DUBAI: International news organizations across the world – from CNN to Nat Geo – have aired a hairy-raising video of an Amazon tarantula the size of a dinner plate grabbing a hapless opossum by the neck, and dragging it under tree roots to feast on.
CBS News reported that a group of biologists led by the University of Michigan was studying large spiders, centipedes and a giant water bug preying on frogs, lizards and snakes by the Andes foothills in Peru when they came across the “nightmarish” encounter and caught it on video.
“We looked over and we saw a large tarantula on top of an opossum,” researcher Michael Grundler was quoted in the report as saying. “The opossum had already been grasped by the tarantula and was still struggling weakly at that point, but after about 30 seconds it stopped kicking.”
“We were pretty ecstatic and shocked, and we couldn’t really believe what we were seeing,” Grundler added.
The American Museum of Natural History confirmed it was the first documentation of a large spider preying on an opossum. (Photo credit: Maggie Grundler, Amphibian & Reptile Conservation)
