Big Isle man snags foot-long venomous centipede, preserves it
HILO >> A Hawaii island resident has a centipede that’s more than 1 foot long on display at his home.
Retired taxidermist Clayton Cambra spotted the 14.5-inch insect in woods behind his home and decided to capture it with a bucket, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported Sunday.
Cambra said the venomous arthropod stood up “like a cobra” when he captured it.
“Standin’ right up. It’s creepy,” Cambra said. “He crawled out of that bucket four or five times before I got him here.”
He got the centipede inside a plastic bag and froze it in his freezer.
Cambra then thawed the centipede, pinned it to a Styrofoam board and injected it with formaldehyde.
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“It’s a monster. Even when it was dead, I was nervous touchin’ it,” Cambra said.
Dan Rubinoff, an entomologist and director of the University of Hawaii Insect Museum, said he thinks the bug is a Vietnamese centipede.
“It’s definitely got to be the largest individual I’ve ever seen of it,” Rubinoff said. “I get ‘em in my yard all the time, 6 to maybe 7 inches. Definitely, I’ve never seen one that big.”
Rubinoff said there are other species in Southeast Asia that grow even larger.
“Those are really frightening,” Rubinoff said.
Cambra said he rejected a $1,000 offer for the centipede.
“I don’t want to sell it,” Cambra said. “I want to keep it. People collect all kinds of things. I know people on the computer (who) collect these alive and keep ‘em as pets.”