Scolopendra Heros story-real or fake?

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

So, I was talking with my Grandpops the other day about Scolopendra (my S. Dehaani), and he told me a story about when he lived in Arizona.

Late one night, my Grandmother and him were in bed, both reading, when suddenly she said "quit moving my feet!''. Confused, he replied "what?''-he wasn't. A couple seconds later, she again told him to knock it off. When he didn't, she flipped over the sheets and saw a humongous Centipede. They lived in Arizona, so I assume it was S. Heros. Nothing unusual about that. But here's where it gets scary.

So, good ol' Grandpops grabbed the thing and placed it outside, sticking it to a picnic bench with some sort of heavy saw blade (he wasn't the nicest person on earth to huge venomous arachnids mind you) so that my Dad (who was asleep) could see it the next morning.

Come morning, he came out, and it was gone. They thought a bird had carried it off, but then found it dead 15 feet away, with the saw blade still stuck in it. This thing had seemingly ripped itself free (either he hadn't nailed it in tightly, some animal grabbed it or whatever) and crawled away before bleeding out.

Could this really happen? Or was it just an old story that got morphed around over the years?

 

[Jurdon]

I think it’s got some merit, though no doubt your gramps is doing a teeeeeeeeeny bit of exaggeration. My grandma always used to tell me a story about how she’d kill snakes and hang up the skins on a tree on her way to & from school, and then one day, during a storm, the collection of dead reptiles blew off of the tree and onto her dad’s windshield. I don’t know what exactly goes through grandparents’ minds to think they’d want to hear about animals we cherish being brought to such a grim demise, but it’s one of my most cherished memories of her. I could probably tell the story almost as well as she did due to how many times she told it to me :,).

 

[Godzillaalienfan1979]

I don’t know what exactly goes through grandparents’ minds to think they’d want to hear about animals we cherish being brought to such a grim demise

Good point haha. Like, my Gramps went on to tell me how he found it funny that something that he would normally skoosh under his shoe one day would be my pet in the future.

 

[LawnShrimp]

Probably fake that the 'pede still had the blade in it, but they will use all their strength to escape a bad situation so it is possible that a heros could tear itself loose from a saw blade and die nearby.

 

[dragonfire1577]

My friend's Scolopendra heros practically decapitated itself trying to squeeze out an air hole, so part of it could be true.

 

[Salmonsaladsandwich]

Centipedes are strong. Without knowing how big the sawblade was I wouldn't completely discount it.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

A larger animal could have thought about eating the centipede, dragged it off a little, and changed its mind.

 

[Elytra and Antenna]

A larger animal could have thought about eating the centipede, dragged it off a little, and changed its mind.

It could have even been the family dog or cat responsible for the movement.