In 1948 a man named William was walking to church with his family one night when he, his wife and their 3 sons saw a huge spider … Is it possible that we are projecting our own instinctual fears onto nature? The couple was trekking through the region of the Congo when a creature ran out from beneath the brush and across the road in front of them. Watch carefully at the forty-second mark on the right-hand side of the video screen: As much as this looks like a spider, we have to take into account that the footage is relatively low quality. How big would it need to be to really freak you out? However, muscular strength is largely a function of the width of the muscle at its widest point, so as an arachnid gets larger the factor that determines its muscular strength, the width, grows in two dimensions as the exoskeleton grows in three dimensions. There are also accounts of giant spider sightings from several expeditions into the region in search of yet another cryptid, the saurian, dinosaur-like Mokele-mbembe. The natives seem to take it for granted that such giant spiders exist, so what do we make of these accounts? Are these misidentifications of some other creature? Now in my last video “The Giant Spiders Of The Congo” we also talked about a sighting that happened in America, and I have stumbled upon another one. Monstrous spiders of gargantuan size are perennially popular subjects in science fiction 'B' movies as well as in classic fantasy novels such as J.R.R. At first, the couple thought that it was merely some sort of cat, monkey, or some other common jungle animal, and stopped their truck to avoid hitting it and to let it pass. Anelosimus eximius, the species I encountered in the rainforest, is not the only kind of social spider in the world, but it does construct the biggest webs. Simes claimed he drove the giant spiders off with his pistol. Murphy says spiders may have stowed away in crates that came through Atlanta’s airport at some point. Copyright © Mysterious Universe. Mysterious Universe is a property of 8th Kind Pty Ltd, More ‘Difficult to Explain’ UFO Sightings to Be Declassified, Says Former Intelligence Chief, The French Zoologist Who First Described What Martians Looked Like, Deadly Brain Disease With No Known Cause or Cure Hitting Eastern Canadian Province, Argentine UFO Group Records One Over Pie de Palo and Thinks Ground ETs Summoned It, England Once Plotted to Kidnap The Loch Ness Monster, The Strange Case of a Living Dinosaur in the Far North, A Study of the Mysterious Creatures of China. The J'ba Fofi are described as giant venomous spiders which can grow up to the size of a house, and are known for weaving webs round two giant trees. The discovery has prompted fears that the J’Ba Fofi – also known as the Congolese Giant Spider – has spread to central America. Interestingly, Gibbons was able to learn that the J’ba Fofi had once been common and had had the unfortunate habit of sometimes building their nests near human settlements, but that they had become rarer over the years, suggesting that their numbers were perhaps dwindling or they were being driven by habitat encroachment further into the depths of the jungle. These people claimed they encountered giant spiders in the Congo. The mere sight of a spider can leave a lot of us cringing, recoiling,... Read more » In the remote jungles of Africa mainly in the Congo region there are legends about huge spiders that can trap and eat human beings. The J’ba Fofi of the African Congo. Could there be genetic memories within us of the giant, now extinct, monsters that our ancestors had to face? Although explorers, missionaries, and natives had long told of seeing these massive spiders in the depths of the African jungle, perhaps the report that most thrust the J’ba Fofi into the spotlight was a sighting made by a Reginald and Margurite Lloyd in 1938 and chronicled by cryptozoologist George Eberhart. Significant sightings: R. K. Lloyd and his wife were motoring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1938 when they saw a large object crossing the trail in front of them. Giant Spiders have a terrifyingly low attention span, switching targets often. Perhaps the sightings could even tell us something about human psychology. Later, all the men's extremities swelled, they grew feverish, delirious and then died. Strategy. EP83 - Giant Spiders! There is just something about them that seems to tickle at some primeval part of the deepest recesses of our brain and send some ancient, ingrained fear coursing through our veins. But could there be a spider that does? The largest known spider is the South American bird-eating spider, which goes by the name of Theraphosa blondi. Before either of the startled eyewitnesses could get a camera or even really overcome their shock at seeing such a nightmarish site, the spider had already scampered into the thick brush on the other side of the track and was gone. There are two main hurdles for a spider to get to the sizes reported here. A dinner plate? When they woke up the next morning