The Goliath birdeater (Tarantula)

Dec 11, 2022 Interesting Creatures in Guyana, News

=Interesting Creature=

By Shervin Belgrave

Kaieteur News – The Goliath birdeater is the world’s largest spider that is native to Guyana’s lush rainforest. It belongs to the Tarantula family and like the name suggests it is so large and fierce it can prey on birds.

The goliath birdeater

However, birds are not a regular part of its main diet, because it’s a ground-dwelling creature. This does not prevent it from feasting on different kinds of amphibians, such as frogs. Goliath birdeaters can easily make a meal out of small rodents, lizard or even snakes.

These animals are nocturnal predators and are masters of ambush. To trap preys, goliath birdeaters tend to hide on the forest floor in swampy areas and quickly strike without warning.

Its massive size and dark hairy like appearance can strike fear in anyone. The Goliath Birdeater can weigh in at up to six ounces and can grow to 11 inches in diameter.

A retired Guyana Defence Force (GDF) Warrant Officer Class One, Dennis Stewart, is one of the ‘lucky’ persons who stumbled across a Goliath birdater in the wild and was taken aback by its huge size.

He related that he and his colleagues had found this creature in the early 1960s while climbing to the peak of Mount Roraima to hoist the Golden Arrowhead in commemoration of Guyana’s first Independence celebration.

Stewart recounted, “We found a large spider; it was bigger than a plate. We put it on a plate and the legs were still hanging over,”

The retired army officer said that he was privileged to come across such an animal and was amazed at how rich and untouched Guyana’s biodiversity is.

Other travelers who have managed to stumble across this large spider in the wild were not so happy with encounter and described the goliath birdeater as a nightmarish creature and remembered running away when they saw it

While they are the biggest spiders in the world, the Goliath birdeaters are not the most dangerous. Their venom is mild to humans, roughly equivalent to getting stung by a wasp. In fact, the venom will likely do less damage to humans than the goliath’s massive fangs!

If a goliath is intimidated by you, they may start to “hiss” – a defensive sound meant to scare away predators. If you listen and back off, it is very unlikely you will get bitten as these tarantulas tend to only bite in self-defense.

Source of information: https: (//biologydictionary.net/goliath-birdeater/)

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