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I'm feeling kinda guilty about bringing my worries about centipedes and bacteria in
Hawaii's waters to the threads. And I got to thinking that there are many dangers on the mainland too - and that if those of us moving to Hawaii were instead locals there moving to
the mainland, that we might getting pretty spooked if we started asking around about what in the mainland's waters could make us sick, injure us, etc., not to mention land animals and pollution that can hurt us. For example, my cats go outside when they want, and even though we live in a residential area, cougar have been here off and on, and there are raccoons, rattlesnakes, etc. My Texas friend doesn't have eels in the lake they swim at, but there are poisonous water snakes ...When we whitewater paddle or the kids play on the rope swing at the creek, there's all kinds of bacteria exposure. But I'm freaking out over the centipedes and roaches and the rarely life threatening bacteria. The more I think about it, the more I feel that the dangers in Hawaii are far easier to prevent than the ones here. Or maybe that's because I want to be in Hawaii and have my plane tickets now.
Aloha!
Cindy
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No, Cindy, I think you were right the first time. Hawaii kills. I have been informally tracking this. We were in Kauai in December, and while we were there, or shortly thereafter or before: 1) a young man who was working on a cruise ship fell or jumped from the top of a waterfall, 2) a lawyer and her cousin slipped and fell 300 feet down while hiking above Opeakaa (sp?) Falls, 3) a man from Alabama drowned trying save a young boy at Lemiwai Beach, 4) A shark took a chunk out of someone, 5) A man in Pahoa drowned in the swimming pool, 6) two people were swept off the cliffs on Kaloli Point and one drowned.
And I am sure scores of people were stung by centipedes. These stings were not reported. They should be. I want stats.
That being said, a lady came THAT close to hitting me on the freeway yesterday in a very big SUV. I was going zero miles per hour in a left hand lane, getting ready to transition to another freeway. I could see the woman in my rear view mirror, talking on her cell phone, looking but not seeing the line of cars stopped in front of her. Thank heavens there was no one in the lane next to us. At the last second, she veered into the other lane, missing me by inches. She almost lost control and flipped her giant SUV. It was so close.
As for me, I don't wish to be stung by a centipede and I don't want to get sick in a hot pond, but I would rather be swept off a cliff by a wave in Hawaii then to die at the hands of an inattentive Southern Californian with a cell phone.
As you mention though, there is peril everywhere. If you just focus on that, you miss everything else. It is only when I am NOT in Hawaii that I focus on those other things. When I am there, I breathe more deeply, I relax, especially when I have just had a lilikoi margarita or something, and I marvel at the great beauty, the aloha, and the wonderful sense of being a world away from the mainland and its crassness and cacaphony.
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You're right, Cindy. In some areas of Southern California small dogs and cats are killed in their own yards by Coyotes. Rattle snakes are a problem in many areas in the West. There are lots of poisonous snakes in the south. We lived in the hills in Napa and were afraid to walk down our long driveway to the mailbox because of the mountain lions in our neighborhood. Same problem on the property where I worked in Santa Rosa, CA. I'm sure there are many more examples.
Then there are the natural disasters on the mainland such as earthquakes, tornadoes, ice storms, blizzards, avalanches, floods, and mudslides.
We've also been talking about lepto and staph infections in Hawaii, but on the mainland my family caught way more colds and flus. We're much healthier here.
So, no matter where you are living, or moving to, there will always be scary critters and natural disasters. The decision to move to Hawaii, or not to, shouldn't be based on this sort of thing. With that said, I'm really happy there aren't any snakes in Hawaii. : )
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Just after we moved to HPP, a Local was removing some packaging on our hot tub. He jumped back and said that there was a hard-shell centipede. His reaction and comments made me very wary. Don't leave clothes lying on the floor, etc. I once had one in my boot -- all day!!!! I felt something during the day but thought it was a nerve "tingling." That night I "pushed" my boot off with my other boot and the LARGE centipede crawled out of my boot. I was told that it probably couldn't get his pinchers in me because he was pressed between my foot and my boot. It scared the s%$!! out of me!!!!
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while growing up in Lahaina, I got stung twice in one night!!! The buggar nailed me in my lower back in bed. After jumping out of bed and doing a "mexican hat dance" from the pain. I stepped on the buggar and he nailed me again!!
I lived but felt uncomfortable for some time!(week). But I'd take the bite of a Centipede over a Box Jelly Fish sting anyday!
As for Staph, here in Hawaii we don't take it as serious as they do on the mainland! I have had it countlees times from Coral Cuts..
Hawaii is to beautiful to let the small things in life bother you!
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Support the 'Jack Herer Initiative'NOW!!
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You have to use a lot common sense when in and around the ocean. There was also the guy that drowned at Kehena beach about a month ago, think he got smashed against the rocks !
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I used to kill centipedes, don't any more. They eat the new, invasive semi-slug. The semi-slugs (Parmarion martensi) are hosts to a nematode called Angiostrongylus cantonensis (actually this has been here since the 1940's but has never been much of a problem unless you eat a raw snail as a delicacy - but this slug climbs, is fast and is all over everything and leaves a lot of slime). If enough nematodes are injested from either their slime trail or by eating a slug accidently, you can get meningitis - spinal or encephalitic. I was lucky and just got the spinal form, still feeling it over a year later. Other people not so lucky who had horrible headaches and had their entire body effected. Anyway, after that, I would rather get bitten by a centipede any day. Wash your vegetables and fruits really well, or cook them, check your catchment tanks - be careful !
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Yeah those semi-slugs are nasty. Another invasive mollusk which can cause menengitis is the Giant African Snail.
Are you sure that centipedes eat slugs? I've never seen a centipede eating a slug before. Do toads eat slugs?
quote:
One of the threats posed by the giant African snail is not what it eats, but what it carries. This pest can be a vector for human diseases such as eosinophilic meningitis. This disease is passed along by rat lungworm parasites that can be found on the snail. If the snail is eaten raw or isn't completely cooked, diners eating giant African snails might get the rat lungworm parasite as a side dish without knowing it—and meningitis for dessert.
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/pubs/invas...snail.html
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Chickens might eat slugs, but that's just a guess. There is a flatworm (Planaria genus) that I've seen in the Puna District, from around 19th and in Volcano, that is a predator. It eats African Snails (or maybe the eggs?) but it also eats earthworms. I'm not sure if it's a native species, but I don't think so. I don't know if it's known how they arrived. I got a photo of one posted at
http://whatsthatbug.com/worms.html
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Yes, in fact, centipedes eat semi-slugs, been seen several times around here. The centipede population has actually increased since we experienced the hoard, the thousands upon thousands of semi-slugs. Lots of food. Also, chickens do eat the semi-slug. I throw them out from their hiding places when the chickens are eating breakfact and I am sure they find them on their own. Ducks, I am told are somewhat disinterested.
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