Youthful Thought Process

Camel Spiders Are Worse Than...

[digitalghost]

My nephew is headed to Iraq with the 101st, and his biggest worry? Camel Spiders. He'd heard the stories of spiders the size of dinner plates that can jump several feet into the air, run 25 miles per hour squealing while they run, use anaesthesia so that the bite can't be felt and then feed on living flesh...

Snopes to the rescue [snopes.com]!

His serious response, 'thanks man, now I don't have to worry'.

[Webwork]

Must be one rough and ready kid if that's the focus of his anxiety.

Now that you debunked that concern what will he worry about?

Sandstorms? Drought? Sunburn?

So may it be that that is the worst that comes to pass.

[digitalghost]

I was 82nd and 101st. Young once too. His worries are misplaced, and perfectly placed. Youth pays the price for our aged dreams...

[garyr_h]

From the people who I have talked to who were serving over there, one of the biggest worries is diarrhea due to the food...

[ronin]

squealing while they run

Bizarrely, that was the bit that freaked me out the most. I had the image of trying to fall asleep in a tent out in the desert and hearing occasional, rapid scuttling sounds as squealing, flesh-eating Camel Spiders tore past the tent at 25 miles an hour.

[pageoneresults]

Yikes! Those things are [6]HUGE[/6].

I don't care if they are only 4 inches in length. That's a big ugly looking spider. I'd be a bit squeemish to find one of those things inside by sleeping gear. ;)

The screaming that was heard were those who were quickly exiting their sleeping arrangements and distancing themselves from those creatures.

After spending a couple of years in the Philippines, you get used to things like that. Or at least some do. ;)

[MatthewHSE]

I've heard supposedly-authentic reports of a variety of trap-door spiders in South America that can grab young rabbits and drag them down into their holes. Another variety of spider down there can allegedly catch birds in its webs. I don't know if these are real stories, and frankly I tend to discount at least the first one, but still . . .

[DamonHD]

Hi,

I think the catching (small) birds in the Web spider exists. Basically the bigger spiders can tackle the smaller animals, and can poison the larger ones (like us).

Rgds

Damon

[old_expat]

"I was 82nd and 101st. Young once too. His worries are misplaced, and perfectly placed. Youth pays the price for our aged dreams... "

Amen, brother. And they pay the price for the foibles of our politicians .. 1st SF, class of '64

[digitalghost]

>>diarrhea due to the food

Ham and fuddermuckers exist no more. Local cuisine however, is suspect. ;) Kid's fine, acclimated and now knows that sand fleas still rule...

[rocknbil]

He'd heard the stories of spiders the size of dinner plates ...

Give him a week and he'll be laying bets on which spider wins.

Funniest camel spider story from my daughter who spend 18 mo's in Iraq - when you're doing PT (physical training) you cannot break ranks. So they're all doing pushups and one of the soldiers starts screaming . . . turns out a camel spider had scurried over to see what the fuss was and had jumped on his back and perched on his shoulder, right up by his cheek, enjoying the view . . . he screamed bloody murder but he just kept pushing that silty Iraqi sand, didn't break ranks . . .