HelpfulGardener.com

Hullo,
The person who advised me to put out gallon planters (black) was right, I caught a widow in one the very next day.

Just wonderin what you might know about centipedes. Found a dark-legged six inch plump one lolling on my shoes last night...It makes you doubt everything, as they can get everywhere and fast. Did not catch it.

Any ideas of how to...anything?

Some of what I know:
Probable species = Scolopendra heros
https://www.bugsinthenews.com/giant_desert_centipede_page%201.htm

Their bite is painful but not deadly
They make interesting pets if you like to watch things attack and eat crickets. Cost is about $15 per. Can donate animal to local university/highschool biology class.
They will hunt down bugs around your property (roaches etc.)
Tend not to occur in large numbers in any one place.

If you want to catch/get rid of them you could try to provide humid hiding places for them. They like to be able to touch surfaces around them, so something low/tight to the ground/moist soil might work.

While counting my blessings today, I will add that I am really happy I don't live in New Mexico

Keep you shoes in zip lock bags or containers with tightly fitting covers? (one of those milk cans? ) or maybe make/get a breathable shoes keeper out of window screens and wood or metal frame -- oh or maybe an old pie keeper cabinet with screened doors/punched tin doors (so they'd dry and not get moldy/mildewy -- or maybe you don't need to worry about that in NM?)

I have similar trepidation about putting my feet in boots/shoes after getting a series of spider bites along top of a foot. Luckily my spider was a harmless little one that got squished as I walked, and though the bites itched for several days, were no worse than mosquito bites.

ETA - I just realized you put this in the Tomatoes Forum and it really should be in... what... Non-gardening Hoo Ha? ... Nah, how about Organic Insect Control. So I'll move the thread there.

Never thought about a centipede getting in your shoe. That is so scarey to me. You haven't lived til you put on your shoe and find a mouse in it and you keep trying to get your foot in. My husband's grandmother found one in her's and I am always a little scared when I put mine on even though we don't have mice. I am going to start covering my shoes after reading this post even though I can't imagine us having anything. I will say I saw a bug crawling on our ceiling and I thought to myself what if...... it fell in my mouth in the night. More than I can bear to think about
Mary

OMG! Only way to diffuse THAT image, merrymerry, is to picture the mouse as Jerry (of Tom and Jerry fame) with big corny or stinky toes squishing him over and over in the shoe. Maybe the foot can be Tom's.

I am terrified of mice and I can't imagine putting on my shoe with a mouse in there and mad at me cause I did it which means I am attacked by a mad mouse. YIKES! Tom and Jerry don't help none either

What a whole series of creepy images and only TZ, ever knowledgeable and factual, came up with anything constructive.

I must say if I ever saw a 6" centipede on my shoe I would think about moving and/or never wearing shoes again.

Here's a little article about centipede control:

https://www.getridofthings.com/get-rid-of-centipedes.htm

I'm not sure it is very helpful. It says things like keep your house dry, they like moist places. However, I can't imagine that in Santa Fe your house is not already dry.

Also, it says they eat things like cockroaches, silverfish, termites, bedbugs. That sounds nice unless that you think that the presence of the centipede implies the presence of something it feeds on and then you will get doubly creeped out.

You can put boric acid and/or diatomaceous earth around edges of rooms and places they might get in. The boric acid also works against cockroaches so might do double duty.

Hullo folks,
Thanks for all your help--and yes, I now look carefully into my Crocs before putting them on. It is harder as I don't wear shoes inside....I did stop walking barefoot in house without putting on lights after my Schnauzer found a bull snake in the den.

We've had a lot of rain these months and although houses are dry inside, it is high mountain desert, with plenty of green.

Will try to make a warm, moist little trap for it. I have put down sticky traps. I don't usually have any bugs in my house--this summer has been horrendous for black widows, spider webs everywhere inside and out.

