I had heard that they bite and hang on until they hear a clap of thunder or sundown – or is that for Gila Monsters only.
G From: Texascavers [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Logan Sent: Thursday, January 31, 2019 7:13 PM To: [email protected]; Dessie Pierce Subject: Re: [Texascavers] critters in caves I was just about to send this when I noticed that a message came in from "Speodesmus". I am sending this first before opening that one because anyone or anything using "Speodesmus" in their email address will be able to answer your question better than me. In answer to your query, not that I know of. Possibly if you are a small critter they want to hold onto to eat. If it's a defensive strike against a caver human or some other monster, they want to get back under cover ASAP using their hundred pairs of little legs. But I'm not an entomologist, although I play one on this list. (That's a joke based on a TV commercial that is older than you are.) TSA/Texascavers is fortunate to have some highly qualified biologists in a variety of specialties. Perhaps they will respond if they subscribe. Otherwise just go online with your question. Or conduct your own personal field experiment and write an article about it for the next Texas Caver. :-P Lowgun (aka Metagonia) On 1/31/2019 6:35 PM, Dessie Pierce wrote: I was told that they attach to your skin and have to be cut off. Does that have any truth? Dessie Sent from my iPhone On Jan 31, 2019, at 11:43 AM, Logan <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: You definitely do not want to be bitten by this critter! The pain is excruciating. A friend of mine was bitten on the foot while working in her garden up near Temple. She put ice on it but her foot kept hurting and swelling, which she documented with photos over the next hour. She finally had to call a neighbor to take her to the hospital. I was digging out a karst feature full of dirt and leaves, foolishly not wearing gloves, when I pulled out one of them fortunately cushioned in a bundle of leaves, so no bite. Use thick gloves! Centipedes go berserk when they are exposed because they have claustrophillia--fear of open spaces--the opposite of claustrophobia. Here's one website: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scolopendra_heros Logan On 1/31/2019 10:15 AM, Fritz Holt wrote: David’s comments raises a question I have. I have been wading Hill Country rivers (Frio, Nueces and Sabinal)and exploring their rocky cliffs and caves for 65 years. I have had encounters with rattlers, water snakes, various lizards and centipedes. I love them all but am especially fascinated with the large centipedes. The largest ones I have seen were between four and five inches long. I seem to remember their coloration was black and various shades of red, yellow and orange. I may have picked up one or two without gloves but was never bitten or stung. I assume they can inflict pain but guess I was lucky (as always) and would like some feedback on this. Are they harmful? Fritz Holt [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Sent from my iPhone On Jan 30, 2019, at 1:54 PM, David <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: People, including cavers, often associate cave animals with bats. I think we often neglect the other critters. For example, name a cave that is devoted to the preservation of Red-headed Centipede. Or any other cave-dwelling centipede. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Scolopendra_heros.jpg I saw a 6 inch long centipede in Brehmer Cave near New Braunfels, around 1996. I remember the color patter was maroon and black, but can't remember which color was the dominating color - Maybe black with some maroon parts ? I can only imagine cavers with lots of experience have seen hundreds of these. Of course, you probably would not want to crawl around in a cave with 100's of venomous centipedes. Would you ? On a related note, I have not seen a horned-toad in the wild in over 30 years. And on a totally different note, Last night, I was driving around 2 a.m. in the morning from Houston to Gatesville ( northwest of Temple ) via the small towns around Milano, and I saw stars for the first time in almost a year. I did not have time to even get out of the car and look at the stars. There was still too much light on the horizon and from traffic to really get a good look at them. _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers _______________________________________________ Texascavers mailing list | http://texascavers.com [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> | Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ http://lists.texascavers.com/listinfo/texascavers
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