» CAMEL SPIDER IN IRAQ

The Camel Spider has recently attracted attention on itself due to the presence of American Soldiers in iraq, one of the few places where this arachnid lives. In the way "this happened to a friend of a friend of a friend", some creepy tales were built up, a bunch of photos were send back to USA --later on published on the internet--, and thus the legend was born.

Camel Spider Snope

It was said that a giant camel spider crawled into the sleeping bag of a soldier, biting a man while he was asleep. The "venom" of the Camel Spider --or "sun scorpion", which does not suit better because it is not a scorpion-- supposedly rendered his skin senseless with an endocaine type venom, so the spider managed to eat a hole out of his leg by the end of the night. Some photographs, as the one shown below, accompanied the alarming article, and as the first part of the tale may be true, the scariest part happens to be false.

this photo was published on the internet in the year 2004

First of all, the Camel Spider has no venom. It uses its claws to catch its prey, which is never bigger than the arachnid itself. It was also said that these spiders run for the soldiers at sight, jumping over 2 feet high and crossing distances at 25 miles per hour. Well, this creature is quick but cannot run at more than ten miles fast , and as it may have chased men, it was not for hunting them but to hide in their shadows, away from the sun. And although camel spider is said to jump that high, truth is it is not able to jump anyhow.

Now, isn't that disappointing?