Thursday, July 5, 2012

Cohabitating with something that appears other-worldly and as if it crawled right out of Jurassic Park takes a lot of self-control.  At least, it does for me.  Though I’m a huge nature lover, I do have a rule: critters that were not invited into my house should remain outside.  If they do not abide by this rule, well…then…things can and generally do get messy—for them.  But…due to where I’ve lived for the past eleven years, I’ve had to adapt that rule and extend a conditional yet unconditional invitation to a certain critter that makes my skin crawl.

Of what am I referring?  The house centipede.  This multi-legged, marathon-speed-invoking insect is enough to give me the creeps.  And I’m not one to get squeamish.  But this fella, with its fifteen extra long, hinged legs, long, flat torso, and 0-60mph speed in a matter of seconds makes the hair on my arms and back of neck stand at attention. 

So why do I tolerate such an offensive looking inset that can and will sting if it feels threatened?  Easy.  When I first spotted one way back when, scurrying at an alarming pace, in the middle of the night towards my then toddler son’s bedroom, him peacefully sleeping and unaware such a nasty creature was invading his place of slumber, I did some research.  Wanted to know what the heck I’d spotted and did it pose a danger.  Of course, I do admit that was after I’d ineffectively tried to catch the little bugger and stomp on it.  The fact that I, the one who prizes herself on never needing more than one swat to kill a fly, couldn’t catch this new creepy-crawler increased my need to learn more about it.  What I learned both comforted and disquieted me.

My research revealed that what I’d spotted was a house centipede.  They hatch out in spring and have voracious appetites for common household insects that prove to be not only pests but also those who are destructive, such as termites.

So here I am, eleven years later, loving the fact that I’m a night owl, yet also hating that fact, as being such allows me to see the nocturnal fast-moving house centipedes that can cross from one side of a large room to the other in less than five seconds.  But…being one who would rather her house not fall prey to other insects, I have learned to somewhat tolerate the house centipede…to a point…. 

So…even though my rule is that no uninvited insects are allowed to cohabitate in my house, I do make exceptions for the house centipede.  But…when their numbers increase to the point that I see numbers of them zooming their way across on my floors, walls and ceilings as if they’re some high-speed expressways, I draw the line and decide to limit their population growth. 

After all, rules have exceptions and with house centipedes, one might not have the chance to decide now and then act due to their incredible speed.  Therefore, I’m at peace with my population growth plan and feel free to act upon it when the number of house centipedes I spot nightly in any given room outnumber the number of people I have living in my house.  Seems fair to me….