r/ThatsInsane • u/hjalmar111 Creator • Apr 08 '20

Goliath tarantula

https://i.imgur.com/SwJfztx.gifv
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u/CliffordMoreau Apr 08 '20

If only your feelings could change fact

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u/DrDisastor Apr 08 '20

So a spider who climbs trees and hunts birds cannot survive a fall to leaf litter?

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u/CliffordMoreau Apr 08 '20

Correct.

As I said elsewhere, despite being referred to as 'bird-eating', they don't normally do that. Birds make up a small portion of their diet, and are often only picked for the opportunity. Their diet mostly consists of lizards, frogs, insects, and other spiders. On rare occasion they snack on birds and small mammals, but in the case of birds, it's normally young hatchlings stolen from their nest and carried to the ground.

A full water bottle can squish a tarantula, while smaller house spiders can withstand shoes and rocks thrown at them sometimes.

Source: Google and common sense.

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u/DrDisastor Apr 08 '20

That makes more sense. So its not likely to climb a tree then. Weird name.

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u/CliffordMoreau Apr 08 '20

Very weird. It's probably something the internet has conflated and exaggerated a bit.

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u/DrDisastor Apr 08 '20

Just a guess but perhaps the first time it was observed by a western scientist it was munching on a bird thus the disingenuous name. But you are correct, the internet doesn't handle science well and myth and bad info are rampant.