and checked the footage, they were shocked at what they saw! Some can … In the nearby country of Mozambique, a video has surfaced that claims to have captured the J’ba Fofi on camera! And we're not just talking Goliath birdeater giant, either, we're talking Shelob giant. The body of this giant spider is brown in maturity and bright yellow with purple abdomen in its youth. The first is respiration. The mysterious breed is said to exist in the Congo is alleged to be as large as a monkey. What’s more is they build their huts with thatched roofs using a steep pitch to the ground and tightly spaced walls to prevent spiders from creeping inside. Giant Spiders seem to enjoy changing targets, the blocker should use Challenge if they have Premium Account and should stand between the Giant Spider and the shooters. Mrs. Lloyd was reportedly so upset by the incident that she demanded that they return to their home in Rhodesia at once. But the huntsman is … Tonight the PRT crew discuss encounters with giant versions of everyone's favorite eight legged friends! Bill Gibbons, he of Mokele Mbmeme fame, has also recorded stories of another cryptid in the jungles of Africa (in this case the Democratic Republic of Congo): a giant spider. The mere sight of a spider can leave a lot of us cringing, recoiling, jumping away, or reaching for a rolled up newspaper. The size of the Congolese Giant spider-when its legs are included-is said to be up to five feet across. Gibbons was able to track down accounts of giant spider activity in the steamy jungles of Africa as recently as 2000, when he heard from a chief of the Baka tribe that a J’ba Fofi had built a nest near his village in the wilds of Cameroon. Pictures on Google’s mapping tool show what could be the massive insect scuttling on an island off the coast of Mexico. One particular specimen, a twelve-year-old named Rosi, has an impressive leg-span of just under twelve inches, making her the largest, living spider on record – ever. Campers heard so many stories of villagers finding burrows and giant webs that they set up trail cameras as they were sleeping. Chad Many Jr is an independent filmmaker, podcast host, world traveler, and internet personality. In fact, one naturalist and cryptozoologist, William J. Gibbons, was able to glean more detailed information on the J’ba Fofi during one of his many expeditions to the Congo in search of the Mokele-mbembe. Even the largest known spider, the giant huntsman, which has a leg span of up to a foot, is too small to view a human as prey. Jungle Jim must protect rare pony-like animals whose glands produce a powerful narcotic. It has been seen by both native African peoples and western explorers since the 1890s, and although the sightings have become rarer, new video evidence claims to support the existence of … Get the MegaPack collection now for this great price. Natives tell stories of the giant web-nests the spiders build, similar to a trap-door spider. He writes blogs about his travels; everything from searching for living dinosaurs to psychedelic shamanism and analytical psychology. The J’Ba Fofi (translating in the language of the Baka people of Congo as, “giant spider”) is commonly attributed to the dense forests of Congo. The giant house spider has been treated as either one species, under the name Eratigena atrica, or as three species, E. atrica, E. duellica and E. saeva.As of April 2020, the three species view was accepted by the World Spider Catalog.They are among the largest spiders of Central and Northern Europe.They were previously placed in the genus Tegenaria. And over the past couple of centuries there have been some very interesting and just out of this world documented sightings. Is this a case of misidentification, or is there really a giant spider lurking in the jungle? That does not mean nothing larger than Rosi exists. This shockingly immense size allows them to allegedly prey on a variety of small animals including birds, small jungle antelopes known as duiker, monkeys, and various reptiles, which they trap in an elaborate pattern of webs strung out between trees and devour after pouncing forth from a shallow depression camouflaged by leaves, in a manner very similar to trap door spiders. Thanks for reading! In one occasion, a J'ba Fofi was said to have dragged off a dog from a village. While the inhospitable and little-explored jungles of the African interior certainly seem like they could harbor a large undiscovered animal, these physical restrictions tend to make the reports of the J’ba Fofi sound a little far-fetched, and leaves me wondering how much stock we should put into them, yet the stories of African giant spiders and indeed reports of giant spiders in many places around the world persist. Recently I've been hearing about the different myths and legends behind giant spiders (5 1/2 foot long) in the Amazon Rainforest. Such expeditions often heard stories from the natives about the J’ba Fofi, or even saw the spiders themselves. The bad news is a four-inch spider … Is it possible the reports