gemanintly..
What does that mean Tas.:)
Sept 27, 2005
I have read the stories about camel spiders with interest. I grew up in South Africa, and have encountered thousands of these creatures. They are very scary indeed.
In South Africa they are called Roman Spiders or Hair Shaving Spiders. They are very aggressive when bothered, but I do not hear of bites very often.
What makes them very scary is that they are so fast. They are also very keen to get out of the hot sun, and when you encounter them in a field where there are no shade, they will pursue your shadow, scaring the living daylights out of you in the process. They will however stop and stay in your shadow when you stop.
The reason why they are called Hair Shaving Spiders is creepy. They will neatly chew of a piece of your hair with their scissor-like jaws while you are asleep. They then use it to line their nests. They bite the hair off very close to the skin. therefore it appears like a rough shave. If they bite it is very painful, but they have no venom and it heals quickly.
Arnold Meyer
Pretoria
South Africa