We have a fine centipede here in the Pacific Northwest of North America.
They're quite common, and tend to be pretty cryptic, lurking under debris and seeking prey below the leaf mold of the understory. My work often involves disturbing such hidey holes, and more than once I've discovered one of them in a pant leg, under my shirt, or in my hair because of the tickling sensation of their many legged attempts to escape.
Despite the occasional over familiarity with one another, I have yet to be bitten by one, and all I want at that point is for them not to be on me anymore. They are pretty creepy - indeed the very definition of creepy! - but once they're off of me, I am fully able to control my bladder again.
Ours don't get much longer than a couple inches. If I suffered contact with one of the size ya'll have there, I'd probably have to go change my pants, whether it bit me or not!
Thanks!
You're welcome! And, I'm glad to share with you that you have a Scolopendra species that can grow up 8-inches or longer. It's the Scolopendra heros, commonly known as the Giant Desert Centipede, and it is endemic to the Southwestern States.
I am glad that it is the towering forests of the Pacific Northwest, not the desolate deserts of the Southwest, that I call home, and perhaps least because 8 inch centipedes don't crawl into my shoes when I am sleeping.