"Camel Spider/Tarantula" ???

[Missy Cricket]

Hey everyone. I hope I don't get laughed out of the forum for this, but has anyone ever heard of a "Camel Spider"? A guy I know says his brother, who is currently stationed in Iraq with the military, says that they're for real--and he says that the body length alone can be over 12 inches. He has a picture, and I can't tell if it's real or some joke, and some soldiers are holding this enormous spider--it looks to be at least 18" in legspan without being fully extended. Lord knows he's not the brightest guy, but I told him I'd find out if it's just someone pulling his leg...
Thanks, and I feel dumb just for asking....

 

[Malkavian]

Is the pic referenced here the thing you're talking about? If so, the picture is extremely misleading due to the foreshortening effect of not being able to see the ground. Read through the thread for some discussion on how big the spider most actuallly is (hint: Look at the size of the hand and sleeve cuff that's right above it)

 

[Missy Cricket]

yes, yes. that's it. now I feel like a total moron. I guess that's what I get for not using the search tool! Thanks!

 

[Fenris]

I got 2 emails within an hour of each other about this. These internet rumors spread so quickly...

 

[Jeri]

On the American Tarantula Society's home page (http://www.atshq.org/) there is a link to spider myths. If you look there you find details about the "Camel Spider" story.

Jeri

 

[Mendi]

Try this page, here, just a few questions down, or up, depending on new posts

You thought T blondi's were big!

I do this myself, but I tend to post uncanny, almost the exact same thing type posts, Then I feel weird and unoriginal, a copycat... One of tha dangers in the skimming in forums. I'm talking about me and not meaning the camel spoder question as the tag line would never give any clue to the content. I'm speaking of an incident I did recently in the Not so Spineless area. I had found an old FDD of pictures I took at the zoo in DC, didn't really look at anything in that board and Immortal_sin had a posted not but 3 post down her zoo trip... Strange, or either were on the same wave lenght some 2000 miles away whispering "post zoo pics... post the zoo... " :?

Strange