The centipede pictured below goes by many different names depending on where you live- Vietnamese Centipede, Chinese Red Head, Jungle Centipede etc. Laos happens to be one of the countries where these centipedes live. Our kitchen seems to be quite popular too, so it works well that our kids are good at getting away from them.
This morning, the kids and I had just entered our kitchen area downstairs when one of them spotted the centipede streaking across the floor. Whichever child that was gave one of the special screams that means they've spotted either a snake or a centipede. Eva was instantaneously back up the stairs. Elijah jumped onto the nearest piece of furniture. Zach stood where he was but put his arms up in the air, which was helpful since the critter was running right by his feet, and I was able to grab him up and over the centipede easily. I've learned to keep my eye on whatever the dangerous thing might be while calling for Nathan, so he quickly killed the thing for all of us. Not the best way to start the morning, but it didn't completely paralyze my day as I thought it might. :)
These centipedes are actually quite dangerous. They are fast and aggressive and go after anything they think they can kill. They use the front legs as claws, and then inject venom to kill their prey. For adults, they're less dangerous but still cause severe pain, swelling, bruising. For kids, they are very dangerous.
Since we moved into our house about seven months ago, we've probably killed about fifteen or twenty or of these centipedes. Most of them have been while digging in the ground, since they like the soil and like to hang out under rocks, logs etc. We took the pictures below a few weeks ago after we found one outside. Nathan and Elijah, brave as they are, demonstrate the size of these things below.
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