Six-Inch Long Centipede Cuddles With Hatchlings In Skin-Crawling Footage

It’s heartwarming to see videos of momma animals cuddling with their cute newborn babies. Most of the time, such an adorable sight would easily make our day bright. But will you still find it cute if the mom and baby — or in this case, babies — belong to the creepy-crawly species?

A Filipino real-estate agent managed to capture a video of a six-inch centipede embracing its 80 hatchlings. The video has since garnered millions of views and somehow confused netizens as to how they should feel about it.

Cute?

Or a stuff of nightmares?

Most people keep dogs and cats as pets. Others are into exotic animals but 22-year-old John Heidel Raquel has a penchant for centipedes that he made one as his friendly companion.

Raquel found the centipede in the wild and decided to take it in and care for it.

He spent time observing the creature since it gave birth last month.

We understand this is a big nope for many people but Raquel sees it as a touching mom and offspring moment.

“On one hand it looks very unique like an alien being but on the other hand, it’s touching because of how well this mother cares for and protects her young. The maternal care of centipedes is really amazing. She spends a whole month keeping watch over her babies without eating.”

Isn’t that touching? Some centipedes leave their eggs to develop on their own while other species choose to take care of them. The mommy centipede in the video is seen curling like a ball, cuddling and protecting its babies until they’ve molted about once or twice.

Centipedes do this protective strategy on their offspring to keep them safe from predators like toads and mice. Interestingly, mothers can also choose to eat their eggs if threatened than let other predators kill them.

Even if Raquel seems to love this mother arthropod, he knows well how venomous this creature can get. Bites from centipedes that belong to species similar to Raquel’s pet can be fatal in the Philippines.

“It’s definitely not advisable to touch centipedes, they’re born killers. There have been cases where they have killed humans and even cows. I’m just amazed to see how popular this has gone. I think it’s creepy, but people can see the love behind it.”

Watch the video below.

How did you feel about the video? Share your thoughts down below.