A british soldier’s family have been scared out of their home after a huge spider moved in - and killed their pet dog.
Care worker Lorraine Griffiths, 37, believes it is a camel spider, which has a nasty bite.
She thinks it hitched a ride with husband Rodney, 32, when he was on leave from 16 Air Assault Brigade in Afghanistan, in June.
Days after it was first sighted in Colchester, Essex, the family’s dog Bella became ill and had to be put down.
Searches have failed to find it. Lorraine and her three children are staying with her mum.
Lorraine Griffiths and her three children, aged 18, 16 and four, have been forced to leave their family home in Colchester, Essex. They are now refusing to return to the property until the killer spider is captured by the RSPCA.
Found in desert regions, camel spiders or Solifugae can grow up to 6ins and reach speeds of up to 10mph, making them devils to catch. They are normally feed on termites, beetles and sometimes they also consumed lizards. Although not deadly to humans, a bite from a camel spider will result in major inflammation.
Source: SkyNews
Filed under Dog, Entirely Pets | Tags: camel spider, pet dog, Solifugae | 7 Comments
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A british soldier’s family have been scared out of their home after a huge spider moved in - and killed their pet dog.
August 28th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Not poisonous and they ARE an arachnid not an insect. The damage of their bite is due to it’s power, not a poison.
Also called sunspiders or wind scorpions. and as an interesting aside, they do have the strongest bite based on body size of ANY animal. So bare hands NOT recommended.
For more info check out http://www.whatsthatbug.com/solpugids.html
And I live around the things and they are not going to kill anything that is much bigger than they are although I have seen one chase a dog.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
“Camel Spiders” are not spiders at all, but a separate arachnid species.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
There’s so many news sources reporting this little incident, and all of them are getting it wrong. Each source didn’t seem to do any research on the creature, which isn’t the least bit poisonous. Also, that’s a fake camel spider in the picture. It’s a prop found here http://www.filmflies.com/.
August 29th, 2008 at 4:05 am
Hi, Jessica
Our only intention is to save the pets, and the news was quite alarming.
However, thanks for the valuable information, it’s highly appreciated.
But the picture seems to be a genuine one, how come it’s a fake?
Regards
August 29th, 2008 at 4:41 am
http://www.filmflies.com/
scroll about 1/3 of the way down that page and you’ll see the prop. camel spiders look more like scorpions without a metasoma or pedipalps (tail & claws), they don’t like being in sunlight, they are quite good at burying themselves in sand. as said it’s far too small to kill a dog. in reply to jenniferJ’s post, it probably wasnt chasing the dog, but trying to get in the shade underneath the dog..
October 30th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
geen kameelspin.
is inderdaad niet dodelijk giftig.
vallen geen kamelen aan.
zijn best leuke dieren, maar moeilijk te houden als huisdier i.v.m. temperatuur.
June 5th, 2009 at 5:55 am
I will say I am not an expert on Arachnids, but this Care worker who diagnosed it must have been mistaken on their diagnosis. The camel spider is not a venomous animal at all. The dog could have been killed by a bite from the “spider” but the illness had nothing to do with the spider (with the exception of an infection). I am aware this was said earlier, but for an adolecent like my self (16 years old) to know this from basic reserch, shows that the Care worker (probably) unjustly accused the arachnid, and teh family should return to their home.