Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for March 14, 2020

Hobbes saved Calvin and his folks a possible trip to the doctor.

How come it didn’t bite him while he was holding it?

good thing Calvin wasn’t holding a cobra or a rattlesnake or even a scorpion

I can attest to the fact that centipedes have poison pinchers. When I was little I picked one up. Never made that mistake again.

Rack em up; let’s play again.

“With you, it never is too difficult.”

I’m guessing Hobbes has just watched Dr. No.

“Is it loathsome?” Did Hobbes really have to ask that one? It would seem to be a given.

Centipedes are carnivores, they prey on insects such as cockroaches.

Back in the Carboniferous era, when the Earth had about 60% greater concentration of oxygen than today, centipedes grew to be about 10 feet long and feasted on cockroaches that were about a foot long and weighed a couple of pounds. I’m glad I was not alive then.

Centipede joke: what goes 99-thump, 99-thump? A centipede with a wooden leg.

Hobbes saves the day again.

He loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah…..

Poor centipede…!

Hobbes hugging Calvin is as close to sweet as this cartoon has ever gone.

Probably should have just gone with a toad.

Glad it wasn’t “one of Dad’s pill bottles”…

Anyone ever see a movie called “The Tingler?” It was produced by William Castle, who used gimmicks for his movies. It starred Vincent Price as a scientist who discovers a parasite that grows inside a body when someone feels fear. There’s a scene where the Tingler escapes into a theater and the gimmick was, in some first-run theaters, some of the seats were wired to give a mild shock as the Tingler ran under them. We saw the Tingler itself, a hug caterpillar with mandibles that it was pinching the projectionist’s neck with. I was it when I was about six years old and it scared the bejesus out of me. Saw it again a few years ago, and saw the Tingler was just a big, not-too-convincing rubber bug.

What is a centipede’s favorite amusement park? Legoland.

The correct term is “venomous” due to how the toxin is carried and ejected.

I believe it’s pincers, not pinchers.

In Vietnam, we found centipedes over 3 feet long.

In Hawaii, they range about 8 inches, but they have a nasty bite (roughly equivalent to stirring up a hive of hornets, which we also have here).

Our centipedes also get everywhere: my son’s bed, my medicine drawer (second floor), definitely our compost, our lawn, and various places around the house.

Welcome to Hawai`i!