<p>Ebola, global warming, terrorism…and now let’s add giant spiders to the list of scary things:</p>
<p><a href=“Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest | Live Science”>Puppy-Sized Spider Surprises Scientist in Rainforest | Live Science;
<p>size of a small puppy with hard tipped feet that clikety-click on a branch.</p>
<p>I was really hoping this was a Halloween thread - someone looking for Halloween decorations!</p>
<p>Me, too, Teriwitt! I won’t click on that link, and wish I hadn’t read the OP’s description. Spiders freak me out almost as much as scorpions, and we’ve had far too many of both this year.</p>
<p>Fangs up to 1 1/2" long and its bite like “driving a nail through your hand”? I’m not sure, but I don’t think comparing this creature to a cuddly puppy is the first analogy that leaps to my mind…</p>
<p>The article also says the creature is not harmful to humans, and a chicken would be more dangerous.</p>
<p>“Not harmful to humans”? I beg to differ. A heart attack is very harmful. </p>
<p>And chickens more dangerous? Only if they cross the road, and you have an accident trying to swerve to avoid hitting them. </p>
<p>I will take the chicken any day, thank you very much. 
</p>
<p>My kids afraid of spiders. Me not so much as long as I have gloves.</p>
<p>I love spiders. They eat bugs. So if I see spiders, I know there are other bugs and the spider is helping me out. A big problem with studying spider bites is this: they don’t bite people (unless stepped on) because we’re so freaking much bigger than them, it’s hard to induce them to bite. </p>
<p>I like spiders for what they do, but holy JP Morgan, they poop a lot!!! So no spiders are allowed to make nets anywhere where their poop would stain the siding of my house! They can hunt in plants any way they like. </p>
<p>Just the name “goliath birdeater” makes me sick. I don’t like this sort of insect.</p>
<p>Inevitably, some helpful person will unnecessarily point out that spiders are not technically insects. I thought it might as well be me. Not because you really need to know, but because I want to delay confronting the existence of dog-sized spiders as long as possible.</p>
<p>There are things that the human mind was not meant to confront.</p>
<p>Thank you DmitriR for that clarification. I always welcome the opportunity to learn something. So technically what would spiders be?</p>
<p>Arachnids. </p>
<p>Arachniphobia is the fear of spiders. Or the fear of watching another one of those terrible shows on the sci fi network. </p>
<p>I blame Harry Potter.</p>
<p>I haven’t clicked - worried that it’s one of those virus threads…like the one on Facebook about supposedly dozens of people killed on a roller coaster in Orlando but clicking on the link just infects your computer… So this is real? Can someone provide another link?</p>
<p>It was on yahoo and the news.</p>
<p>Ok, thanks</p>
<p>You can google it yourself (or use the web search engine your prefer. If you are worried about infections, you can use the computers at the public library that have good antivirus (we hope).</p>
<p>I think everyone on this thread has clicked on the link no? My computer is fine.</p>
<p>Yea, I clicked and haven’t had any alerts on any of my computers so far. ;)</p>