Sun Spiders

We had some freaky visitors at the end of August - two of them just a day apart, in fact. We found them both in the garage. While we had no idea what the large-jawed, orange hairy-legged, 2-inch long things were, except that they looked like a cross between a tarantula and a scorpion and seemed to come to life out of our most terrifying nightmares. I took a picture of one, which didn't turn out very well, and for some reason, wants to load sideways on Blogger. So, I borrowed another picture online, which clearly shows exactly what we were looking at:

After some online research, I discovered that this creature is an Arachnid and a cousin to both the spider and scorpion. It is not poisonous (who needs poison when the mere sight of you is enough to paralyze the viewer with fear?) and does not spin webs. Supposedly it is good to have them around, as they eat other insects. I did not see the good in these guys. I'd rather have a good pest control company than an army of Sun Spiders, as they are called.

Here and here are a couple of links explaining them, if you are in the mood for the heebie-jeebies. You should really check out the Urban Legends section on the second link. It is completely understandable that people would make these stories up. You should see one of these things in person! ICK!

The two at our house made it into a baby food container and went to Kindergarten with Katie after they were sufficiently asphyxiated. She thought it was super-cool to show them off in class and Ms. Crane always loves a good impromptu science lesson.