{"id":24697,"date":"2014-10-20T16:45:10","date_gmt":"2014-10-20T22:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=24697"},"modified":"2014-12-17T14:26:41","modified_gmt":"2014-12-17T21:26:41","slug":"first-wars-plagues-and-earthquakes-now-weve-got-spiders-as-big-as-chihuahuas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2014\/10\/first-wars-plagues-and-earthquakes-now-weve-got-spiders-as-big-as-chihuahuas\/","title":{"rendered":"First, Wars, Plagues and Earthquakes. Now We’ve Got Spiders as Big as Chihuahuas."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

First, Boko Haram.<\/p>\n

Then, earthquakes in Oklahoma, Russia in the Ukraine, and then ISIS, followed by an Ebola chaser.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/p>\n

It seems that what may be next is spiders the size of chihuahuas. These adorable critters, are known by the nifty little name, the South American Goliath Birdeater. The Goliath Birdeater has a leg span of almost a foot, weighs in a half a pound, spits barbs into assailant\u2019s eyes and has two-inch fangs capable of puncturing a mouse\u2019s skull.<\/p>\n

All in all, the South American Goliath Birdeater sounds like a good candidate for the role of horror movie villain and small child\u2019s nightmare. In fact, it\u2019s good entertainment all around so long as it stays in the Guyana jungle where it was recently spotted by entomologist Piotr Nastrecki.<\/p>\n

Since entomologists study bugs, or as Mr Naskrecki calls them, \u201cland arthropods,\u201d he probably had a high old time with his find. At least \u00a0he did until he got hit in the eye with a \u201curticating\u201d hair ball that the spider launched at him. Urticating means hair that bristles with stinging barbs.<\/p>\n

Mr Naskrecki said that after this hairball \u201chit my eyeballs\u201d he itched and cried for several days.<\/p>\n

Although the Goliath Birdeater\u2019s venom is not poisonous to humans, getting bit by those fangs would be \u201clike driving a nail through your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

From stuff.co.nz<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

The South American Goliath birdeater is the spider of many people\u2019s nightmares, but encountering one of the puppy-sized critters in a dark rain forest in Guyana was a dream come true for entomologist Piotr Naskrecki.<\/p>\n

The largest spider in the world, the birdeater has a leg span of about 30cm, weighs up to 170g, and hardened tips and claws on its feet that make a clicking sound when it walks.<\/p>\n

Naskrecki was looking for katydids the night he encountered a Goliath. He had turned his headlamp off to concentrate on listening when he heard the sound of an animal running in complete darkness.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u201cI could clearly hear its hard feet hitting the ground and dry leaves crumbling under its weight. I pressed the switch and pointed the light at the source of the sound, expecting to see a small mammal, a possum, a rat maybe,\u201d\u00a0Naskrecki\u00a0 recounted in his blog\u00a0The Smaller Majority<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd at first this is what I thought I saw \u2013\u00a0a big, hairy animal, the size of a rodent.\u201d<\/p>\n

But something was not right, so within a second the entomologist was lunging at the spider, \u201cecstatic about finally seeing one of these wonderful, almost mythical creatures in person\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cGoliath birdeaters are ridiculously huge for a land arthropod,\u201d\u00a0Naskrecki said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, Boko Haram. Then, earthquakes in Oklahoma, Russia in the Ukraine, and then ISIS, followed by an Ebola chaser. What\u2019s next? It seems that what may be next is spiders the size of chihuahuas. These adorable critters, are known by the nifty little name, the South American Goliath Birdeater. The Goliath Birdeater has a leg […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6977,6978,6976],"class_list":["post-24697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-big-spider","tag-goliath-birdeater","tag-spiders"],"yoast_head":"\nFirst, Wars, Plagues and Earthquakes. Now We've Got Spiders as Big as Chihuahuas.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"First, Boko Haram. Then, earthquakes in Oklahoma, Russia in the Ukraine, and then ISIS, followed by an Ebola chaser. 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