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

[fatima]

---

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.

[HopeandGlory]

Good morning Troops, Veterans and Canteeners.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Our Flag Flying Proudly One Nation Under God

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Lord, Please Bless Our Troops, they're fighting for our Freedom.

Prayers going up.

[AZamericonnie]

chemical warfare

Does that mean pulling out the hairspray??? LOL

Good evening Allegra. Hope your enjoying your leave & your furbabies!

[AndrewC]

It wasn't as big as the one in that picture (which several friends delighted in sending me back then), but it was pretty darn big.

Some of my fellow employees, captured one in a non-disclosable location somewhere in that part of the world. He(?) was "enlisted" into the pugilistic arts. He was called Jeffery Dahmer, because of his championship gustatory proclivities. His single loss came to the entomologists who frowned upon the practice.

[AZamericonnie]

The wife calls me to get rid of one these things and I'm bailing.

ROFLOL!

[fatima]

Hi Connie,Here's a true story.
Dec 24th, 2005
I am a desert storm vet and had an unfortunate run in with one of these things in 1991. Anyway, this is my short story. . . We were in Saudi Arabia about ½ an hour from the Iraq border. It was just after the ground war and we were on a forward mission to setup tents for the rest of our company who were still in Iraq. I was sitting on my cot and had moved a box containing food when one of these things scampered out between my legs, just inches from my hand. Having never seen something like this before I overreacted a little bit. I screamed like a little girl, flung back my body, and tumbled head over heals to ground. As the rest of the tent laughed at me, one of my buddies said “there it goes” and it disappeared under the side of the tent. Those little buggers blend in real well with the desert sand. We never saw another one in the area and I was really glad. To my recollection, it was only 8 to 10 inches long, moved quickly, and never made any screaming sounds. I was the one making the screaming sound. It sure did scary the heck out of me but it was just as scared of me as I was of it.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Thanks for today's thread!

[fatima]

Thank you Tonk.:)

[tomkow6]

mINE?

[tomkow6]

mINE?

[tomkow6]

ME

[AZamericonnie]

Evening Miss Hope....hand over heart & prayers up!

[fatima]

Thank you HopeandGlory.

[DoughtyOne]

YyyyyyyyYYYYYyyyyyyyYYYYYYyyyyyyYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyikes!

LOL, if it's true, I don't want to know.

I would tend to believe that it isn't.

What a story.

[DoughtyOne]

...a bushel basket maybe.

[DoughtyOne]

Hey! This is serious. Heh heh heh...

[fatima]

They wrote it to win a T Shirt:)Hehe

[Allegra]

He(?) was "enlisted" into the pugilistic arts. He was called Jeffery Dahmer, because of his championship gustatory proclivities.

Eeeeewwwww!! He ATE a camel spider?

[Allegra]

I was sitting on my cot and had moved a box containing food when one of these things scampered out between my legs, just inches from my hand. Having never seen something like this before I overreacted a little bit. I screamed like a little girl, flung back my body, and tumbled head over heals to ground.

Ah...so you've had a run-in with one, too. LOL

Thank you for your service!

[shezza]

Wow, what an interesting collection of photos for today's thread! (The camel spider did, however, make me shudder. Brrrrrrr!)

Darling husband never saw a camel spider while in Iraq, but they all got into the habit of shaking the boots upside down before putting them on in the mornings. He did experience a few of those ferocious-looking sandstorms, however.

May the Lord bless and protect our brave troops. Each and every day, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

[luvie]

Wow, Fatima...that is a buncha strange stuff. Ick on the spiders. I think our tarantulas are quite big enough, thand you very much! LOL!

Thanks for opening the Canteen for us tonight, sweetie! (((hugs)))