Catching a centipede

A friend of my daughter's is studying insects and her homework assignment, as strange as it may sound, was to collect 30 specimens of bugs. Deciding to help and take on this challenge, recently having earth delivered to our garden, I quite quickly managed to find a few every day common varieties. This morning, much to my horror, I found a brightly coloured centipede laying in our kitchen sink. Goodness knows how it got there! It was about 6 inches long and laying very still at first. Immediately thinking this would make an excellent specimen for the young lady studying entomology, the question was now how to catch the little critter with the household still asleep, and my lack of dexterity, extremely stiff painful fingers along with slow reactions, Parkinson's and I were going to have a tough time catching this unexpected visitor. I grabbed an empty clear plastic box and placed it over the unsuspecting centipede, only then realising how fast they can move as it struggled to escape its confinement. Great! now what was I supposed to do? I had no way of getting on the lid. I took a saucepan that was drying next to the sink, and for weight put it on top of the box, lest my captive should escape. Finding a stiff piece of plastic packaging in the bin, it made for a perfect solution, as I carefully slid it under the container, all the while the centipede wriggling and moving at great speed frantically trying to escape. Holding tightly the plastic sheet in place I was able to turn the box up and place the lid on top, sliding the plastic away. Now safely sealed inside the box, still no one was up to see the antics going on in my kitchen, and how despite having Parkinson's I had managed to capture the centipede alive. Why is no one ever around when these things happen? It's like watching someone commit a traffic offence when there's not a policeman in sight. Well after all this excitement, and it's not even 07:00, I think I will put the kettle on and make a hot drink. I hope your day starts "centipede free"!