Posted by axxxr
The photo below reportedly comes from a soldier, stationed in Baghdad, who was bitten by a camel spider that was hiding in his sleeping bag. Fortunately, these critters aren't venomous... but they're BIG and FAST (they can run around 10MPH). The photo shows two spiders attached together, and the camera angle makes them look a tad larger than they really are (they're about the size of an adult's hand). They also tend to seek out shade during the daytime, so it's not terribly unusual to see them charging across the desert at you -- only to come to a screeching halt when they reach your shadow..Reminds me of that Face hugger from Alien.
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Handset Show [ This Message was edited by: axxxr on 2004-06-24 01:57 ]
Posted by MTNT68i
Naassty......
Posted by marceta
wtf, thats gotta be photoshop! I thought that largest spider was in the Amazon and like half that things size!
Posted by soichiro
looks like they're mating!
at least thats how it seems, until the trooper spoilt their party!
Posted by buluayam
Looks like these buggers do exist, but is the picture real?
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http://www.snopes.com/photos/bugs/camelspider.asp
And for WAP users :
Camel Spider
Claim: Photograph shows camel spiders found in Iraq.
Status: Undetermined.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2004]
From someone stationed in Baghdad. He was recently bitten by a camel spider which was hiding in his sleeping bag. I thought you'd like to see what a camel spider looks like. It'll give you a better idea of what our troops are dealing with. Enclosed is a picture of his friend holding up two spiders. Warning: not for the squeamish!
This picture is a perfect example of why you don't want to go to the desert. These are 2 of the biggest I've ever seen. With a vertical leap that would make a pro basketball player weep with envy (they have to be able to jump up on to a camels stomach after all), they latch on and inject you with a local anesthesia so you can't feel it feeding on you. They eat flesh, not just suck out your juices like a normal spider. I'm gona be having night mares after seeing this photo!
(Click to enlarge)
Origins: It's hard enough for those serving in our country's armed forces to be sent halfway around the world, away from home and family. It's even worse to be stationed in some bleak desert outpost. But nobody should have to deal with creepy-crawlies the size of small cats in the bargain! We don't yet know the origin of this photo or what it's supposed to depict, other than to note that the picture is generally circulated with text proclaiming it to be an image of some U.S. soldiers with camel spiders.
Camel spiders, also known as wind spiders, wind scorpions, and sun scorpions, are a type of arthropod found (among other places) in the deserts of the Middle East. They're technically not spiders but solifugae (although, like spiders, they belong to the class Arachnida). Camel spiders are the subject of a variety of legendary claims, many of them familiar to Americans because they were spread by U.S. servicemen who served in the Persian Gulf War in 1991, and re-spread at the beginning of the Iraq War in 2003:
Camel spiders can grow to be as large as dinner plates.
Camel spiders can traverse desert sand at speeds up to 25 MPH, making screaming noises as they run.
Camel spiders can jump several feet in the air.
Camel spiders eat the stomachs of camels, hence the name "camel spider." (Legend includes the detail that camel spiders eat camel stomachs from either the outside in or the inside out. In the former case they supposedly jump up from the ground and grab onto camels' bellies from underneath; in the latter case exactly how spiders allegedly as large as dinner plates get into camels' stomachs intact remains unexplained.)
Camel spiders are venomous, and their venom contains a powerful anesthetic that numbs their victims (thus allowing them to gnaw away at living, immobilized animals without being noticed). U.S. soldiers were said to have been attacked by camel spiders at night but remained completely unaware of their plight until they awakened in the morning to find chunks of their flesh missing.
According to most spider experts, these claims are all false. Camel spiders (so named because, like camels, they can be found in sandy desert regions) grow to be moderately large (about a 5" leg span), but nowhere near as large as dinner plates; they can move very quickly in comparison to other arthropods (a top speed of maybe 10 MPH), but nothing close 25 MPH; they make no noise; and they capture prey without the use of either venom or anesthetic. Camel spiders rely on speed, stealth, and the (non-venomous) bite of powerful jaws to feed on small prey such as other arthropods (e.g., scorpions, crickets, pillbugs), lizards, and possibly mice or birds. They use only three pairs of legs in running; the frontmost pair (called pedipalpa) is held aloft and used in a similar manner to the antennae of insects. Camel spiders shun the sun and generally hide during the day, coming out at night to do their hunting.
Although whatever is depicted in the photograph above appears to be far too large for camel spiders, the creatures might just look unusually large because they were held close to the camera, creating an illusion of exaggerated size. However, since we don't know the source of the picture, we can't yet rule out the possibility that some other misdirection was involved (e.g., digital manipulation, a misdescription of what the photograph depicts, some soldiers goofing around with plastic figures or something else spider-shaped, etc.).
Posted by buluayam
I'm not sure which is sadder - some guy writing this article, or that I actually found it and read it...
http://www.starbuilders.org/fft/articles/camel.html
(Sorry for the WAP users, there's lots of pictures in that site so I didn't bother copying the text here - doesn't seem as funny without the pics)
Posted by bahbahsupercar
Whats not to belive!? Now a spider camel would be silly
Posted by SnowBear
Spider !! naaa it got 12 legs dude !!!
[EDIT]
Camel spiders can grow to be as large as dinner plates.
Camel spiders can traverse desert sand at speeds up to 25 MPH, making screaming noises as they run.
Camel spiders can jump several feet in the air.
MOAHHAHAHA thats sounds like BULLSHIT !!!!
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My English Are Bad And For That Im Sorry
[ This Message was edited by: SnowBear on 2004-06-24 15:01 ]
Posted by Guy89
gross...
Posted by bahbahsupercar
Well here in England we have real life minatores.