But it’s sickeningly massive
This is a pretty reassuring story for arachnophobes, but the pictures might make your stomach lurch: a scientist found a spider the size of a small mammal in the Amazon and managed to strike up quite a nice bond with it.
Largest Spider In The World
(Photo: Piotr Naskrecki)
The South American Goliath Birdeater is, according to Piotr Naskrecki, the largest spid in the world – and the scientist found one while out alone at night in the rainforest… which, to be honest, is our idea of a complete nightmare. On his blog he talks about an occasion a couple of years ago when he was out and about with his light switched off (!!!) when he heard “the rustle of an animal running”.
He says: “I 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. And at first this is what I thought I saw – a big, hairy animal, the size of a rodent. But something wasn’t right, and for a split second the atavistic part of my brain sent a ping of regret that I didn’t bring any companion with me on this particular night walk. But before that second was over I was lunging at the animal, ecstatic about finally seeing one of these wonderful, almost mythical creatures in person.”
Yep – he saw the biggest, most alarming spider in the world – and he LUNGED AT IT. He says its body weight is equal to that as a young puppy and its leg span approaches a terrifying 30cm. But actually they’re pretty tame: despite being called Birdeaters, Naskrecki writes that they rarely get the chance to feast on any because they spend most of their time on the forest floor at night. Their cuisine of choice is apparently earthworms.
When our explorer approached it on this occasion, he was greater with a hissing noise, a cloud of HAIR that made him “itch and cry for several days” and the presentation of fangs that could do some pretty lethal puncturing. But, surprisingly, their venom is ineffective on humans. So while they’re not that keen on you getting up close and personal, the worst they can do is fire hair at you – gross but ultimately harmless.
Fast forward a couple of years, and recently he was back in South America walking alone in the rainforest of Suriname. He recalls: “Suddenly my foot brushed against something big and moving, and I nearly tripped. I froze, expecting a snake. ‘Nah, it’s just another Goliath birdeater. Aren’t you a cutie pie?’” That probably wouldn’t be our reaction.