What to Do If There Are Centipedes at Home? Introduction to Effective Control Methods
There are lots of holes in the corners of the home and such, plus quite a bit of clutter has been stored there, so it would not be surprising if centipedes moved in and settled down. What should you do if there are centipedes at home? How do you drive away this terrifying uninvited guest? To solve this problem, we first need to know what centipedes are afraid of and what natural enemies centipedes have. Once you know these, it becomes easy to deal with centipedes coming into your home.
What are centipedes afraid of?
Centipedes fear sunlight and hide by day, coming out at night. They like to live in dark, warm, rain-sheltered places with good air circulation. Centipedes like to live in hilly areas and sandy soil regions. During the day they mostly lurk in cracks in bricks and stones, along wall bases, and in dark corners among piles of leaves, weeds, and decaying wood. At night they come out to move around and search for food such as green caterpillars, spiders, and cockroaches. In nature, centipedes actually have many natural enemies. For example, roosters are a well-known one. In fact, insect-eating birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians will all eat centipedes. Even scorpions will prey on centipedes.
1. Ants: There is a creature that many people might find somewhat unbelievable, and that is the ant. Ants are also natural enemies of centipedes. Do not doubt it. Ants are the greatest enemy of centipedes during molting and hatching. When a centipede is molting, it has no ability to resist at all, and its new skin is tender and fresh, which ants like very much. If they encounter a centipede at that time, it is doomed. Therefore, when farming centipedes artificially, ants are also targeted as an important pest to be killed.
2. Snakes: The two are natural enemies. If a snake sees a centipede, it will absolutely eat them all without leaving a single one. Of course, it may also be bitten to death by the centipede. This depends on who is more powerful. Of course, the editor feels snakes are more frightening.
3. Chickens: Centipedes and chickens are natural enemies. When a chicken sees a centipede, it will eat it, while the centipede will urinate on the chicken meat, and it is toxic. But centipedes are also afraid of alcohol. Therefore, after killing a chicken, if you cannot finish eating it all, you should smear some alcohol on the chicken meat to prevent centipedes. And if you are accidentally bitten by a centipede, you can use a chicken's saliva to relieve the pain.
What to do if there are centipedes at home?
Centipedes generally live on hillsides and in places overgrown with weeds. 8 p.m. to 12 a.m. is the peak period of centipede activity. To prevent centipede infestation, keeping the indoor environment dry is the most important thing.
1. Buy pyrethrin (available in pharmacies) and sprinkle some in places where centipedes frequently appear, and also sprinkle some at drain entrances;
2. Buy insecticide tablets and fumigate in a sealed space; sprinkle realgar mixed with alcohol into drains.
3. Remove plants such as ivy outside the windows.
4. Sprinkle lime powder at doors, windows, and other places where centipedes might crawl in.
5. Fumigate the house with mugwort.
6. There are two drugs that are effective against centipedes: realgar water or a diluted solution of dichlorvos. After spraying them on the floors and corners in the house, keep the doors closed for at least half a day.
After reading this, I believe everyone has gained a new understanding of the two questions: what centipedes are afraid of and what to do if there are centipedes at home!