millipedes

hi, a friend of mine has just moved in to a new estate and it is plagued by milipedes,there are literally thousands of them coming from the ground every evening and climbing up his and his neighbours house walls,he understands that they multiply a great rate ,anybody with a suggestion on how to get rid of them would be appreciated,thank you.

Ant powder does the trick.

Put down a perimeter of ant powder on the ground very close to the bottom of the walls of the house (so the rain won't wash it away) and it will kill them when they try to go up the walls. You can also squirt the powder into any millipede nests and that gets rid of a good few of them as well. I'm told boiling water will also kill them on the spot, but it's a once-off obviously. You can also get a liquid spray (looks like a kitchen spray bottle), whcih can be used to spray on windowsills, etc. and and other points of entry. This will keep them from coming into the house, they're horrible looking things although they are harmless.

Millipedes feed on leaf debris, etc., so make sure the area around the house is free from any organic matter like that.

Seems a new phenomenon though. Can't ever remember seeing them in those numbers when i was growing up. Any particular reason for their reasonably recent appearance?

I dont ever remember seeing them either and I have the same problem at the moment. They are all over the porch and walls at the front of the house.