Touch 'Em All: The 'EWWWW!' Factor [GIANT "camel spiders" menace our troops in Iraq]

TheWBALChannel.com ^ | April 9, 2004 | Larry Frum, Jr., Managing Editor

[RonDog]

"Soldiers over in Iraq are fighting off more than the bad guys. They've got to deal with these huge spiders that look more like space creatures than anything we normally see in the U.S. They are called camel spiders and, boy, are they nasty looking! There is a site that has an article about them from one of the soldiers over in Iraq. Check it out here: (http://www.thewbalchannel.com/news/2988974/detail.html) Somebody get me the bug spray!!"

[TEXOKIE]

errata *blush*

"I big red one" should read "A big red one!"

oops

[Mudboy Slim]

"I am a paramedic and I once got called to a poor man who got bit by a scorpion on the testicle."

Sounds like a Richard Gere wanna-be...MUD

[Libertina]

In reality, camel spiders aren't some mysterious Arabian creature -- we have them in the United States and in Mexico, where they are called matevenados. They are slightly smaller than the human hand
I thought the EEEEwwww in the title was a joke until I saw the picture and let out a big EEEEEEwwww! I STILL feel like I have the creeps and a spider "slightly" smaller than the human HAND is plenty big enough for me, thank you very much! LOL

[R. Scott]

My words at the time - exactly!

[R. Scott]

Great! Another scorpion eating spider!
Keep munching!

[RonDog]

Why do I have visions of The Return of the King?

There is a wonderful image Sam and Frodo fighting that "giant spider" from "Lord of the Rings" here:

'Shelob's lair'

[Long Cut]

You forgot something...Shelob had a mother...

...UNGOLIANT. That's her, conferring with Sauron's former boss, Morgoth.

[Long Cut]

nd another nice family portrait of "The mother of all Spiders"...

[gitmo]

From Urban Legends:

Camel Spiders Found in Iraq

---

Netlore Archive: Emailed photo taken by U.S. soldiers stationed in Iraq show a pair of huge, scary-looking arachnids called camel spiders

Subject: FW: Camel Spider found in Iraq--This is a huge spider!!!!

Yuck. I sure am glad we don't have these here. Although we probably will after this war.....

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), these bastards 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.



Comments: The photo appears to be authentic. Fortunately for all of us, especially the guys in the picture, the same cannot be said of the accompanying text, which merely repeats false rumors circulating since the start of the Iraq war.

This scary-looking creature (actually, it's a pair of scary-looking creatures dangling end-to-end) is indeed commonly called a camel spider, but it is found in arid locales all over the world — including the southwestern United States — not just in the Gulf region. A typical specimen can grow to about the size of a child's hand, but, though they are known for being vicious predators (see video), camel spiders are neither venomous nor a threat to human beings.

They don't eat camels, either.

[uglybiker]

I heard that these critters inject a type of pain killer/numbing agent when they feed, so the victim can't feel anything.

It's BS. They eat their prey live.

They're all over the place here in Az. (albeit a tad smaller...and we call 'em sun siders).

Fugly little monsters but they eat bugs so I don't bother 'em.

[RonDog]

Thanks, gitmo!

And, here is the LINK to that article:

http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_camel_spider.htm

[wimpycat]

Some guy shooting at you is no big deal, but a gret big whopping spider? That's something to make you scream like a little girl. Yes, I can totally understand that. EWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

[RonDog]

LOL!

See also, from http://www.gateworld.net/fanfic/archive/10/desertoperations.html:

"...I wondered across the compound, heading for my assigned living quarters, when movement caught my eye. I stopped walking; the movement ceased. I took a couple of steps; more movement out of the corner of my eye. A couple of fast steps, walking backwards, and I could see them; six large spiders following my every move. It's a very eerie feeling, being chased by four-inch spider like creatures. The camel spider is not really a spider but a solifugids - kind of a cross between a spider and a scorpion. I tried to remind myself that, like most creatures, they prefer to hide from me, rather than attack me. Hard to remember when you are being chased by one (or more) of them!!

I watched them follow me as I continued walking backwards. They are very fast - capable of traveling up to 10 mph when hunting for prey - however, in this case, they were simply following my shadow. As I moved, so followed my shadow, giving the spider camel the appearance of chasing after me.

Finally arriving at my quarters I set my gear down on the cot, grateful that I didn't have to sleep on the ground tonight..."

[RonDog]

Fugly little monsters but they eat bugs so I don't bother 'em.

I suppose that "little" is a RELATIVE term. :o)

See also, from http://unpa.org/news-operation-iraqi-freedom.htm:

Camel spider
(Click on thumbnail for a LARGER image)

[uglybiker]

The biggest ones around my house are only about 2 inches across.

[texasflower]

I will resist the temptation to share the story from 24 years ago when I came home very drunk and fell forward into a large cactus next to the front door.

I pulled the thorns out of a certain area of my body for two excruciating hours.

What, you plan to say something like that and not tell the whole story?

That's just mean....(she says through her tears.... :)

[An American in Turkiye]

I had the pleasure of living with camel spiders while deployed to Saudi Arabia. I woke up with one scurrying on my chest. I swatted it with my hand and when it hit my nightstand, it sounded like I threw a bar of soap. I'll never forget the sound of it running away. I could hear it's feet on the wooden floor.

[texasflower]

That was really interesting information about the Arizona desert life.

Thank you for taking the time to post it!

[texasflower]

At what point did he shoot himself to dull the pain?

If I hadn't been able to give him morphine, he just might have done that!

It made kidney stones look like good times.

[tortoise]

That was really interesting information about the Arizona desert life. Thank you for taking the time to post it!

You are most welcome. When I was younger, I spent quite a lot of time out in the southwestern deserts and became well-acquainted with the various flora and fauna of those areas. These days I'm too old, too busy, and too far from the wilderness to get out there much, but I enjoyed it when I did. I always had an outdoorsy streak in me. :-)