The urge to squash something that looks like a centipede does when it appears in your home can be strong!

Unfortunately, we recently discovered that killing a house centipede can actually be a risky choice.

Source: Flickr

Centipedes often appear in dark, humid places. Often, one finds them in a bathroom or basement, and nearly anyone would immediately want to squash them or run.

Some of the things that make centipedes so terrifying to use are what make them effective tools against other pests. Fast and agile, centipedes are helpful against other insects.

Source: Flickr

With its many legs and quick movements, a centipede is a scary thing to find in your bathroom in the middle of the night. You will find it less scary when it lessens the number of roaches, spiders, and ants in your home.

Centipedes eat all of these insects and also have a strong appetite, meaning they are almost guaranteed to help prevent another pest problem.

Some might still want to rid themselves of the bugs, however. Reducing the humidity in your home and trapping centipedes in glass containers are just a couple of ways to eradicate the centipede in your house.

Taking a captured centipede to an area with humid rocks or soil will allow them back into nature to play its intended role.

House centipedes, unlike their relatives, are not poisonous and cannot even bite human skin. The tiny amount of venom they do produce can only hurt the small prey that they are so useful for eliminating.

Will you still kill centipedes if you find one in your home? Let us know why!