Stories1 min(s) read
Published 10:13 10 Sep 2020 GMT
Now, I will happily hold my hands up and admit that I am one of those people that are terrified of spiders.
I don't like the way they look. I don't like the way they move. And I especially don't like the way they snare their prey and suck the life out of them.
However, as any arachnophobe will know, I am often asked: "Why are you scared of spiders? They're much smaller than you! They're more scared of you than you are of it!"
Well, the next time some spider-loving fool decides to question why these eight-legged freaks cause me to freeze on the spot, then I'm going to show them this video.
The footage - showing what appeared to be a pink toe tarantula attempting to eat a house wren - was originally shared on Reddit, and has since made its way across social media.
Check out the horrifying video below:
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Per Newsweek, after the arachnid in the video was misidentified as a Goliath birdeater spider (then again, I can see how people came to that conclusion), Jason Dunlop - an expert from the Museum of Natural History at the Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Research in Germany - told the publication that the spider actually appears to be a pink toe tarantula (Avicularia avicularia), "or at least something closely related".
Dunlop added that it is uncommon for tarantulas to feast on birds, but added: "I suspect the tarantula would have chewed up what it can.
Further proof spiders are not friendly creatures:
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"It basically regurgitates digestive juices on to the prey and then sucks the liquified remains back in [...] Whatever was left—bones, feathers—would simply be discarded."
(People: "WhY yOu sCaReD Of sPiDerS?" Me: "Because of sentences like the one above.")
Per the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the pink-toed tarantula is a small, tree-dwelling tarantula, with the larger females achieving leg spans of roughly 4.75 inches.
Appearance-wise, they are black and hairy, with some pink coloring at the end of their legs. They also have four appendages near their mouths, with two containing their venom-filled fangs and the other two it uses as claws and for feeling.
And you never know where you're going to find them:
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It can also launch the hairs from its body as a form of defense.
Now for most of us to take a nice sign of relief, as these particular spiders are native to the rainforest regions of northern South America, including Venezuela, northern Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname.
Fortunately, nowhere near me. That being said, I'm sure this beast will be haunting my dreams for the next few months.
