The aforementioned tarantula. We encountered this beast of a spider during our night walk near Santa Elena. As I understood it this species lives mostly in it's burrow and does not need to stray far from its home to eat. It senses minute vibrations in the soil near its burrow and pounces on whatever was unlucky enough to wander by.The guide lured the spider out with by 'tickling' the ground near its burrow with a small twig and it was a little terrifying to see this thing pop out... it was about the size of my hand.
After our group moved I put a couple spotlights on this guy and was able to get some great close ups. Very cool experience. Biggest spider I have ever seen in the wild... easily.
Another example of nature's way to say: don't touch! Awesome pic tho!
ReplyDelete