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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Eva Corlett in Ōwhiro Bay

‘I’ve woken up with them on my face’: millipede infestation horrifies Wellington

Portuguese millipedes are terrorising Wellington's southern suburbs, with residents having to remove hundreds a day from their homes
Portuguese millipedes are terrorising Wellington's southern suburbs, with residents having to remove hundreds a day from their homes Photograph: Eva Corlett/The Guardian

At a visitor centre on the south coast of New Zealand’s capital, the blustery, briny wind is no match for the smell of thousands of decaying millipedes, which reek like decomposing vermin and rotting fish.

Along the streets of Wellington’s Ōwhiro Bay, dead curled up millipedes are piled up on the footpath, as live ones march along the street. One resident says her neighbours collected five rubbish bags worth of the creatures in a week from around their home.

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