March of the millipedes

30th August 2025

Two nights ago sitting on the patio, (as I write I’m being distracted by a tiny monkey trying to reach for a hog plum, wobbling on the branch it makes a comical sight anyway back to the story) ….. two nights ago, my white shirt seemed to attract a small grasshopper, gentle flicking was not detracting the critter from the attraction of my shirt, to be honest who can blame it, nevertheless it kept coming back. Several hours later in bed and in the midst of slumber I woke to feel something crawling in my hair. My initial reaction was that it was the grasshopper. A more vigorous flick seemed to work but within a minute it was back, down the back of my neck. EEEEKkkkk, up I popped, light on, only to find it was instead a millipede, curled up beside me in bed. So here we have it, the millipedes have been out in their millions, so much so, I’m dedicating this entire blog to them.

They are everywhere. A slow march their little legs carrying a wave of motion propelling them in one speed only, across the floors, walls and ceilings. Because of the awful crunch that results from stepping on them, particularly with bare feet in the middle of the night, when there is an accompanying squelch, I have initiated “the daily sweep”. Dead or alive anything reachable or visible gets swept up and then hurled off the balcony with a huge flick. The results of today’s daily sweep of our bedroom and bathroom….

They seem to be nonplussed about where their little march takes them,

Above water and below

high or low

Fragrance does not bother them either

They even go down the plug ….. stinky plug… we are working on replacing the basin traps … don’t judge us !!! 😃

I’ve tried feeding them to the birds, they are not interested. The Frangipani Hawk Moth found dead on the patio …see below … don’t seem to want them either. The monkeys are too busy with the mangoes, passion fruit and hog plums.

The price you pay for living in paradise… ho hum … back to the daily sweep, actually it is quite satisfying.


Comments

2 responses to “March of the millipedes”

  1. 😂😂😂😂😂😂

  2. Jagdev Panesar avatar
    Jagdev Panesar

    Death by a thousand cuts? That is, methods of terminating with extreme prejudice.

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