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GIANT (high definition) image of the giant "camel spiders"Dean's World
Defending the liberal tradition in history, science, and philosophy.
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Spooky, spooky and trying to calm down and get myself together! Ha, ha, ha, Oh my...trying to catch my breath and put my little table back together!
Right at the exact moment I looked at the picture of the camel spider, I mean the EXACT moment while leaning forward & creeping out at that horrible picture of that gigantic spider,...My cat, Mr. Pips that sits at the top of my recliner moved his golden tan tail right across my shoulder! HOLY SH*T!...I JUMPED OUT OF MY LAZY BOY RECLINER FASTER THAN A SPEEDING BULLET AND SCREAMED MY BLOODY HEAD OFF!!! JESUS, LORD HAVE MERCY! Pant, pant, gasping ...picking my heart off the ground as well as all the papers that were on my little lap top table and what not that flew in the air!!!
I am a single woman and I live alone...MAN, I need a double shot of JACK! Shit, excuse me. The darn cats tail swishing over me! Any minute now I expect the neighbors to call the police!
Damn, now I will be up all night and there ain't any liquor stores open!
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1. The pic is of soldiers, not marines, holding the CS. The easiest way to tell, marines have a crossed rifle on the enlisted rank.
2. I was told that the Camel Spider is a blood sucker and that in the previous Gulf War, the CS ate a soldiers nose while he slept. I don't know how true that is [I was also told that Baghdad would be ground zero for a suicidal dictator].
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With this picture, without being able to see the symbol inside the stripes clearly, it's impossible to determine whether it is Army or Marines from the insignia.
However, the Marines adopted the digitized camo pattern for both Desert and Woodland back in January of 2002. I'm going to guess that everyone in the Marines has the new Marine Corps desert uniforms by now, so the camo pattern would then indicate it is, in fact, a soldier.
Air Force servicemembers wear the same 3-color desert pattern as the Army, but the rank insignia is worn differently.
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The spider is sitting on the lens of the camera, which is why it looks huge. I've had to deal with camel spiders for over 20 years, in Iraq, Saudi, Kuwait, Syria. They can bite, they're not poisonous--though the bites can become infected easily--and they jump like SOBs. But they're hardly worth getting your knickers in a twist...
Juke's got it. I would add a couple of other points, based on my experience with photography of models:
1. The camera is one that allows manual override of the focus.
2. The photographer has the focal length at f/22 or higher -- and may have a magnifying filter on the lens.
The trick is to get the small object close to the lens, focus on the small object, and rack the focal length as high as you can. A high f/ number means that you are focused over a long distance -- in this case about 3 feet. But you have problems doing this with an autofocus camera.
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The pic seems to show 2 of the wee beasties in a mating clasp. I think the male is on the bottom. The curiously shaped white pieces dangling from its abdomen appear to be sperm packets. Just saves that much more time for Tim the Soldier. :)
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The picture shows a U.S. Army First Sergeant. The army insignia for that rank is very similar for the USMC First Sergeant rank, but the Marines don't wear the U.S. flag patch on their uniforms. The Marines do wear spiffy digitized camo, but they are also authorized (and do wear) the same pattern as the Army and Air Force as well. I'm stationed near Baghdad, and I have yet to see any of these creatures, but it's still fairly cool here. Frankly, we concern ourselves more about other threats than a few large non-venomous spiders, but that's just me.
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Enlisted ranks are different for all of our Armed Forces. The rank of 1st Sgt is very similar between the USMC and the USA both have 3 stripes up and 3 stripes down with a diamond in the center. Marines use metal chevrons on cammies Soldiers use a cloth type that are sewn on the collar. Looking closely at this picture I see that the chevrons are cloth and not metal. I also agree with Nathan that these are soldiers because of what he stated about the cammie pattern. On the spiders this is a spoof in that Camel Spiders do no get as big as this picture suggests. http://home.global.co.za/~quagga/solpugid.htm
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Okay...
1) That IS an army uniform
2) Camel spiders are NOT poisonous, they do NOT have venom, and they do not usually bother humans aside from hiding in (or attacking) their shadows.
