A red centipede that is more than 20cm long can deliver a large dose of venom.
They love hiding in your shoes or socks, and if you forget to check before slipping your feet in, that’s when they strike.
Whether it’s a centipede’s bite or a scorpion’s sting, the pain is often beyond your wildest imagination. The larger they are, the more venom they inject.
Though rarely fatal in Malaysia, the venom from these creepy-crawlies can certainly ruin an outdoor trip as friends or family will have to rush you to the nearest clinic or hospital while you burn in agony.
After evening rains, be especially cautious of centipedes and scorpions, as they tend to crawl out into the open – just as Patrick Chong, 44, discovered first-hand.
Chong, a seasoned camper with three years of experience and over 90 trips under his belt, had an unforgettable encounter in late 2022.
Around 7pm, after a rainstorm, he stepped out of his tent wearing only slippers, unaware that a 20cm-long red centipede lay in his path.
“I must have stepped on its tail, and it instantly whipped around and bit me on the instep,” Chong recalled. “The burning pain was incredible. I’d never felt anything like it before.”
Rather than retreating, the centipede turned aggressive, seemingly ready to bite again. Luckily, Chong’s wife managed to sweep it away, but by then the venom was already coursing through his bloodstream.
“My whole leg became numb and I could hardly walk. My heart started racing and I felt weak. That burning, stabbing pain in my foot was unbearable,” he said.
The sting of a scorpion this large, about the size of a palm, can cause excruciating pain for days. — Photo courtesy of Rashid Shafie
The campsite manager quickly drove Chong and his family to a private hospital more than an hour away.
After a sleepless night due to the pain, doctors discovered high toxin levels in his bloodstream, which led Chong to being hospitalised for three nights.
“My foot swelled up so much, it looked like an elephant’s foot. It wasn’t until the second night that the pain finally began to subside,” he said.
Chong attributed his ordeal to bad luck, given that the campsite in Bukit Tinggi, Pahang, was well-maintained.
“Even my tent space was laid with fine white gravel and no leaf litter. I always spray insecticide around my tent. The evening rain must have tempted the centipede out to forage,” he said.
Another camper, Carmen Coudray, 39, shared a similar experience when her husband was bitten by a large centipede hiding in his sock during a trip in Pahang.
“I rushed him to a nearby clinic, where he received antibiotics and painkillers. The doctor kept him under observation for two hours. Thankfully, since he didn’t develop breathing issues or faint, we were able to go home, though the pain was intense,” she shared.
As for scorpion stings, Adli Mohd Johan, 35, likened it to “someone injecting acid into my flesh”.
He was gathering firewood one evening in a jungle in northern Perak when he gripped a fallen branch and was stung by a black scorpion.
(From left) The orange circle marks the spot where Chong was bitten by a red centipede. Chong, safe at a hospital, showing the slipper he wore and the centipede’s bite. — Photos courtesy of Patrick Chong
“We were camping at the far end of Banding Lake, so rushing to the clinic wasn’t an option. It was too dangerous to travel by boat in the dark,” Adli explained.
“My hand swelled and burned all night. By morning, my entire arm felt paralysed. That was the end of our fishing trip.
“As soon as there was daylight, we packed up and headed to the nearest clinic.”
His symptoms lingered for three days.
For Azrai Iskandar, 49, a smaller scorpion delivered a much less painful sting during a hiking trip to Gunung Datok in Negeri Sembilan.
“I took off my hiking boots to play by the riverbank when I felt a sharp sting. It was just a juvenile scorpion, so I took some paracetamol from my first aid kit and the pain receded. Small scorpions don’t have much venom,” he said.
Medical experts advise that anyone who experiences severe symptoms from bites or stings should seek medical attention immediately, as allergic reactions to venom can lead to life-threatening anaphylactic shock.
