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09/12/2005: From the YIKES Files…
”…Aaron Balick expected to find a tiny mouse stirring around behind the TV in his apartment.
"Thinking it was a mouse, I went to investigate the sound," Balick said Wednesday. "The sound was coming from under some papers which I lifted, expecting to see the mouse scamper away.
"Instead, when I lifted the papers, I saw this prehistoric-looking animal skitter away behind a stack of books."
Instead, he found a venomous giant centipede that somehow made its way from South America to Britain.
He trapped the 9-inch-long creature between a stack of books and put it in a plastic container.
….
The centipede has front claws that are adapted to deliver venom when it stings, which can lead to a blistering rash, nausea and fever. The sting is rarely life-threatening, though.
Courtesy of Canadian Press via Improbable Blog.
Karen on 09.12.05 @ 06:40 AM CST
