FReeper Canteen~ Camel Spiders Found in Iraq , Urban Legends and Folklore ~Sept.21,2006

[fatima]

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Camel Spiders Found in Iraq , Urban Legends and Folklore Urban Legends: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 spiders 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, camel spiders are neither venomous nor a threat to human beings. They don't eat camels, either.

World's Tallest Woman Netlore Archive: Emailed photos purport to show the tallest woman in the world Description: Emailed photos Circulating since: 2002 Status: False

The Giant Grizzly Bear Not quite a world record In real life, the big grizzly in the first two photographs measured 10' 6" from nose to tail and weighed an estimated 1,000 to 1,200 pounds — unusually large for the vicinity in which it was found, says the USDA Forest Service, but not quite a world record, nor even a record for Alaska. It was killed on October 14, 2001 by U.S. Air Force Airman Theodore Winnen on Hinchinbrook Island, Prince William Sound. The photos were taken by his hunting partner, Staff Sgt. James Urban. Both were stationed at Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks at the time. Though the bear was within 10 yards of the hunters' position and moving towards them when he fired the first shot, Winnen says, it did not charge them, contrary to what the email claims. "I don't know if the wind was in our favor or what," he told the Anchorage Daily News. "We were dressed in camouflage. He might not have seen us." Winnen's weapon was a 338-caliber Winchester Magnum, not a 7mm semi-automatic as alleged. The first bullet pierced the bear's brain but left it standing; five more in the chest brought it down.

[luvie]

Those storms and the allergies I get from the cotton gins keep me from living there. I really like the town itself.

[StarCMC]

Interesting thread, fatima! *HUGS!*

[fatima]

Well you just catch live bugs and throw them in the web.I have a giant spider web on the window of my truck.My spider is big-have spider-will travel.When I go to pay for gas they have to be careful not to break the web.

[luvie]

Hee-hee..All spiders look that big when you're 'fraid of 'em! :D

[Kathy in Alaska]

wh!!

lauren.....#200!!
fatima.....#250!!

[MEG33]

Great thread, fatima!

[fatima]

You know they are for real.13 year olds.:)

[Kathy in Alaska]

How about a puppy or a kitten or another bird. How is you "playing dead" bird doing to day? "hello!" LOL!

[luvie]

We are never bored by pictures of our soldiers and their support personnel! NEVER!!! :D

[fatima]

(((Hugs)))back StarCMC.

[TASMANIANRED]

I wonder if they hold spider races ..

[fatima]

Hehe.

[Allegra]

Didja keep your skivies in the freezer.

Nah...heat doesn't bother me much. The Iraqis think I'm crazy because I'll go sit out in the heat sometimes to thaw from the A/C.

I hate cold. If it's below 60, I'm shivering. ;-)

[fatima]

Hi Beautiful(((Hugs)))

[StarCMC]

Hey chickie!! How long are ya home for?

[Kathy in Alaska]

Thanks, Mayor, for today's sustenance for body and soul.

[Kathy in Alaska]

Have you gotten to visit your fur babies yet?

[fatima]

She got bored with that.She fell asleep with her head on the bottom of the cage standing up.I asked her what she was doing and she said "Hello"and laugh.
This next story comes to us from a former British soldier.
Dear Sir,
It is with extreme interest that I read your website and its contents. Although I do not disagree with you about the myths and fables told about the camel spider, I ask you to consider the shock experienced by anyone being awakened at night by one of these creatures. In fact, the reason for my contacting you is to tell you a story.
In 1968/69 as a British soldier I spent a 9 month tour of duty in The Arabian Gulf (Bahrein, Oman, Sharjah). As part of a joint British Army/Trucial Oman Scouts group we set up a tented camp in Oman. One morning a Grenadier Guards sergeant (6feet 4inches of pure muscle) received the hock of his life and fainted from that shock when a camel spider dropped from the roof of the mess tent right into his breakfast!
As I said earlier we all heard the stories of anaesthetization before ingestation, but I wonder how many hundreds of years those tales have been in existence?

Yours sincerely
ex-sergeant

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[fatima]

They play with them.Karen said when they got bored they would burn them.

[TASMANIANRED]

You must be a Texan...