Someone told me Black Widows only move inside if there are fruit flies for them to nibble, and indeed, I did have some fruit flies for about a week.

I liked that link for bugnews.com--can't access the email when writing a reply! Sent the link to all my friends.

TO STELLA, who said "While counting my blessings today, I will add that I am really happy I don't live in New Mexico :lol" You know, I really understand that statement. Many escape. I did for 25 years, but it got me again. Hope I escape again someday, but am loving doing my gardening now.

My aunt and uncle lived in New Mexico all their life and one time we spent the night there and in the middle of the night, their grandaughter woke up screaming. A huge scorpion had gotten into bed with her and she couldn't get out of the cover. It was wrapped up with her and stung her over and over again. That really scared me and made me glad I didn't live there. We live in the panhancle of Texas and the only thing we have are snakes and big water bugs. The snakes are rattlers and the bugs are awful. I have had a terrible time getting rid of the water bugs. If anyone has a remedy to get rid of them, I would appreciate knowing how. We had never had them until we moved into this house that was infested with them and they are terrible. I also forgot to mention that we also have brown recluse spiders. I got bit by one and never want it to happen again. Most painful thing I have ever had happen to me. I had to go to a plastic surgeon to have it cut out. I have a scar from it.
Mary

I live in Mass. Where it gets very cold to freezing for about 5 months a year. With lots of snow and ice. That's the price I pay for hating bugs.
A friend lived in Hawaii and said the centipedes there are huge and everywhere. Before she told me this I had thought of Hawaii as paradise.

Because I'm a bug nut and I read these things that scare me, I have always banged my shoes before putting them on. My kids said they knew I was awake when they heard this.

My daughter is so bug insane that one time I gave her a christmas card that has one of those HUGE fake roaches in it and she went berserk and threw it across the room. I was the one who got the most attention though. I got chewed out by everyone saying "you know how scared she is of the bug and you did that?" I thought everyone except her would get a kick out of it but it turns out that I was the one who was the dirty bird. I hate bugs too but not that bad.

When I was a kid, I hated picking beans in the garden because the rattle snakes loved curling around the vines and you couldn't see them very easily and if we were lucky we would hear them before we reached down to pick the beans

Hullo Diane,
Yup, I taught in Maui for two months and lost the illusion, too. One night I was about to lean my hand on a door jamb, looked up and saw a huge centipede there, lurking.

The one here has not shown up again, but was next to where all my shoes are kept by the door because I don't wear shoes inside. Am now trying to remember to wear my Croc sandals, tho. The slippers for my patients are by the door also. So, plan to don gloves and remove them all.

The story about the scorpion is nightmare material. Searched my bed last night before getting into it! But, truth to tell, I have never seen a scorpion in New Mexico and none of my friends have either. Children of earth, those I have seen once.

Have put out sticky mice traps near the shelves where "Buddy" was coiled on my moccassins. Thanks for the tips! Felicia

The scorpion attack occurred in Lovington, New Mexico way out in the country. The child was sleeping on the floor since there was a large amount of family members.

This forum is enough to give a person nightmares...
I lived in Tucson, Az for 15 years and the only two times I ever seen a scorpian was after it was dead.. lucky me...
I did see 1 Centipede and it was big, black and ugly... sucker moved so fast... I did learn though that there are Universities and other places that would actually buy them from you... if you can catch them. They are hard to kill I've been told.
As for Rattlesnakes... dear god I moved from one area with them to another area that has them. I fear I'm cursed to live among them. I did see two (one 4' and one 5') rattlers in my front yard down in AZ... I was not a happy camper... I learned that the fire department relocates them within a mile of where they pick them up.. I never called them again.
I have not seen any up here where I'm living now, but people talk about seeing them (mostly babies, which leaves be to think they may be seeing more bull snakes than rattlers), but I have seen one bull snake. I live at 2500 ft in elevation and am hoping that they stay down lower where it is hotter... I may not be that lucky though....