Last month, a Texas man was horrified to discover a giant centipede crawling around his daughter's room. He documented the event and shared the footage to his Twitter account, prompting horrified reactions from many online.
"I almost had set the crib on fire yesterday," Vick Glaze said in his now-viral tweet with more than 2.6 million views. "Y'all wouldn't believe what I found in my daughters [sic] room dawg."
The tweet's video shows the large centipede crawling on a gray chair. His daughter can be heard saying, "oh my gosh, daddy" in the background.
In a conversation with Fox 7 News, Glaze said his wife walked into the room to grab a change of clothes for their daughter. Immediately upon entering, however, she screamed for her husband.
"She goes in there and she screams my name. I'm thinking maybe she needs help. She's really afraid of roaches so I thought it's a cockroach," Glaze told the station. "I've seen centipedes and millipedes before but they're only hand-sized, maybe a little smaller but that one was like forearm sized. There's no way this is in our house."
According to his tweet thread, Glaze eventually used some of his daughter's toys and a Tupperware container to trap the centipede. The experience, he said, was terrifying.
"Shoutout to the MF who think I'm brave.... I ain't," he tweeted. "[I]f y'all only knew what kinda fiend I look like around the crib."
Shoutout to the MF who think I’m brave…. I ain’t 😂😂 if y’all only knew what kinda fiend I look like around the crib. Now that y’all done told me the power it possesses. Dawg I don’t breathe without checking walls and corners first.
— Miami Vice II (@VickGlaze) July 27, 2021Commenters were also disturbed by the creature. Many joked the whole house would have been destroyed.
"WHOLE HOUSE GOTTA GO," said one.
"I would have burned my whole a** house down," joked another.
Another commenter responded: "I would've called the police ..."
But one knowledgeable viewer identified the creature as a Texas redheaded centipede.
"That's a Texas red head [sic] centipede, they're venomous but their stings are 'mild' (much like a bee)," commented Twitter user Boston Knick. "[T]hey usually eat lizards, toads, snakes, and even mice....that thing looks beautiful tho."
That’s a Texas red head centipede, they’re venomous but their stings are “mild” (much like a bee) ....they usually eat lizards, toads, snakes, and even mice....that thing looks beautiful tho
— Boston Knick (@BostonKnick) July 27, 2021Texas redheaded centipedes are obviously much larger than your average arthropod. According to National Geographic, these centipedes can grow to be anywhere from 6.5-inches to 8-inches long.
The odd-looking arthropod has 22-23 legs, as as well pincer-like appendages called gnathostomes, which are used to inject venom into their prey. The carnivorous creatures eat lizards, frogs, rodents, etc.
Popular pest control company Orkin has an entire page devoted to Texas redheaded centipedes on their website, which states the centipedes spend very little time in open spaces. As such, they say that spotting one is a sign that it's time to develop a centipede management plan.
Many commenters echoed the sentiments and warned Glaze he should look for signs of others living in the home. He took their advice seriously and looked around, but made no new discoveries.
"I tried to look around y'all," he tweeted. "At this point, I feel there is nothing I'm capable of doing to find out if it laid eggs or another one around."
I tried to look around y’all. At this point I feel there is nothing I’m capable of doing to find out if it laid eggs or another one around. Landlord gunna say “it will be okay, they don’t like being in the house”….. like he didn’t see how FIT and WELL RESTED it looked???!?
— Miami Vice II (@VickGlaze) July 27, 2021Hopefully, Glaze and his family won't have to burn their house down.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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