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| The giant centipede that woke us up this morning |
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| A picture from Google Images to give you some frame of reference |
Mukade (ムカデ) :
The most commonly spotted of the three bugs that can put you in the hospital in Japan. If you live in a rural (or even semi-rural) area or near a mountain, you may have to deal with a mukade at school or home. These giant centipedes have yellow legs, black abdominal sections, and red heads with oddly appropriate curly horns.
They like to find dark places to hide and have been known to lie waiting in futons and clothing. They’ve also been spotted in sink traps, bathroom drains, and on tree trunks. Folk wisdom is that they come in pairs.
If you are bitten:
While the venom is not fatal, it does cause a lot of pain (likened to an electric shock) and severe, persistent swelling. If you are bitten on a limb, ice it and see a doctor the next day. As with bee stings, some of the stronger 虫刺され medicine is marked for use on mukade bites, so that can hold you over until you see a doctor. If you are bitten on the head, neck, or chest, you should seek medical attention immediately.
If they are in your school, in your apartment, or crashing your picnic:
Mukade are not reviled for their looks alone–they are aggressive, fearless, and distressingly tough. Your best bet is to immobilize it with bug spray or head trauma and then sweep/toss it away. Killing them by squishing, while therapeutic for you, can release pheromones that attract more. It may continue to move even after bisected. Show no mercy, for mukade know none.
I read a bit more and found out that they are extremely territorial creatures and consistently return to the original place where they were found, which is not great news. When I showed the pictures of the Mukade to my private English student later that afternoon, she was shocked and horrified. She lives down the street from me and had never seen one in her life. She, among several others, said that Japanese people believe that they come in pairs and warned me that we should be on the lookout for one more. Also, not the best news.
So far, Sean's fine. The bite on his foot swelled up and hurt a bit, but he still went to frisbee practice today. As for me, I'm totally grossed out and freaked out by possible future giant centipede encounters at night. These alien creatures from the deep woods are the stuff of nightmares. Sweet dreams!
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