The horrors of war

A friend of mine wrote me an email about a little experience he had in Iraq recently - being bitten by a camel spider that was hiding in his sleeping bag.
Camel spiders, mind you, are just about the ugliest spiders imaginable. They look like something out of a bad horror/sci fi movie.
What's worse is how they move when aggressive. They run. And they run fast. And they raise their front 2 legs in the air, sprinting on the back 6.
We used to have them alot when I lived in Saudi Arabia but this photo he sent me is one of the first I've seen the does the ugliness of these things justice. One of his friends holding up 2 of the bastards.

Imagine waking up in the middle of the night, feeling some movement down at the foot of your sleeping bag. You lift your head and peer down towards your feet. That movement, in turn, panics the spider and so he attacks the source of the motion - your head. Boring down on you at full speed, his two front legs raised high above him in the air, this is what you see:

http://www.slamnasty.com/camelspider.jpg

ho-ly shit! are those things as big as they look, or is perspective making them appear larger?

God damn!

Basschick.. im hoping its perspective personally LOL

Regards,

Lee

From what I remember they only have about a 5-6'' legspan.

So I think that photo's being held pretty close to the camera. I asked my friend about the photo and he said that particular one prolly came from the first Gulf War and has circulated around military folk for awhile because camel spiders are kind of a legend in the military as so many people have been stationed in the desert out there and had experienced with them.

They are that sinister looking, though, and can run in excess of 10mph. In the middle of the night (they're nocturnal) with their 2 front legs high up in the air comin' at ya at 10mph? Who cares how big they are! lol

Oh my freaking god...

See, I'm not afraid of that much... but Spiders being an exception. And I don't think it would ever be possible to ever sleep.. ever.. if I knew there were things like that within a thousand miles of me... in fact, I moved my chair back from my desk about 6 inches when I saw that picture.

And I probably won't sleep tonight.

eesh.

Well if it's any consolation, they're not poisonous hehe.
There was a rumor going awhile back about how they would make a sound like a screaming baby and run like 25-30mph or something crazy like that.
But they don't make noise. Just the patter of their feet while running depending on the grounds surface.
And only 10mph. Their legend has taken off beyond their reality. Ask almost any military guy who has ever been in the middle east and he probably has stories or at least knows about em. :)

Well, it's not much of a consolation, but a bit.

Sorry, I lived in New Mexico when I was a kid, and we were all taught be be afraid of spiders and insects 'cause we had tarantulas and wolf spiders and black widows and scorpions and fire ants and all sorts of things that you dont' want kids picking up.

Now that you all know I have a girly side, I"ll never be able to show my face here again.

Does it change things that I used to have a pet rat?

All I know is if they ever make me go to war I am showing up in 6 inch pumps and my Lee press on nails. There is no way I am going to encounter that shit.:beauty:

A fact sheet on camel spiders

so the photo was prolly from the first gulf war (THAT LIAR!) but yeah... they sound pretty gnarly!

Quote:

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Originally posted by Jasun

Now that you all know I have a girly side, I"ll never be able to show my face here again.

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Sure ya can, baby! Spiders are the one thing that can paralize me where I stand. And they grow 'em big down here, too.

Actually, I didn't even look at the image posted, I page by as fast I as I could to avoid it LOL

If saw anything like a spider running at me as you described Brian, they'd be wrapping me up to the morgue.

Oh no.

GA