The Camel Spider.

The camel spider stories began to spread during the 1990-91 Gulf War. Now, with the continued presence of U.S. forces in the Middle East, the stories are becoming legendary. .. Many of the stories on the internet are completely untrue. These creatures are (usually) not dangerous to humans. But, dangerous or not, these creatures are horrifying to encounter. I pity anyone who encounters one for the first time.
CLICK HERE TO SEE THIS CAMEL SPIDER PICTURE ENLARGED...

CLICK HERE TO ENLARGE THIS CAMEL SPIDER BITE!

Soldier in Iraq bitten by a Camel Spider. Yes, they can bite. If they do, there is always the possibility of infection.

With the internet becoming so much more widely used during this Iraq conflict, rumors are spreading like wildfire. E-mail chain letters with claims, "he/she said his or her friend—or friend of a friend—knew a soldier stationed in Iraq who had said that these camel spider could inject a sleeping soldier with anesthetic, then chew out a chunk of flesh."
Webmasters with imagination and flare for the absurd take it to the extreme with claims such as, camel spiders are know to eat dogs or cats.

Most people don't know that the camel spider can also be found in the southwest U.S. and Mexico. While the recent buzz is all about the Middle Eastern camel spider, its North American cousin has no shortage of tall tales. In Mexico, they're known as matevenados, which means "deer killers."
The buzz seems to ebb and flow, but before it is over the camel spider will have had is full fifteen minutes and maybe just a little place in history.

U.S. Army information
The troops in Iraq have to deal with these critters and a whole lot more.

Univ of Arizona
University of Arizona advice on dealing with spiders.
In the coming months we will be providing more links from educational sites, colleges and universities.

Look at our Spider bite page for information on spider bites:
-Symptoms
-Causes
-Treatment

Always updating with more pictures of the unique and bizarre Camel Spider.

READ CAMEL SPIDERS PRIVACY POLICY

Some common Camel Spider Myths:

1. Camel spiders can move at speeds over 30 MPH, screaming while they run.
2. Camel spiders can be as large as a frisbee.
3. Camel spiders venom is an anesthetic that numbs their prey.
4. Camel spiders can jump three feet high.
5. Camel spiders get their name because they eat the stomachs of camels.
6. They eat or gnaw on people while they sleep. Due to the numbing effect of their venom, the victim is unaware until they awake.
7. Send us your myths for inclusion here...

THE FACTS

1. Camel spiders top speed - appox. 10 mph. Which is very fast.

2. Size: Up to 6 inches although many of our readers report larger.

3. They have no venom.

4. They don't jump. However, many of our readers describe them leaping onto their legs, etc..

5. Called camel spiders because they live in the desert.

They actually aren't spiders at all, they're solpugids.. Along with spiders, they are members of the class Arachnida. For more camel spider pictures..

One of our recent stories on Camel Spiders:

While working for Al Salam Aircraft company in Riyadh, 2002- 2003 (I left after the Jadawel Compound bombing) we had many run ins with camel spiders in the hanger areas and out in the aircraft run areas. I admit that my first encounter with one scared the hell out of me but it got to be routine. Some were relatively small, others fairly large, all were aggressive like nothing I have ever seen. They would come in, mostly on night shift, walking right up the middle of the hanger. We couldn't take a broom, or anything else, and try to push them out as they would turn aggressive and attack whatever we would use so we finally started keeping coffee cans, and other containers, around and just trapped them and took them out to the fence line and let them go. Of course some did not want to be trapped and we would then introduce them to the "Smash factor" but what a mess that made.

Luckily we had no one bitten, American or Saudi, but there were the usual close calls since we had to start checking everything we opened, carefully, for any intruders. I hope I never run into one of those nasty little buggers again. They must be what B sci-fi movie producers had in mind when they were making all those movies in the 50's.

Fact:
The camel spider has become somewhat of an urban legend. Currently it is one of the most searched items on the internet.

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