Scary Spiders

image If spiders scare you, then definitely look no closer at this picture of some spiders that a soldier in Iraq found in his sleeping bag. Yes, despite their size and ugliness, they're real. They're Camel Spiders.

Animals Photos

Posted on Thu Apr 08, 2004



Comments

Real spider, yes... real size, no! Look in the righthand corner of the page. You can see the sleeve of someone's arm. They're holding two real camel spiders close to the camera lens, with a friend standing in the background to give the illusion of huge size. Camel spiders only reach a leg span of 5 inches. Pretty big, but not Eight-Legged Freaks-type material.
Posted by Vincent  on  Thu Apr 08, 2004  at  12:51 PM
Well, yeah. They're holding the spiders close to the camera, but they're not photoshopped.
Posted by The Curator  in  San Diego  on  Thu Apr 08, 2004  at  01:00 PM
Oh sick. *barfs*
Posted by Jules  on  Thu Apr 08, 2004  at  03:48 PM
Ah: the subject of various urban legends. The amusing thing is that they appear to chase people - when what they're actually doing is chasing your shadow to find a place out of the sun (hence their biological name, solifugids).
Posted by Ray  on  Sun Apr 11, 2004  at  02:49 PM
Theyr still f*cking huge!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by George  on  Fri Jun 18, 2004  at  06:11 AM
I saw a National Geographic article about these things while at the dentist just last week (I know I'm really late in responding, but I JUST discovered this site) Apparently these dealies aren't true spiders, just an obscure arachnid named for its humped profile 〈because of it's freakishly huge fangs〉

