Subject: 16 inch long spider
Location: austin, texas, cave
November 3, 2012 12:29 pm
Found this spider while partying in a cave, no we did not kill him, we found him mummified on a ledge. I know the picture is more poor than most, I will get a better one after I soak him in rubbing alcohol. But I am extremely curious as to what he is as I am not finding a match (He does not appear to be a crab spider or camel spider) He does a what appears to be a flower design on middle section (behind head) on back. Also, he is 16 inches wide (leg to leg) and body is 6 inches long
Signature: curious
Dear curious,
There are so many red flags popping up as we read your account of this discovery. First, the “partying” circumstances of the discovery. Second is the timing of the discovery, near Halloween. Then there is that gargantuan 16 inch leg span, something we would only expect to find in a science fiction movie. Our conclusion is that this is a hoax. The legs of the “spider” do not appear to have joints. We are reminded of the purposefully amateurish quality of many hoax images of Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster and UFOs. The less detail in the image, the harder it is to disprove the illusion. We don’t know what soaking this “spider” in rubbing alcohol will accomplish. Though it isn’t a perfect match, your spider does resemble this Fake Rubber Spider we found on the Fake Bugs website. We then found a perfect match, complete with the “flower design” on the Halloween Store website. Have a nice day.
OH MY GOD I feel so dumb, I’m sorry guys. It was so covered in mud and I had completely thought it was real, no wonder we couldnt find any match! Wow, I’m sorry guys, I guess I should have cleaned it off first