With recent Autumn rain we are once again in the middle of millipede season. Here are some of the things I’ve learnt from battling against these nasty black creatures….
The kind of millipedes we have at Portuguese millipedes and they stink when you pick them up, squish them or when they die. They are feral pests, imported from their natural home of Europe.
Having a millipede drop off the ceiling and into your bed in the middle of the night is the stuff nightmares are made of.
One of the first complete sentences my toddler twins ever said was ‘Burn the suckers’ in reference to how often we swept up millipedes and burnt them alive in the fire.
When there are loads of millipedes they can stop the trains in our area.
We are yet to discover what will stop these creepy mini snakes coming into our house. We’ve tried poisonous chemicals, strips of metal, light traps, even mopping the floors with Detol to deter them from coming in, and yet still they come.
I get several hits a month to my blog from people googling ‘my baby ate a millipede’. And for all those people…all my babies have eaten millipedes and while it is gross, they have all survived.
There are so many posts about millipedes on my blog that a friend suggested I needed to add one to my blog design… so I did. Can you find it?
What do you know? Join in with Yay For Home’s Things I Know link up and share your genius with the world!
{top image by ARHiggins via flickr}
Now I’m looking for millipedes. :ugh:
Oh they are just yuck! We had them last year, but are yet to see the this season. When I called someone to ask about them they suggested I put a pane of glass around my house. How practical is that advice!
We are moving house next week and crossing our fingers and toes that they aren’t moving in with us!
Too hard to do on our house, but a 5cm strip of something slipperyish like glass apparently does work. and a friend has just ordered those parasitic nemoatodes (?) to see how effective they are. I would preder to vacuum and live with them rather than harsh chemicals I think.
gosh ..that is horrible…I would never sleep..I go nuts about the geckos we have..knowing they poop a lot worrys me it will fall on me while I sleep..but we live in an old queenslander home and they do a great job keeping the bugs and daddy-long-legs down..but your bugs are, creepy!
Found him! Cute (on here, not in real life!) :)
things I know: I don’t envy you your millipedes! yerk
Ugh! I thought our ant problem was bad, but it’s just a nuisance, not truly body-shuddering like yours! Yuck and yuck. I’m sure I’ll have nightmares tonight now, thanks!
stinky stinky millipedes!
Of course I had to visit to find the pesky lil critter … and I found him!!! :D
oh we hate them too. We sweep them up and chuck them out the door. One of the things I hate most is that I try to teach respect for all creatures but Oh my goodness I so don’t when it comes to these blighters!
I feel your pain!
In South Africa we call millipedes: Shongololos which is a much more fun way of describing what is a horrible, horrible bug! Luckily the ones we get here in Sydney are not pests, just small funny looking creatures! I still obsess about that fact that humans swallow hundreds of spiders in a lifetime!
ick. We have the millipede problem at home too. But I don’t think it’s as bad as out your way. My cat tried to eat one and was most unhappy. Here is my post featuring the millipede. http://www.toushkalee.com/2011/04/i-have-boy-child-lessons-in-creepy.html
oh and I found the little guy on your page – much cuter than in real life.
Like Sharon I just had to find him….very cute!
We have had a few in the house lately but I would have to say this is the first time…in this house anyway. They dont really bother me when I realise what they are. Its centipedes that I dont like!
And what a good friend she is ;)
They’re driving us batty here in Tassie too. I vacuum, only to find a trail of them following behind me!! So frustrating. Of a night, you can heard a `plop’ as another one hits the floor.
The three year old gets excited when she spots one, because it means she’s allowed to get her dustpan and broom to pick them up and put them in the bin.
We were listening to gardener Peter Cundall on ABC Radio two Saturdays ago and he said there’s nothing you can do about them. However, I’ve also read in a newspaper they’re attracted to compost etc (so piles of Autumn leaves, maybe?).
I feel your frustration! xx
We have soooo many of these, the wall was literally black and moving *shudder*. Then we got these traps http://www.millipedecatchers.com/ and they work a treat! Some still get in, though not nearly as many. We also try to keep the light really dim inside cause that is what they are attracted too, and we cleared the leaf litter from around the house.
Thanks for the blog. Chalk me up to another hit from the search terms baby ate millipede
I’m the same as Ellen. I searched: baby ate millipede, too. My baby seemed pretty pleased with herself.
Yep, definitely just pulled millipede and its chewed up bits out of my daughters mouth.. now I can be at ease knowing she’s not the only baby to have ingested one.