I saw the most terrifying thing tonight! A creature that will most likely haunt my dreams for years to come. The Camel Spider! Yes, I have heard of this arachnid before tonight. I heard that it existed, that it is horrifying and then I retreated into denial, mixed with a pinch of 'boy I'm glad they don't live here'. I never researched them, or even paid much attention to any mention of them. I just hoped that I could go the rest of my life without truly knowing...And then, sitting in my home, minding my own business, relaxing and watching a wholesome educational program on TV, it happened.
I was sucked in by the cover art for the show, on Hulu. It looked like a horror movie, but it couldn't be, because I had searched for a nature program. I like horror movies though and I was instantly drawn in. Dead By Dawn is a new Nat Geo series. The first episode titled “The Hills Have Eyes” explores nocturnal creatures of he Arabian Desert. There I am, on my couch, singing the opening song from Disney's Aladdin in my head, and enjoying the cute little fox on the screen. Foxes are so cute. Especially Fennec Foxes! I want one so bad...but I digress. Cute fox, hunting at night,, maybe stalking the gecko that just licked it's eyeballs to remove the sand, but who knows for sure, these nature shows are tricky with their editing. This series in particular seems to be done in the style of a horror movie, complete with creepy soundtrack and jump scares. Point being that I was happily watching this program, when hairy legs appeared above the next sand dune. AND I KNEW! I KNEW IMMEDIATELY! SPIDER! Anyone that has read my PIFFS cartoons, knows that I have a fear of spiders, and a strange 'spidy sense' that allows me to feel when one is near. They creep me out! Did you know that the reason they can walk up walls, is because they have microscopic hairs on their legs. Hairs that fit between the atoms of the walls, allowing them to cling to that surface. This means that when a spider is crawling on you, it is actually penetrating you on an atomic level...They CREEP ME OUT! They didn't actually show the spider for several more minutes, but I knew it was coming. And when it did...well, see for yourself:
I will say that after watching that trailer, it all makes sense now. Well done Nat Geo! I will be watching the rest of these episodes.
Now, I knew that I had to share my new discovery with the world, and could not do so, in good conscience without doing some research. *shiver runs up my back* The first thing I saw when I searched Camel Spider was this:
I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that this picture makes me hesitant to venture further. But I did and now you get to know too. The picture above can be found on a site titled "The Optimus Prime Experiment". Thank you to everyone that is involved with that page in anyway, for adding to my unease for the next umpteen years! They actually help to disprove some myths and have a good article, but this image being the first thing that popped up on my search engine, just makes me unhappy.
The camel spider is not venomous. Meaning if they bite you, you won't get an itchy raised bump or skin necrosis from poison. This would normally make me feel better, since I had always believed that every spider is venomous, they just differed in the potency of their venom. This however, did not ease my mind, because, well look at them. They're huge! AND they've got big teeth!
So, no venom, but a bite that would be very painful, (we were told in the early 2000's that they are called Camel Spiders due to the fact that their bite will knock a camel unconscious) and also not a spider.
That's right , they are arachnids, but not spiders. They are called solpugids and can grow to be 6 inches long. Though not a danger to humans, I still don't ever want to meet one in a dark alley, or in a lit parlor, or anywhere! Now, we are all going to calm down a bit and review what we've learned, without panicky rants interspersed. FACTS:
Now that we have completely fried our nerves, and ensured that I will be sleeping with the lights on for the foreseen future, lets visit some of the cuddlier critters that appeared in this episode.:
See! Isn't that better! You're Welcome!
I'm definitely going to watch more of Nat Geo's Dead By Dawn series. They have successfully combined two of my favorite things, horror and nature. The editing, photography and soundtrack are very well done. And I'll definitely need to revisit Fennec foxes in a future article. They are even cuter than the fox pictured above.
Note: none of the companies mentioned in this article are sponsors, or have contributed financially to my myself or my company.
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AuthorLike so many others that have blogged before, Terry is an aspiring author. Archives
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