LONDON - Aaron Balick expected to find a tiny mouse rustling behind the TV in his apartment. Instead, he found a venomous giant centipede that somehow hitched a ride from South America to Britain.



"Thinking it was a mouse, I went to investigate the sound. The sound was coming from under some papers which I lifted, expecting to see the mouse scamper away," the 32-year-old psychotherapist said Wednesday. "Instead, when I lifted the papers, I saw this prehistoric looking animal skitter away behind a stack of books."

He trapped the 9-inch-long creature between a stack of books and put it in a plastic container.

The next day he took it to Britain's Natural History Museum, which identified the insect as a Scolopendra gigantea — the world's biggest species of centipede.

Stuart Hine, an entomologist at the museum, said it was likely the centipede hitched a ride aboard a freighter, likely with a shipment of fruit.

"Dealing with over 4,000 public and commercial inquiries every year, we have come to expect the unexpected. However, when Aaron produced this beast from his bag I was staggered," Hine said. "Not even I expected to be presented with this."

The Scolopendra gigantea has front claws that are adapted to deliver venom when it stings, which can lead to a blistering rash, nausea and fever. The sting is rarely life-threatening, but painful

i hope there was only one of them.
i dont like the idea of them breeding here

great. just when i'd about conquered my fear of spiders THIS monster has to loom on my horizon

Raine said:

The bad news was it was a mother that had recently laid a clutch of eggs!!

PREDOMINANT said:[quote]

Raine said:

i hope its not like those flatworms that started killing our earthworms

Raine said:[quote]

PREDOMINANT said:

You are insectist!

eeugghhh..... what more can i say ?

9 inches!!

If I found one of those in my house I would have to move. Seriously.

What are we going to call it?

JDINTERACTIVE said:

How about Beardy? In honor of you.

CarrieMpls said:

eheheh, that or Fuzzy. I think calling it '9 incher' could also be fittingly in honour of me.

JDINTERACTIVE said:

Have you got face fur again JD?

JDINTERACTIVE said:

I think Beardy would be better.

PREDOMINANT said:

Again?! Did I ever.

JDINTERACTIVE said:

I remember a whole thread dedicated to it! Maybe you were considering it anyway, pictures tomorrow!!

PREDOMINANT said:

Oh yeah, I remember! I think it was entitled 'JD: WHY?!' This new beard is immense though.

JDINTERACTIVE said:

Looking forward to witnessing it's magnitude

PREDOMINANT said:

Don't confuse it with a chimp hugging my chin.

if i came face to face with one of these things, i am certain i would emit a scream that would make the full-house era olsen twins sound like the dude with the long beard from that band alabama.








this has been a fucked-up post. have a nice day.

Anxiety said:

CarrieMpls said:

for real