Critters in IRAQ

[SMS 1]

Don't know if anyone has seen this yet but I thought I'd share it here anyway. Evidentally this is a real "Camel Spider" found by our troops in IRAQ. This has not been photoshoped or anything like that from what I know this IS REAL! How would you like to be the Orkin man over there?! :eek:

There are actually two of them in the picture . . .

[Prince Valiant]

Urban legends about the camel spider (properly termed a solpugid or solifugid) are as old as the proverbial hills, but they made a huge resurgence when vectored by American troops in Kuwait during Desert Storm. They're not quite as big as your hand (unless you're a five-year-old), and very shy and secretive. They do like to hide in the shadows, and they do run very, very quickly for a critter (they can reach about 10 MPH, the fastest known non-flying arthropod). They make no noise whatsoever, they have no venom whatsoever, and they do not eat flesh--they eat small desert arthropods like crickets and pillbugs. The rumors of their attacking camels, or crawling onto sleeping GIs' faces, apparently stem from one of two things, both of which may be true to some extent: (1) they may use hair to line their burrow when they are about to lay a batch of eggs, said hair being clipped from dead camels or other dead mammals (and a sleeping GI is not much different), and/or (2) dead camels are covered with flies, and crawling over a camel corpse may make for a convenient way to get a good meal of flies.

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#2 http://forgot_the_url_something/

Camel Spider /Wind Scorpion

The camel spider isn't really a spider, because it is also called a wind scorpion. BUT it is NOT a scorpion either. It is related to BOTH the spiders and the scorpions, and it belongs to its own group of animals. This large arachnid looks like a huge hairy spider and is unique to the desert. It can be as long as 6 inches across! Camel spiders like to live in barren parts of the desert far away from humans. They don't like oases either, and they feel most at home in the open, uninhabited places of the desert. Most of the time camel spiders hide in their burrows, coming out only when they're hungry. So when they do come out at night to feed, they are very ferocious and dangerous. A hunting camel spider runs across the desert floor almost at lightning speed, and it is so fast that it is impossible for the human eye to follow. When it senses its prey, the camel spider chases after it until it is caught. The greedy camel spiders have a big appetite - they will eat and eat and eat and eat until their bodies are swollen with food and they can hardly move an inch! Then, with great difficulty I imagine, it crawls back to its safe, cosy burrow. The reason why camel spiders have managed to live so successfully in the desert is probably because they spend as little time as they can on the dangerous surface where there are lots of predators.

Prey on Menu

* Scorpions * Lizards * Mice * Small birds * Sargents

On that pic I think it is molting it's exoskeleton.

[SMS 1]

Wow, Chris where the hell were you when I needed info for research papers in school!? You're like a walking encyclopedia!:thumbsup

[Prince Valiant]

no no no...that wasn't from me. I try to know as little as possible about bugs..yuck :goof

That was from my brother's little web site/message board where his buddy who is in iraq now, complained about these things and wanted my bro to look this stuff up...

If something like that ever came around me I'd have to shoot it with a gun from a safe safe distance....and then I'd have to kill it again latter just to make sure it was dead :thumbsup

[SlowStee]

thats sick as fuck....im scared of lady bugs, imagine me around one of those :rolleyes:

[Wannarace62188]

I knew some1 in the gulf war i think it was or w/e and he saw one of these "camel spiders" and was scared so he pulled out his .45 and blew the thing to pieces!!!! :haveabeer :flipoff:

[Cryptic]

that's still a pretty damn big bug

[y2kws6]

WELL I BEING in Kuwait can say they are here. I just kiled one today and they are quick. They are suppose to be non-poisones, but they hurt like hell and they are a pain in the A$$.

Pritty scary too.

check out more info:
Camel Spider Info (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcamelspider.html)

Dan Kuehn

[3rdGen Princess]

Originally posted by Prince Valiant
If something like that ever came around me I'd have to shoot it with a gun from a safe safe distance....and then I'd have to kill it again latter just to make sure it was dead :thumbsup

I would have to do the same thing! It's giving me the heebie geebies just looking at the pic! YUCKY!!!!! Just makes my skin crawl! :eek: