May 04, 2005

<b>Curious George: </b> I am in Centipede Hell

I am in an apartment building that was built circa 1940. It is pretty industrial, solid, probably has cinderblock behind the plaster, etc. It is nice, my husband and I love it, and we are here for one more year before we move out of the area. One problem: the Centipede Season has begun. (NB- I do believe these are really centipedes. Some say they might be silverfish, but they are brown/black, many-legged, one end has weird antennae, they skitteroo real fast, and I am not about to GIS to make sure I am right.) For the last three summers, we have been inundated with centipedes on a daily basis- sometimes on the order of 7-10 a day. The first year we had the rental company spray. Did nothing. Successive years we have used a combination of Raid applied to cracks and vent;, vacuums, Dirt Devils and dust busters plugged into outlets in every room; plastic wrap over vents; prayer to the voodoo Centipede God; hysteria-- all to no avail. We have thought of spraying again, but we have 3 kitties who are A) exceptionally difficult to get out of the house, B) would need to be out of said house for 24 hours, and C) we don't love the idea of more expecially noxious chemicals coming in contact with the kitties (only moderately noxious, please!). This morning I awoke to the largest centipede I have ever personally witnessed- at least 5 inches in length. Desperately fighting back a ginormous case of the willies, I managed to suck it up with vacuum tube, whereupon I felt the monster thwack and clang all the way up the tube, and then RATTLE IN THE VACUUM CHAMBER. Ok..ok..okokok I can't take this any more. I am thisclose to not being able to leave the confines of my loveseat. Help. Me. Please.