# Lifestyles & Discussion > Science & Technology >  Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest

## Suzanimal

> Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest
> 
>  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. [See Photos of the Goliath Birdeater Spider]
> ...

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## Ronin Truth

Nightmares tonight.

Thanks bunches!

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## Suzanimal

> Nightmares tonight.
> 
> Thanks bunches!


You're welcome!

It's harmless.



> Yet despite all that, the spider doesn't pose a threat to humans. Even if it bites you, "a chicken can probably do more damage," Naskrecki said.

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## FloralScent

> You're welcome!
> 
> It's harmless.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 			
> 				Yet despite all that, the spider doesn't pose a threat to humans. Even  if it bites you, "a chicken can probably do more damage," Naskrecki  said.


I'll take my chances with the chicken.

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## Suzanimal

> I'll take my chances with the chicken.


Yeah, I may have jumped the gun on the harmless comment.




> But its prickly hairs aren't the birdeater's only line of defense; it also sports a pair of 2-inch-long (5 centimeters) fangs. Although the spider's bite is venomous, it's not deadly to humans. But it would still be extremely painful, "like driving a nail through your hand," Naskrecki said.

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## KCIndy

> Yeah, I may have jumped the gun on the harmless comment.


If I saw one of those, I think I would be GRABBING the gun!

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## phill4paul

> *Puppy*-Sized Spider


Never a cop around when ya need one.

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## dannno

> ...After catching the specimen he found in Guyana

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## cajuncocoa

Has AF seen this thread?

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## Anti Federalist

I have now...thanks HB.

O_o

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## Anti Federalist

I have now...thanks HB.

O_o

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## TaftFan



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## donnay



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## Anti Federalist



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## heavenlyboy34

> I have now...thanks HB.
> 
> O_o


y/w, bro.  ~hugs~  Glad you could stop by.

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## CPUd

Catch one of those, and you can probably train it to spin you a silk shirt.

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## heavenlyboy34

> Catch one of those, and you can probably train it to spin you a silk shirt.


or up-armor it to attack cops and stray politicians.

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## FindLiberty

Eats Birds?

Chickens?

Chicken fingers...

Fingers?

Yikes!

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## Suzanimal

I wonder if they taste like crab. I saw an episode of Bizarre Foods where these little kids were going nuts for giant spiders on a stick and the guy (forgot his name) said they tasted like crab.

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## donnay

> I wonder if they taste like crab. I saw an episode of Bizarre Foods where these little kids were going nuts for giant spiders on a stick and the guy (forgot his name) said they tasted like crab.


Andrew Zimmern?  He is Bizarre, all by himself.

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## Suzanimal

> Andrew Zimmern?  He is Bizarre, all by himself.


That's him. I like him. He did a Halloween special where he served people bugs, that was great.

Note to self: If I have to throw a party after the shtf, don't serve cockroaches, no one likes them.

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## Suzanimal

Out of all the tragedy in the world, this is what folks are getting assed up about.




> *How a Harvard Scientist's Life Changed After He Killed a Puppy-Size Spider*
> 
> Harvard researcher Piotr Naskrecki was just doing his job when he ran into the one of the world’s largest spiders in Guyana and killed it. The Internet didn’t see it that way.
> 
> When Naskrecki, an entomologist and photographer for Harvard’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, blogged about the event two weeks ago, he and the spider—a Goliath birdeater he described as “puppy sized” and said made “the sound of little hooves in the night”—went viral. It also sparked an onslaught of rage.
> 
> How could he have killed this innocent arthropod, commenters asked, referring not to the practical difficulties of subduing an invertebrate that weighs more than an iPhone 6 (AAPL), but to the perceived injustice of the execution.
> 
> “You had to MURDER the poor thing so YOU could benefit? Pathetic.” said Lizbeth Hull on Naskrecki’s Facebook (FB)page.
> ...

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## Ronin Truth

> Out of all the tragedy in the world, this is what folks are getting assed up about.


Thanks to you, I'm now lucid dreaming with a Glock .45 under my pillow each night.

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## pessimist



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## jmdrake



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## Suzanimal

That would scare the crap outta me!




>

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## nobody's_hero

> Out of all the tragedy in the world, this is what folks are getting assed up about.


Cute cuddly spider.

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## Suzanimal

> Cute cuddly spider.


Just like a puppy...

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