# Goliath Encounter: Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest



## entropy13 (Oct 20, 2014)

Piotr Naskrecki was taking a nighttime walk in a rainforest in Guyana, when he heard rustling as if something were creeping underfoot. When he turned on his flashlight, he expected to see a small mammal, such as a possum or a rat.


"When I turned on the light, I couldn't quite understand what I was seeing," said Naskrecki, an entomologist and photographer at Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology.

A moment later, he realized he was looking not at a brown, furry mammal, but an enormous, puppy-size spider.

Known as the South American Goliath birdeater (_Theraphosa blondi_), the colossal arachnid is the world's largest spider, according to Guinness World Records. Itsleg span can reach up to a foot (30 centimeters), or about the size of "a child's forearm," with a body the size of "a large fist," Naskrecki told Live Science. And the spider can weigh more than 6 oz. (170 grams) — about as much as a young puppy, the scientist wrote on his blog.



Full article here.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 20, 2014)

I got a solution for that...


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## Wastedslayer (Oct 20, 2014)

The only real solution.


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## OneMoar (Oct 20, 2014)

so do I


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## Steevo (Oct 20, 2014)

Nothing like the smell of Napalm.


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## Frick (Oct 20, 2014)

Weaklings. Spiders are cute, and they eat stuff.






I mean look at it! It's frikken amazing!


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## Mussels (Oct 20, 2014)

i came here for all the pretty pictures about murdering arachnids.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 20, 2014)

Frick said:


> Weaklings. Spiders are cute, and they eat stuff.
> 
> https://sixlegsphoto.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/theraphosa.jpg
> 
> I mean look at it! It's frikken amazing!


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## Champ (Oct 20, 2014)

FordGT90Concept said:


> I got a solution for that...



Fixed


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 20, 2014)

Oh no, I'm not getting close enough to spray it with pesticides nor taking the risk it only pisses it off.  I'm dispatching that threat from no less than 3 yards away.


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## Mussels (Oct 20, 2014)

FordGT90Concept said:


> Oh no, I'm not getting close enough to spray it with pesticides nor taking the risk it only pisses it off.  I'm dispatching that threat from no less than 3 yards away.




noob, he was implying its part of a RAID array - meaning there are at least 9 other redundant shotguns also present.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 20, 2014)

But, but, BUT it wasn't capitalized; ergo, not implying an acronym!  However, he may have meant SWAT raid...




...of which, I approve for dealing with an errant giant spider!  The fact none of them are carrying a fully automatic 12 gauge shotgun though is concerning.  A few may fall to the spider before it succumbs to its injuries.  Those costs, albeit horrible, are necessary to end the blight.


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## 64K (Oct 20, 2014)

Man I hate spiders! Creepy things, and one that size is just ridiculous!


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## rtwjunkie (Oct 20, 2014)

LMAO!  Yeah, spiders are to me what snakes were to Indiana Jones.  So, one the size of a puppy brings the use of firearms IMMEDIATELY to mind! 

However, even worse are spiders' fellow arachnid:


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## Vario (Oct 20, 2014)

I like spiders.  Except Brown Recluses, once I was changing my headers under my car and they started crawling out of the wall at me, I fended them off with a propane torch and brake and parts cleaner (not at the same time, no kaboom).


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## 64K (Oct 20, 2014)

Vario said:


> I like spiders.  Except Brown Recluses, once I was changing my headers under my car and they started crawling out of the wall at me, I fended them off with a propane torch and brake and parts cleaner (not at the same time, no kaboom).



Yeah, those Brown Recluses can mess you up. I've known 2 people that were bitten by one and they both had the same looking scar where the venom had rotted their flesh away.


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## RCoon (Oct 20, 2014)

Need a bigger one of these (only with fire and lightning attached to the spikes of death, and perhaps a much longer stick):






Can you tazer a spider?


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## rtwjunkie (Oct 20, 2014)

64K said:


> Yeah, those Brown Recluses can mess you up. I've known 2 people that were bitten by one and they both had the same looking scar where the venom had rotted their flesh away.


 
And those are the lucky ones!  People lose whole limbs if not treated soon enough.  Nasty stuff.  I shake out every piece of clothing before I put it on and check all the bed sheets before going to bed.  These are all places they like to be cozy, and the primary way people get bitten by them.  Just part of living in the U.S. deep South.


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## Mussels (Oct 20, 2014)

still, pretty small compared what we deal with down here.


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## RCoon (Oct 20, 2014)

Mussels said:


> still, pretty small compared what we deal with down here.



Oh yeah, those dog spiders huh?


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## 64K (Oct 20, 2014)

Mussels said:


> still, pretty small compared what we deal with down here.



It seems like everything in Australia is poisonous. At least that's what they show us on Discover channel.


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## Mussels (Oct 20, 2014)

64K said:


> It seems like everything in Australia is poisonous. At least that's what they show us on Discover channel.




you have not met my babies farts. its the only natural defense against australian spiders.


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## FordGT90Concept (Oct 20, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Can you tazer a spider?


Doubt it being that it has an exoskeleton. The barbs of a Taser pierce flesh and hook in, not unlike a fish hook (just smaller barbs).


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## micropage7 (Oct 20, 2014)

FordGT90Concept said:


> But, but, BUT it wasn't capitalized; ergo, not implying an acronym!  However, he may have meant SWAT raid...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


umm.. the picture feels familiar
that spider remind me of jumanji


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## Steevo (Oct 20, 2014)

rtwjunkie said:


> And those are the lucky ones!  People lose whole limbs if not treated soon enough.  Nasty stuff.  I shake out every piece of clothing before I put it on and check all the bed sheets before going to bed.  These are all places they like to be cozy, and the primary way people get bitten by them.  Just part of living in the U.S. deep South.


I was from down in south Missouri, was, being the key word. I like the cold too much and lack of chiggers, ticks, so many spiders, scorpions, and sharp pointy weeds here.


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## RealNeil (Oct 21, 2014)

RCoon said:


> Oh yeah, those dog spiders huh?



Ha-Ha!!

We have Wolf Spiders here that come out at night to hunt. About the size of a Silver Dollar, they stop and raise their front legs showing their fangs when you approach them. When you let them be, they run like hell.


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