Afraid of little bitty spiders? IRAQ

[Bruce Page]

This is from someone stationed in Baghdad. He was recently bitten by a camel spider which was hiding in his sleeping bag. I thought you'd like to see what a camel spider looks like.
It'll give you a better idea of what our troops are dealing with.
Enclosed is a picture of his friend holding up two spiders.

[Don Abele]

Bruce, I recently attended a medical conference where we talked about a lot of the stuff going on in the middle east. This issue came up, including this very photo. Here's what I cut and pasted from the info they presented:

"Camel spiders are one of the fastest running arthropods. Although they have four pairs of legs, they run using only three pairs. The first pair of legs or pedipalpi are held up in front of them and used in a similar manner to the antennae of insects. They have very long, silky setae and are constantly moving in order to locate and pick-up prey. Despite their fearsome appearance and their strong bite, solifugids are unlikely to harm humans. In the past they were considered venomous and extremely dangerous but it is now thought that the only risk of injury resulting from them is caused by shock or infection following a bite. There is no evidence of venom in any part of their body.

Camel spiders are nocturnal predators of other arthropods including scorpions and are voracious feeders. Some species kill and feed on lizards and it is speculated that others kill mice and birds. They rely solely on their speed and stealth to catch their prey. In desert areas they are often attracted to lights at night in search of food and their appearance can cause alarm if they enter tents. It is rare to see them during the winter months and they are thought to hide or hibernate during cold periods."

[Bruce Page]

Doc, that was very interesting, thanks. If I saw one of those creatures sneaking into my tent I'd be changing my shorts for a week! Just the picture alone gives me the creeps.

[Joe Suelter]

Geez, not a good post to read right before bedtime!! I absolutely HATE spiders, of any kind! I can deal with snakes and cock-roaches, but spiders freak me out. Man, I feel for our guys over there! Perhaps we should start turning them some spears out of wood, so they can harpoon all those nasty looking creatures!!! FreedomSpears.org?

[Dennis Peacock]

Geez, not a good post to read right before bedtime!! I absolutely HATE spiders, of any kind! I can deal with snakes and cock-roaches, but spiders freak me out. Man, I feel for our guys over there! Perhaps we should start turning them some spears out of wood, so they can harpoon all those nasty looking creatures!!! FreedomSpears.org?

<b>I'm with you Joe.!!! I HATE Spiders!!!</b> I will pick up snakes, mice and other related varmits....but you put a spider near me and I will <i>stomp that thing into oblivian!!!!!!!!</i>

[Julie Wright]

That Picture scared the ($*~`#&$) well you know I HATE SPIDERS TOO, and those BIG boys need to stay over there!!! Maybe we should be sending 2x4's instead of pens so the troops have a fighting chance with those pesty BIG BUGGERS !!!


WHEW !!!!! RUN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Diane Darwesh]

I will have to triple Julies "Yikes Yikes Yikes"
I have never seen a spider like that here in Israel and I hope I never do!!!!

[Ken Garlock]

I showed this thread to a friend that had spent a couple years padding his retirement in Saudi Arabia. He had never seen anything nearly like the picture. He then sent along the "real story" from snopes:

The real story

The picture was apparently done with trick photography or rubber spiders. The real spider is only about 4" in diameter, about the size of an adult tarantula.

[Chris Padilla]

Ha! It is amazing how gullible we can all be at times! Have a great weekend everyone!

[Bruce Page]

I showed this thread to a friend that had spent a couple years padding his retirement in Saudi Arabia. He had never seen anything nearly like the picture. He then sent along the "real story" from snopes:

The real story

The picture was apparently done with trick photography or rubber spiders. The real spider is only about 4" in diameter, about the size of an adult tarantula.

Ken, this is one time that I'm glad to be duped, although that same article does say "Camel spiders can grow to be as large as dinner plates" and that is plenty big enough to get my attention!!

[Paul Downes]

Those look nasty! I wonder what they feed on, other than soldiers. Though I wouldn't give them much for intelligence for trying to bite a dogface. I wonder how many ways the marines have cooked 'em for dinner.

[Joe Suelter]

I don't care how big they get, I STILL DON"T LIKE THEM!!!!!

[David Klink]

Criminy! I've never had a problems with spiders myself, but that thing right there isn't some little jumping spider I come across in the yard while I beat on the power line to the maibu light to get it to work.

All bets are definitely off with that fellow.

My nephew's around Baghdad doing his 2nd stint in Iraq...Bad enough there are bunch of radical fundamentalists running around. If they're trying to get some rest, one of those suckers might pop up?

[Jason Roehl]

I showed this thread to a friend that had spent a couple years padding his retirement in Saudi Arabia. He had never seen anything nearly like the picture. He then sent along the "real story" from snopes:

The real story

The picture was apparently done with trick photography or rubber spiders. The real spider is only about 4" in diameter, about the size of an adult tarantula.

Good call, Bruce. If you look close at the photo, you see someone's shirtsleeve to the right--presumably the one holding the spiders. A spider that is roughly the diameter of a shirtsleeve is much more believable than what the picture is intended to make you think. I've seen tarantulas and other spiders that were roughly 8" in diameter including legs (not just pics--live, in the wild). They make a mess when you step on them.

[Shawn Oberdorf]

The 1st time I was in Saudi (jun-sep 91), I ran across a camel spider. It was about as big as the ones in the picture appear to be. Had to be dinner plate sized. Well, I didn't like the looks of it, not knowing wtf it was, so I turned and walked away, checking on it as I went. Wouldn't ya know, that SOB was chasing me! It was moving pretty fast too! I know for a fact that they grow em big there. Thank god and everyone else that I haven't seen another one that big.

I have heard about guys getting bitten/eaten by them but I never saw proof.

Shawn