What are some Interesting Pests You have Encountered?

[gata montes]

Gata Montes, this giant centipede looks like a monster from my worst nightmares. I'm so glad we don't have them here. If they lived in my area, I would give up on gardening and I would stop going outside. How fast are they? Are they scared of humans? I think I'd rather meet a snake than something like this.

They give me nightmares too especially as they seem to like to live in dark places, but especially under rocks, pots and pieces of wood, and are often found frequenting dry water courses, of which we have a lot of here, and there is no getting away from them either, because they like to live inside as well, and especially like houses that have cane ceilings, which are unfortunately very popular here, I luckily only have one room with a cane ceiling, so I don't see them inside quite as much as other people, but it is always wise to check shoes before putting them on and of course the bed before getting into it, as they have a tendency to drop out of the ceiling, on a regular basis
They're pretty fast, in fact let me rephrase that - they are very fast and they don't seem to mind humans at all, so I'm not exactly sure what you would do if you lived here - probably move to another Country as quickly as possible
I'm not very keen on snakes either and I often come across them in the garden and the woodshed, but I don't find them anywhere near as bad as centipedes, because they are normally scared of humans and tend to slither away.

 

[claudine]

Oh my, I'm going to have nightmares today. Centipedes sound like the worst and the scariest creatures. And they look so awful. Are they scared of dogs? I have a dog, I wonder if he would protect me from them
You know, I've always dreamed of living in a warm climate and being surrounded with gorgeous, exotic plants, but things like this make me change my mind. If there was the slightest possibility of finding a centipede in my shoes, I'd get insane!

 

[gata montes]

claudine, No they don't appear to be scared of anything least of all dogs and cats, so I don't think you dog would be any help in this case and of course, your dog would be in just as much danger as you - in terms of getting bitten
As you said, there is always a price to pay, for living in a hot climate and being surrounded by gorgeous scenery and exotic plants - unfortunately sharing it with centipedes is one of them
Although I don't like the idea of finding a centipede in my shoes either, its the ones that drop out of the ceiling onto the bed that freak me the most

 

[claudine]

Fortunately, there is an easy solution: buy a mosquito net for your bed. This way centipedes won't be able to drop out of the ceiling on you I always sleep under a mosquito net, because I'm scared of spiders and other awful insects It makes me feel safe.

 

[gata montes]

Fortunately, there is an easy solution: buy a mosquito net for your bed. This way centipedes won't be able to drop out of the ceiling on you I always sleep under a mosquito net, because I'm scared of spiders and other awful insects It makes me feel safe.

Well it would be if it wasn't for the fact that, having one it just makes it easier for them, as they can crawl down rather than drop down - especially as the mosquito net would be attached to the ceiling

 

[claudine]

Now I have a nasty image in my head I really need to stop thinking about giant centipedes crawling around. They give me creeps. Moving to a warmer climate is out of question for me. It's a pity, because I've always dreamed of Africa. But I'm pretty sure there are even more awful creatures there

 

[zigs]

Reading this i'm glad I only suffer from Sheep & drunk drivers

 

[zigs]

Moving to a warmer climate is out of question for me.

Why? Are you being held against your will?

 

[Shellyann36]

claudine, No they don't appear to be scared of anything least of all dogs and cats, so I don't think you dog would be any help in this case and of course, your dog would be in just as much danger as you - in terms of getting bitten
As you said, there is always a price to pay, for living in a hot climate and being surrounded by gorgeous scenery and exotic plants - unfortunately sharing it with centipedes is one of them
Although I don't like the idea of finding a centipede in my shoes either, its the ones that drop out of the ceiling onto the bed that freak me the most

How about adopting a large pet lizard? Do they have any known predators. You are right about me thinking twice. That thing is quite ugly. I would not want to run into it. Oh yes and the cat serving her kittens tomatoes made me smile this morning. What a wonderful mother. I almost forgot about the birds as well. Perhaps befriend a falcon family to help control the bird population? I have always wanted to train a falcon but I never have the time. I daydreamed this up from watching the old tv show "Falcon's Crest".... that Lorenzo Lamas is still hot to this day in my opinion!!!

