You open the garage the morning after a big storm and find them everywhere — dozens of millipedes, many curled into little spirals, along the walls and floor. It’s startling, but it’s a completely normal Tallahassee wet-season event, and understanding it tells you exactly how to stop it.
Why they invade after rain
Millipedes live in moist soil, mulch, leaf litter and under logs and rocks. When heavy rain saturates the ground, it drives them out en masse, and they migrate to higher, drier shelter — which often means your foundation, garage and lower walls. (Oddly, a hard dry spell can trigger the same migration as they search for moisture.) In Tallahassee’s downpour-heavy wet season, these mass movements happen again and again.
Are they harmful?
No. Millipedes don’t bite, sting, or damage your home, and they can’t survive long indoors — your dry, air-conditioned air kills them within a day or two. They may secrete a harmless (if smelly) defensive fluid if handled. They’re purely a nuisance invader. The fast-moving ones with fewer legs are centipedes, which are predators and can pinch if provoked — see our millipede & centipede control page.
Why spraying inside doesn’t help: the millipedes in your garage will die on their own within a day or two — they can’t live in your dry indoor air. Fogging the garage does nothing about the next wave. Stopping that means treating and sealing the perimeter.
How to keep them out
Because they come from outside, it’s an exterior perimeter and exclusion job:
- Seal entry points — the garage door seal (the #1 route), gaps under doors, weep holes, and foundation cracks.
- Pull mulch and leaf litter back from the foundation, and improve drainage so the soil against the house isn’t constantly saturated.
- Reduce moisture and harborage — logs, stones, dense ground cover against the wall.
- Maintain a treated perimeter so the barrier is already in place when the next storm drives them toward the house.
Quick answers
Why do millipedes come inside when it rains?
Heavy rain floods the soil where they live, driving them to higher, drier shelter — often your garage and foundation. It’s a mass migration, not an infestation of your home.
Should I spray them indoors?
No need — they die indoors on their own within a day or two. The fix is sealing and treating the perimeter so the next wave stays outside.
Are millipedes dangerous?
No — they don’t bite or damage your home. Centipedes (faster, fewer legs) can pinch if handled but aren’t aggressive.
Finding waves of them after every storm? Book a free inspection and we’ll treat the perimeter and seal the gaps.
Dealing with this pest right now?
See our pest control services in Tallahassee and pest control prices in Tallahassee. A free inspection identifies the pest, the entry points and an exact quote — in writing, with no obligation.
