On Thurs. a regular client of mine as me if I could do a weird job besides her list of minor repairs. She hands me a small cardboard box. I open it and inside is a – are you ready for this- a dead 4.5″ long Centipede. Now, you have to understand that they are a normal thing over here. It had crawled under one of the sliders probably and gone through the insecticide that is sprayed around the perimeter of on slab homes. She asks me if I can preserve it somehow so she can take it home and frame it to give to her adult son. So, I say sure and buy some spray varnish to cover it with and will give it to her on Mon. I’ve done some weird jobs in the past over here, but this one is at the top of the list. I told her the next one I’ll save fresh with all it’s coloring and put in that clear plastic stuff they sell at Cheapo Depot and then she will have a good paper weight. She said No Thanks, but I think I will do it anyway. That’s my weird story for this past week, how about yours?
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Yeah, we get the centipedes here too, though 3" is probably the longest we've seen/killed. The things are essentially harmless (they can bite/sting but rarely do, and it only stings a little), but they're FAST (the bigger the faster) and they really go SPLAT when you swat them, making it a delicate job to kill one crawling on the ceiling.
Once had one fall off the ceiling and land on my face while I was sleeping.
This is a centipede story, tho not recent. I bought a live xmas tree here in Japan about ten years ago, and when it came time to horse it into the house for decorating, I grabbed a pair of leather work gloves from the tool bin in the car port. Slipped them on and felt something strange in one finger, so after a minute I took off the glove and shook it, and out fell a large centipede, several inches long. We get them up to 6" or so here, and I got stung by one in the pantry a few years back (stepped on it with bare feet--it probably came in with some potatoes). They like small cozy places, I guess.
"I got stung by one in the
"I got stung by one in the pantry a few years back "
Don't you just hate getting stung in the pantry?
Finishing a centipede
You should soak it in denatured alcohol for a few days. Chaning the alcohol daily. This get most of the moisture out.
Then let it dry, sort of pinned to some cardboard, before applying shellac. Things you learn from friends who are museum curators.
Should try that on the live ones -- they'd be a lot easier to stomp with 50 legs going one direction and the other 50 going the other.
Oh, I can beat that for weird and the check bounced, but I can't tell it on this forum.
Those type services are supposed to be on a "cash only" basis. Usually in advance.
You got the wrong idea there, big fella. I'd never prostitute myself.
Oh, there are so many replies to that one -- I can't even decide which one to pick.