Giant camel spider

 This is a giant camel spider

so-called because they have been known to devour camels alive. OK, ok, that’s just a myth. The fact that they’re commonly found alongside dead camels is just a coincidence. If you believe in that sort of thing…

They’re not actually spiders, but an older fork in the arachnid family tree. They eat spiders, scorpions, lizards, mice and the occasional bird. They’re not venomous, but those jaws can deliver an infamously painful bite. They kill things by tearing them apart.

They live in deserts — both in the Americas and in the Middle East. They can run very fast for short distances (10 mph), jump several feet, and can scream — yes, scream — as they run. I knew a couple of guys serving in Iraq who ran afoul of them and think they’re more dangerous than Al Qaeda. One guy claimed he spent a shift on guard duty at a remote checkpoint perched atop a Humvee because one came flying out of the night and attacked him.

সোর্স: Tom Kehoe

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