Camel spiders gained their internet fame during the war in Iraq back in 2003 when rumors were spread about the creature’s gruesome nature and appearance being spread on the internet.
The urban legend about the camel spiders says that the camel spider is half the size of a human body, can run just as fast as a human and they feast on the stomachs of humans and camels.
Pictures surfaced online of the camel spiders being blown up in size to the point where they were much larger than what they really are. Camel spiders are in fact on average only six inches in length and are omnivores that feast on insects, rodents, lizards and small birds. They are not venomous either, but they do have large jaws that can be up to one third the size of their body length and their bite can be rather painful. Camel spiders do run rather quick but only up to roughly 10 miles per hour, which is nowhere near the top speed of a human.
Camel spiders aren’t even spiders at all, but they are members of the Arachnid family. They are Egyptian giant solpugids, also known as wind scorpions.
Here are some pictures to remind those of what it is like being in the Middle East with these creatures:
Camel spider (Youtube)
Camel spider (YouTube)
Camel spider (YouTube)
Camel spiders (YouTube)
In the video below, two soldiers are petrified after discovering that there is a camel spider in their room. One of the soldiers stands on his bed, while the other is moving around boxes and items on the floor in a desperate attempt to locate the eight-legged creature. While they continue to look for the spider, one of their friends — who stopped by to see what the commotion was — teases them by pointing and pretending that he found the spider when it wasn’t there.
The soldiers desperately look for the camel spider that is in their room (YouTube)
Finally, the soldiers locate the spider under a bed. Meanwhile, they’re still too scared to get it close enough to it to kill it. Apparently, they believe in all the legends surrounding the camel spider to be this afraid. As they struggle to trap the spider to kill it, one of the soldiers mentions how quickly it is moving around and how impossible it is to catch.
The soldiers move around boxes and bags in search of the camel spider (YouTube)
Finally, one of the soldiers manages to crush the spider, which sends it to its death. The camera then focuses in on the deceased spider, revealing its large size.
The dead camel spider that the soldiers managed to kill (YouTube)