Not that a whole lotta people care...
Posted by Tony  on  Thu Aug 05, 2004  at  12:40 PM
Yikes nevertheless...gross to say the least.
Posted by Evey  on  Wed Oct 06, 2004  at  03:02 AM
Ok,apparently this image has circulated in emails,and is not faked,but exaggerated(do a google search and see).The spider is no bigger than a child
Posted by Evey  on  Wed Oct 06, 2004  at  05:49 AM
That f**cking thing is huge, its the biggest spider ... i dont think u wana mess with it.
Posted by Max  on  Fri Nov 26, 2004  at  02:07 PM
Hey, i was in Iraq, and that is a real picture. Those things do get huge, but don't eat human flesh, or lay eggs inside you or anything like that. Oh, and they don't scream. They are just big, ugly, and fast.
Posted by Mark  on  Sun Nov 28, 2004  at  06:34 AM
This picture is real. In fact it belongs to my moms boyfriend who served year in Iraq. This picture was not intended to be spread on the internet, just one he sent to my mom and other people he knows. The first time I saw this pic outside of my home when I was watchin Jay Leno and a zoo lady brought some animal guests that included these gross bugs. More related to scorpions than spiders... The picture is actually TWO of themconnected at the fangs in some sort of fight. The lady who was a guest on Jay Leno demonstrated i exactly as the photo shows.... she picked one up by a leg while it was fghting with another one and it held on with its fangs. Anyway the man with the boots in the photo is my moms boyfriend and he is standing far away from the camera (lol) just in case the camel spiders are accedentally dropped. If the entire context of the origonal email set to my mom traveled with the pic, people wouldnt get so worked up about it and be so quik to call it a hoax. All it is is an odd camea angel. Besides, do people really fuckin think that our soldiers in Iraq have the fuckin time to come up with meaningless shit like that? For crying out loud, when soldirs arrive in Iraq they are given a warning to check for camel spiders in there bedding and clothing before use. They literaly do have fangs the size of cat claws and I dare anyone to let one bite them. Hmm. Glad this website found out it's not a hoax.
Posted by Stephanie  on  Thu Dec 16, 2004  at  08:00 AM
Also, at the tip of the fangs are pinchers(ya, like a rab claw)! Go ahead, do a search on "camel spiders". Find a nice big clear photo of one and prepare to be horrified. Our soldiers have to deal with these things everyday. I certainly wouldn't wanna slip my foot into a boot knowing one of these could be around...
Posted by Stephanie  on  Thu Dec 16, 2004  at  08:06 AM
Let me correct myself.. They arent connected at the fangs.... The one on bottom is chewing on the ass of the one on top.
Posted by Stephanie  on  Thu Dec 16, 2004  at  08:09 AM
any more like you at home stephanie?
Posted by Darren  on  Thu Feb 17, 2005  at  05:45 AM
What is that supposed to mean?
Posted by Stephanie  on  Fri Feb 18, 2005  at  03:18 PM
that's cool they have the whole "rab claw" thing goin on. definitely all about the "rab claw". my friend has a "camel spider", he feeds it grasshoppers. I don't know about the numbing part of when it bites you, as i won't touch his "camel spier". he won't either, but if you live near where i live, and would like one to bite you, just ask.
Posted by Will  on  Sat Feb 26, 2005  at  11:58 AM
There is no way on earth that a spider can get that big! I mean seriously how many people are going to belive that !Plus i read up on them and unless they are mutated or something there is no way they are going to get that big!
Posted by Ashley Brothers  on  Thu Apr 28, 2005  at  01:08 PM
i looked this up when i saw it its acsully prat of the scorpian family but not a spider yes it has 8 legs but its not one do a google serch and see but there really is a camel spider but there not that big by no means!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by heather  on  Fri May 13, 2005  at  01:19 PM
WOULD YOU PEOPLE LOOK AT THE WHOLE DAMN PICTURE INSTEAD OF THE $@#^%!* SPIDER?!! I SAID it was an odd camera angle. Look at the right side of the pic and you see the SLEEVE of the person HOLDING IT!!! Doesn't look so big and HOAXy now does it. People only see what they want to see and quikly judge. had ANYONE EVER LOOKED AT THE ENTIRE PHOTO this wouldnt have been put on this website to begin with. Thanks alot for thinking our soldiers are a bunch of imature kids like yourselves!
Posted by Steph  on  Sat May 14, 2005  at  02:05 PM
Everyone here says things about how scary they are how about switching places with me and having the thought of being sent over there to be around those creepy little bastards.
Posted by kelly dodds  on  Mon May 23, 2005  at  10:26 PM
In 1967, I was a young British soldier on duty at an ammunition sub depot in Aden (S.Arabia). We did two x two hour stints on searchlight duty with four hours to rest. During my rest period, I fell asleep and was bitten by a camel spider. I took such a bad reaction to the bite, that I ended up in Khormaksar Hospital for two weeks. After that incident, I found it to be a wee bit problematic to fall asleep knowing that I might be sharing nap time once again with one of those aggressive spiders.
Posted by John Thomson  on  Sat Sep 24, 2005  at  07:04 PM
:cheese: how are u people doing on this fine day?
Posted by megan  on  Mon Nov 28, 2005  at  03:12 PM
by the way the spider is real, but is very close to the camera. look at the person's hand, and then look at the spider! SAME SIZE... DUH! even a two year old would know that!
Posted by megan  on  Mon Nov 28, 2005  at  03:14 PM
What the fuck is wrong with Steph? Don't get so angry about a bloody photo! Oh, & I don't think anyone was trying to insult YOUR soldiers. Can't actually see any comments against YOUR soldiers here.
Learn to fucking spell too.
Nice spidey pic
Posted by hayley  on  Sun Sep 02, 2007  at  09:10 PM
Well personally I think spiders are gross period, so knowing that there are actually spiders that big freaks me out. :coolcheese: Like idk, I mean its only five inches but just imagine waking up to a spider of that size crawling out of your sleeping bag. Talk about heart attack. I'd be dying from one and still running!!! lol
Posted by Aden Kirsch  on  Wed Dec 12, 2007  at  01:03 PM
it's horroble
Posted by paola  on  Sun Jun 08, 2008  at  10:16 AM
I HATE spiders mostley the one that are HUGE ive had two balck widows in my house. MAN I REALLY HATE SPIDERS
Posted by erin murphy  on  Sun Jun 08, 2008  at  07:51 PM
These are REAL people!! Just ask any Soldier over in Iraq! Some of these do get to be about 8-10 inches long. Most are about 4-6 inches in length. And these 'spiders' are VERY mean. They can jump...to about knee high to an adult male. Some can even jump higher. Also to be noted about this picture....those are 2 camel spiders. The lower one is "attached" to the top one.
Posted by Julie  on  Sat Aug 30, 2008  at  04:41 PM
I understand the fact that people think that they're huge, but there is no reason for alarm.
With the two soldiers and the spiders, for one, he was holding two. And two, he placed his friends at such an angle that to the eye on a computer screen they look freaking huge. If you were to see them where we are, they would be a big spider, but not a "freak of nature"
If we lived there, I'm sure we would get used to it like we get used to the spiders in our own living space.
-Layla
Posted by Layla Purtlebaugh  on  Mon Sep 22, 2008  at  11:49 AM
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