There are lots of centipedes in my mini-farm and normally I just let them be. Today while I was rehabilitating a grow bed in my mini-farm, a large centipede was crawling around the earth looking for a place to hide because I had dug it out accidentally. While watching where it was going, I suddenly had a chill from the thought that what if I were bitten by one. Never had that thought before. My question here is should I leave them alone or should I just ......
Most people bitten by a centipede will experience no more than they would with a bee sting....that is unless they are alergic to insect venom then it can involve a trip to the hospital emergency room, children are also more severely affected by the stings too. From what I have read if you have a large infestation of them outside you can use Carbaryl (Sevin®) or diazinon granules to get their number under control (euphemism for kill them off). If there are a few that you see once in a while, you can use snail and slug baits to thin the herd, so to speak.
I am one of those weird people (it's the little kid in me) that likes insects/bugs. Just to let you know that centipedes are nocturnal predators that eat insects, spiders, grubs and worms. If you have a lot of centipedes they might be feeding on insects that are overly plentiful and helping to keep some insects from becoming a problem. It is always a balancing act in the garden. Since centipedes are predators you don't have to worry about them eating plants. Good luck and happy gardening
KK, how large are these centipedes? Are they around 15 to 20 cm? Around here 3 cm is about the largest in my yard. Jerry
Thanks for the info and tip Toni, all the time I thought that their venoms are deadly. I guess it must have been those tales told to me when I was a kid. I am allergic to bee sting so now I know what to do should I get bittened. Jewell thanks for the info. and since I am not having any problem with them, I'll just let them be. Jerry, it was not that huge, if I were to see one that size, I would have definately freak out! This one is about 7~8 cm and I guess watching it running around for cover makes me wonder about safety. Yes 3 cm is common here and that one was the largest I saw so far.
Well I've had similar problems in my garden, way back in 1991 I think. A very huge area of land (size of a small town) was getting worked at near my home. So millions of centipedes were disturbed because of all the streets and housing sectors which were being developed back than. Anyway, all those centipedes decided to migrate in my area. So the first thing i did was to put a strip of rubber at the bottom of all the doors (so they wouldn't be able to enter inside). I also had an aluminum strip on the outside of the doors to keep all the snakes out (I used aluminum because rubber decays when exposed to the elements). Anyway this is what I suggest you need to do first. Screw on an aluminum strip at the bottom of all doors which lead outside, and also nail a rubber strip on the inside of the same doors too. Now in case you accidentally get bitten - All you've got to do is to warm up a soldering iron, and touch the centipede with it's tip. The extreme head will make the centipede let go of your flesh. Don't try to put it off, as that usually leaves some part of the insect inside your body - Which can cause problems later.
