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Showing posts from January, 2023

Spider Tales 2: The Camel Spider

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  As the tale goes, American troops encountered a monstrous animal in the deserts of Iraq: the most terrifying spider ever seen. Gigantic, with a foot-long (30 cm) body, it has ten legs, can run at 25 mph (40 km/h) while emitting blood-curdling shrieks, and jump horrifically high. But hang on, that's not even the worst part. The worst part is what, and how, it eats: it can devour camels. Yes, CAMELS, hence its name: camel spider. Armed with a painkilling venom, it will chew on a sleeping animal's flesh without awakening it. Unlike other spiders, which dissolve and suck their prey's contents, the camel spider has enormous, wickedly sharp chewing mouthparts, that can tear through meat with ease. It is only when it wakes up that the unsuspecting prey discovers the bloody gashes left by the arachnid... Provided it ever wakes up. Of course, if camels are fair game, humans are also on the menu, and soldiers in the field have woken up with horrifying, gaping wounds ... Sounds lik