Afghan Camel Spider Attack

I heard about this from many people..
This is about a 'Camel Spider' that had apparently been brought in a suticase from Afghanistan by an British Soldier
Ive heard and seen videos of the 'Camel Spider' previously on the net.
Heres what happend...

BBC News and other sources are reporting that a half-a-foot-long predatory bug popularly known as a "camel spider" apparently hitched a ride from Afghanistan in the luggage of a British paratrooper and frightened the soldier's family into fleeing their Colchester, England home.

Which is believable, given the creature's forbidding appearance and its Internet reputation as a high-jumping carnivore famed for attacking full-grown camels and eating their flesh (that last bit is untrue, by the way). Known to entomologists as a solpugid, the organism -- a member of the arachnid family but not really a spider at all -- is typically found in dry, desert regions, including Afghanistan.

What I'm skeptical of, however, is the family's stated belief that the camel spider killed their dog. Someone evidently saw the dog confront the wayward bug then run whimpering out of the room after it hissed at her. Awhile later they found the dog dead. "It seems too much of a coincidence that she died at the same time that we saw the spider," Lorraine Griffiths told a local newspaper. But the attending veterinarian was unable to establish a cause of death.

What's your views?


N3RDz

reply to post by N3RDz


Please provide a link.

Not a one liner.

i saw this on the BBC earlier. It is entirely conceivable that the creature hitched a lift, but the bit about the dead dog is news to me.

Got a link? The Camel Spider isn't poisonous, but has a strong bite although there is zero chance of death, to be honest. Maybe the dog just died of shock as it was old, if it died at all?

BBC Link

A soldier's family have been frightened out of their home by a spider thought to have been brought to Essex from Afghanistan in a kitbag.

Lorraine Griffiths and her three children have moved out of their house in Colchester, the RSPCA said.

They are refusing to return until the large sandy-coloured creature, thought to be a camel spider, is captured.

[edit on 28/8/08 by stumason]

Unless that one thread was right, about the genetically modified spiders of Iran! They were supposed to be extremely poisonous and large enough to take down an airliner! However, if they really were doing this, a smaller (though 6 inches is a little large to me ) but still highly venomous would still do the trick.

reply to post by N3RDz


Wow! That thing is badass! I thought the spiders in my shed were big but you wouldn't get rid of that with your Dyson would you?!!!

;-)

Have I mentioned before I hate spiders. A recluse left a nice whole in my forearm once. I couldn't resist this thread...I had to look. My dreams will now be spider filled. This one would make me get out a machete or a shotgun.

Here is another picture of a camel spider






and a short clip of one



[edit on 28/8/08 by blupblup]

[edit on 28/8/08 by blupblup]


Mod Note: Forum Image Linking Policy – Please Review This Link.

[edit on 28-8-2008 by Jbird]

[edit on 29/8/08 by blupblup]

[edit on 29/8/08 by blupblup]

I hate you blu. Every skin cell on my body is now crawling. Thanks for nothin'.

Originally posted by jpm1602
Have I mentioned before I hate spiders. ..
My dreams will now be spider filled.

Did we have this conversation before.. followed by my adding of lots of spider pics??

I hate them too.. Snakes/rats/scorpions fine but spiders all deserve to be squished.

reply to post by jpm1602



I thought there were a couple of spidey fans inl

[edit on 28/8/08 by blupblup]

You know what trips me out the most about these beasties Agent? The second your peripheral vision checks them out they freeze. And know the hunt is on. And then you have to wait for just the right time to put the squish on, to early, to late...and you have a nitetime predator that can be anywhere. My pup got a hold of a red one. And started violently shaking. I thought I was going to lose her.

[edit on 8/28/2008 by jpm1602]

[edit on 8/28/2008 by jpm1602]

reply to post by jpm1602



My favourites are the ones that decide to spend the night on the ceiling directly above your face.
You try to ignore it but then think about it climbing down and making a cozy nest in your mouth while you're snoring.

reply to post by jpm1602


Now now, these aren't even spiders, they're in their own family all together.
www.camelspiders.net...
Enjoy.

Here is a pic of the bite they can leave:

Woahh you lot are freaking me out !
im right on edge now!

N3RDz

I thought I liked you Agent. I think I need to rethink that. You have now officially creeped me out for the night. I'll watch my Brownies get there collective tails whooped for the rest. I need to leave here. Now.

why do they torture the camel spiders

"Oh Hell no!"
You would'nt see me touching that with a 30 foot pole!
It's still a Spider to me!

I hate them, they are evil and my number one fear!

I caught a Black Widow before and put a grasshopper in the jar with it, the GH bit its head off!

I hate spiders.

Once I went into my bedroom and found a Huntsman spider directly over my bed, I was almost asleep when something fell on my face. Several swearwords and a stubbed toe later I turned on my light and discovered that a large moth had flown into me. I slept on the couch that night.

my dad used to think Huntsmen were harmless until he picked one up and it bit him. It got put in a jar and placed over the hot remnants of the previous nights fire. (It had bad luck, the one night of the year we had a fire...)

But on topic...i would touch it with a 30 foot pole...if the end was red hot metal.
hope the critter is killed before/if it breeds



Roswell.

[edit on 30/8/2008 by roswell1]

The only spider i like is Spider-man. But these things need to be nuked. Man those things a freaking huge.

Originally posted by bigvig316
The only spider i like is Spider-man. But these things need to be nuked. Man those things a freaking huge.

i heard the us military used to test lsd on spiders.