3) That IS the actual size of them - the camera itself has not altered the picture. In fact, they can grow from an adult size of three inches long to one foot long - and that's the body size. And yes, they are mating in the picture.
4) They do bite. It hurts. You will not die from it, but you will need medical attention to prevent infection (which you can die from).
5) Camel Spiders love the shadows - THAT is why military personnel have been finding them in their tents - during the day in the desert, it's the only shady place to be.
6) They normally do only eat lizards, spiders, crickets and whatknot, but they ALSO latch onto camel stomachs (hence their name) and eat. Camel intestines do not fall out, but the CS's do get a nice meal.
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WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?!? I recently retired from the Army and was in Desert Shield, Desert Storm and the Liberation of Kuwait. I stumbled upon this page and can't beleave some of your comments.
1. That is the actual size !
2. They WILL chase you..Trust me I know, and it wasn't in my shadow. or running for my shadow. It was chaseing ME.
3. Yes, we would fight them against scorpions, they would win every time. You can hear them crunch as they eat the scorpions.
4. The rank is CLEARLY Army 1SG rank!!If you don't know what your talking about then please keep your yap shut.
5. I don't have many fears but the CS is CLEARLY one I will not forget....Harmless??There mouth is huge and it CRUNCHES scorpions??Sound HARMLESS to you?
6. They DO jump, a couple of feet if they want to, seenimes
7. Nobody I know nor myself had been bitten by one..but I still don't like them..
8. You can NOT cap off rounds into a spider!!All ammnition is accounted for for ROW (Rules Of Engagement) dictate when you can shoot. You can NOT cap off whenever you please and you better have a Damb good reason.
Ok, sorry. Sometimes I get a little carried away but it really ticks me off when people talk about something they know NOTHING about like they are an expert.I am all for free speech and public opinion.
Peace, Love and Happiness
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I think the people are right that the size is a little deceiving. You look at it for the first time and you think they're almost as big as your legs. If you look carefully though you can see that they're being held up with pliers and the hand is right next to them. In reality I think these particular creatures aren't that much larger than a human hand.
haha all i know i hate spiders either way it can be an inch or a foot ill F*****G kill it no matter what screw the ammunition policy i think its a damn good reason to shoot a giant spider exspecially if it is chaseing you or in my tent. and also they get mad at you for the ammo then maybe they will send me home for not paying attention to the rules but either way that spider would be gonzo
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Just got back from Iraq, myself... Funny CS story...
It was about 10pm, just got out of our "field shower" walking across the desert in my shorts and shower shoes (flip-flops). Start chatting with a few bud's while nervously moving the flashlight around my feet. I'd never seen one either until this night, but the pic's and war stories were enough to keep me on edge (surely you understand).
There he was!!! moving ever so quickly, just a few feet away. We all start screaming like schoolgirls and trying to keep our lights on this moving target that is perfectly camofluaged to the desert floor. We were either too close for comfort or too far away to keep him in sight. Do I run and hide? Do I "dispose" of this menace? It was like a horror movie, but funnier. In a fit of passionate rage I lung forward and stomp the fella into the ground. Whew! Now anyone who's been there knows the ground isn't sand, it's extremely fine dirt. Like talcom powder. I'm wearing flip-flops and I just stomped on a spider, the likes I'd never known... A cloud of dust forms up to my knee and all below disappears. That's when the cold reality of fear came upon me and I jogged (come on, folks! I'm trying to keep my dignity here) back to my tent and put my boots back on.
...never did know if I got him!
He was about the same size as my shower shoe, that's a size 14, in case the ladies are wondering ;).
As you can hear in the audio link below, this man who protested the Vietnam War and whose party has defined patriotism as requiring dissent, grumbled, "Obviously some young Republicans proving that they are very rude and they have no manners." Oh, the power, my friends! I am paralyzed here with how impressed I am by his retort. Why, what a way to shut them down! Not only calling them "rude" but "very rude!" This is so pathetic!
