GRAND CANYON, AZ β A giant Mexican tarantula was seen terrorizing tourists at the Grand Canyon!
Yesterday morning a group of tourists from Sweden reported seeing an enormous, hairy creature crawling across the Skywalk, the glass-bottomed walkway overlooking the Grand Canyon.
Herbert Bratton, a Grand Canyon National Park ranger, rushed to the scene after receiving the phone call from the petrified Swedes
βIt was hard to understand exactly what was going on because of their accents and the fear in their voices,β said Bratton. βBut I knew something terrible had happened.β
Bratton arrived at the Skywalk just in time to catch a glimpse of the creature. He described it as a humongous, black and red spider with hairy knees, razor-sharp fangs, and a cluster of black, menacing eyes.
βThe thing was as big as a house,β added Bratton. βIt must have been more than 30 feet wide!β
The Swedes who witnessed the spider attack were rushed to the hospital to be treated for symptoms of shock and altitude sickness. Though they could not be reached for comment, they did leave the Weekly World News with these shocking photographs:
This is not the first time the gigantic tarantula has been spotted creeping around the Grand Canyon. The first sighting of the so-called βGrand Canyon Tarantulaβ occurred in 1929, when a group of Boy Scouts from Seneca, Washington, reported seeing a βlarge, shaggy arachnidβ crawling around their campsite.
Since then, over 450 tarantula sightings have been filed with the Grand Canyon National Park Safety and Human Services Committee.
Dr. Allen Spivak, a zoologist at Arizona State University, has been studying the βGrand Canyon Tarantulaβ since 1992. He says the creature is most likely a mutated form of the Mexican Red Knee Tarantula.
βThese spiders are very common in the American Southwest,β said Spivak. βTheyβre extremely dangerous. One bite from a Mexican Red Knee tarantula and you could be dead within hours.β
In light of recent events, the Grand Canyon Parks and Recreation Committee has decided to close the Skywalk exhibit, citing βroutine maintenanceβ as their justification.
βThis has nothing to do with the giant tarantula,β said chief ranger Patricia OβNeil, βBesides, that thing isnβt even real. Itβs just a myth.β
However, the Parks Committeeβs decision to shut down the exhibit is not deterring tourists from flocking to the Grand Canyon and trying to catch a glimpse of the rock-climbing arachnid.
Peter Holsten, a retired mechanic from Salt Lake City and self-professed βmutant hunter,β arrived at the canyon with a tranquilizer gun.
βIβm not resting till I have that spiderβs head on a stake,β said Holsten, who plans to spend all of next week camping in the canyon. βIβll die before I ever let him terrorize another group of innocent Swedes.β
βAnd when I catch him,β added Holster, βthe whole world will know he ainβt no myth!β
Change of plans for me. No vacationing this summer at the Grand Canyon.
Roger that. Those T's give me the heebiejeebies!
Holsten or Holster Hunted or hunter
lmao this is not real lol rite
OMG, how fake! you can see the poor editing! :/ WTS!
:/
not to mention the obviously photoshopped pictures
Is it true that the mules are filing a complaint against the more sure footed potential competitor to their longstanding tourist carrying role?
Are there just 1 or are there many?
Lord have mercy. I hope there isn't a whole species of them.
thats funny, Brachypelma smithi are local to mexico, while the tarantula with the threat pose is a Pterinochilus murinus, which are local to africa. The final picture is Brachypelma aruatum.
Mexican red knees are harmless… cept the urticating hairs… otherwise they make great pets.
a funny story non the less.
hoax detected :/
superchicken help!!!!
Hilarious π Would be something, a giant tarantula.
This is so obviously fake if you can't tell its fake thats just plain sad.
Has the giant tarantula moved north yet?
I hope just 1.
Superchicken won't help.