distributed in many different temperature zones.

Some symptoms of a centipede bite... painful stinging, burning sensation, localized redness and swelling. These types of symptoms usually last for a few hours, in few cases the symptoms have lasted for several weeks!!

Eww... I would not want to get bitten by this pest. But a centipede bite is almost like a bee sting. The bite causes inflammation and pain. A centipede bite can be treated at home!! Yup, you don't have to go to the emergency room for a centipede bite. Because the centipede is venomous, it is encouraged to squeeze blood out from the bite to get as much venom out as possible. After squeezing the blood out, clean the bite with soap and water. Then apply a cool compress to the wound. Yup, that simple.... but I still wouldn't want to go through this.

Okay... so a centipede bite wouldn't kill me, thank god!... LOL... but I am still afraid of it, who wouldn't be? At least now I know that I can take care of the wound IF I ever get bitten. *sigh*