 

[Shellyann36]

@Trellum I love to solve problems (when I am in the right mood).
@Gardener Glad you took it far away from your garden! Racoons are one of a gardeners worst pest because they are very smart.
@Babble64 Oh so glad you did not get sprayed. LOL I misread the message. I have never encountered a skunk so I am fortunate.
@zigs you are fortunate to only suffer from sheep and drunk drivers. I would say the sheep would be the real hassle but don't they have dogs that always stay with them? Yell at the dog and the sheep to get them out of your garden. Drunk drivers, I would think would be rare... but very destructive.

 

[gata montes]

How about adopting a large pet lizard? Do they have any known predators. You are right about me thinking twice. That thing is quite ugly. I would not want to run into it.

Funny you should mention that, particularly as there are quite a lot of them here who seem to like to adopt me, rather than the other way around but no having a giant lizard would not be the answer as giant centipedes actually eat them as part of their diet. Am told that having a meerkat might help, but even then its not guaranteed as meerkats prefer the smaller varieties of centipede and of course there is the chance that - if the giant centipede is hungry enough - it would eat the meerkat

 

[Shellyann36]

Funny you should mention that, particularly as there are quite a lot of them here who seem to like to adopt me, rather than the other way around but no having a giant lizard would not be the answer as giant centipedes actually eat them as part of their diet. Am told that having a meerkat might help, but even then its not guaranteed as meerkats prefer the smaller varieties of centipede and of course there is the chance that - if the giant centipede is hungry enough - it would eat the meerkat

Oh my goodness, exactly how big does these giant centipedes get? I am thinking that a meerkat is at least the size of a cat..... Geeze you do have quite a problem don't you?

 

[zigs]

Meerkat is about the size of a squirrel, and a lot smaller than Scotkat.

 

[gata montes]

Oh my goodness, exactly how big does these giant centipedes get? I am thinking that a meerkat is at least the size of a cat..... Geeze you do have quite a problem don't you?

They can get pretty big lengthwise and the ones I get here are normally somewhere between 25 - 30 cms long, but pretty slim width-ways, which like you -i find it incredible that they can manage to eat something the size of a meerkat, which makes me wonder if they eat their prey in a similar way to snakes and swallow it down in one go or steadily munch away at it 'till its gone, and to be honest can't be sure - as I've never had any great desire to get close enough to a centipede in order to investigate its mouth at close range - but as my husband is the one that normally deals with them and also has an unusually strong desire to investigate them in detail - will ask him to check it out

Apologies I realize I was being rather scatty yesterday and totally forgot to answer the rest of your post regarding the falcons, don't quite know how I managed that - especially as your comment regarding Lorenzo Lamas made me chuckle but with regard to controlling the bird population, am not sure that befriending a falcon family would help, especially as we have plenty of eagles, vultures and falcons here, but none seem to have done anything in that respect - in fact I would say - that the bird population actually increases each year
Yes Mom puss and her tomato antics are always an extremely comical sight, I should perhaps try and catch it on video one day

 

[Shellyann36]

They can get pretty big lengthwise and the ones I get here are normally somewhere between 25 - 30 cms long, but pretty slim width-ways, which like you -i find it incredible that they can manage to eat something the size of a meerkat, which makes me wonder if they eat their prey in a similar way to snakes and swallow it down in one go or steadily munch away at it 'till its gone, and to be honest can't be sure - as I've never had any great desire to get close enough to a centipede in order to investigate its mouth at close range - but as my husband is the one that normally deals with them and also has an unusually strong desire to investigate them in detail - will ask him to check it out

Apologies I realize I was being rather scatty yesterday and totally forgot to answer the rest of your post regarding the falcons, don't quite know how I managed that - especially as your comment regarding Lorenzo Lamas made me chuckle but with regard to controlling the bird population, am not sure that befriending a falcon family would help, especially as we have plenty of eagles, vultures and falcons here, but none seem to have done anything in that respect - in fact I would say - that the bird population actually increases each year
Yes Mom puss and her tomato antics are always an extremely comical sight, I should perhaps try and catch it on video one day

LOL ok so now thanks to @zigs I know how big a meerkat is and I most certainly have to look up these centipedes that can eat something the size of a squirrel. My interest has be peaked and I will look the info up @gata montes ! Glad you got a laugh out of the Lorenzo Lamas statement. He still looks good to me. He was on a reality tv show here in the states concerning celebrity wife swapping or something of the sort. I guess the dominate birds are finding more food in other ground game instead of their flying cousins. Now if you could train the cat to go after the birds.......