are of some very large spider, but perhaps the sizes have been exaggerated somehow? The J'ba Fofi are said to be golden when young but turn brown when older. Right now I guess they're knd of like bigfoot- they may be there, but they are not proven to be. Deep in the mysterious, unexplored jungles of Central Africa, so the story goes, the native peoples live in fear of a monstrous eight-legged beast whom they call the “J’ba Fofi”. June 18, 2020. Your hand? To be sure there are quite huge arthropods out there that we know of, such as the Japanese spider crab, which can reach 3.8 meters (12 ft.) from claw to claw, but these creatures have the benefit of having the surrounding water to help support all of that weight. Many people have claimed they witnessed giant spiders in the Congo. Witnesses describe the spider as brown, with purple markings on the belly, and three-foot-long legs. Chad Many Jr. It is a formidable challenge for any arthropod (a creature with an exoskeleton) to overcome if it is to become very large. Many readers may be thinking already of the numerous giant insects that once roamed the earth many millions of years ago, but there was far more oxygen in the atmosphere of those days which could compensate for this inefficiency, and even then there were no spiders as large as is claimed with the J’ba Fofi. The Colombian giant tarantula or Colombian giant redleg (Megaphobema robustum) eats mice, lizards, and large insects, so you could keep one for home pest control. If they existed, they may already be extinct. As Simes and company were trekking along, several of his porters allegedly became hopelessly entangled in a network of webbing that hugged the ground and was too strong to break with any means they possessed. To put it simply, the weight of the exoskeleton is growing faster than the strength of the muscles that support and move it. In 1959, Remy Van Lierde served as a Colonel in the Belgian Air Force at the Kamina airbase in Belgian occupied Congo. That is probably quite large enough to give a lot of people nightmares just thinking about it, but unfortunately there are said to be even bigger spiders inhabiting the remote, dark jungles of the world. Considering all of this, it is really hard to imagine a spider with a 4 to 6 foot leg span explosively darting out to capture prey or swiftly scurrying about through the jungle. The J'ba Fofi are said to prey on large animals, such as deer, birds, and would not be above eating humans. The natives claimed that the venom of the spiders was powerful enough to drop a full grown man in seconds. The name literally means ‘Giant Spider’. Several giant spiders swiftly descended upon them, injecting the men with poisonous venom. said Robert B. Durham. For instance, the eggs of the spider were said to be white or a pale yellow-white and around the size of a peanut, which were laid in clusters wrapped in webs in the underbrush and which were widely avoided by those who came across them. It is said to burrow a hole between the roots of large trees and camouflage itself with leaves. [See Photos of the Goliath Birdeater Spider] Some sources say the giant huntsman spider, which has a larger leg span, is bigger than the birdeater. There are indeed also enormous terrestrial arthropods in the form of the coconut crab, which can grow to up to 1 m (3 ft. 3 in) in length and weigh 4.1 kg (9.0 lb), but this is quite possibly the largest size physically possible for a land based creature with an exoskeleton, and anyone who has observed a coconut crab in action will notice how incredibly slowly they move. on Giant Spider in the Congo (WITH VIDEO) #congo spider, #giant spider, #jba fofi. There is just something about them that seems to tickle at some primeval part of the deepest recesses of our brain and send some ancient, ingrained fear coursing through our veins. Jba Fofi Jba Fofi is the name the Baka tribespeople of the Congo have given this creature. People report children and pets being carried off and eaten. You know, the spider that lived in the mountains of Mordor and tried to eat Frodo. They are ambush predators and they catch prey by building large webs in-between two trees on game trails. Almost. I doubt that will cause a lot of tears amongst typical humanity, but for seekers of the strange such as myself,, it is a melancholy thought. But it's worth thinking about because for centuries the native people of the Congo have been saying that there's a giant spider living deep within the rain forest. Congo; Papua New Guinea. The detailed description of the J’ba Fofi’s life cycle, with mention of the eggs and the changing color as the juveniles attained adulthood, suggest that to the natives the giant spiders were not merely some sacred spirit or revered creature of myth, but rather a regular, albeit dangerous, jungle creature like any other. The Native Peoples of the Congo tell stories of the giant Congolese spider coming into their villages killing livestock and taking away small animals and even children. They call it the J’ba Fofi and, if you’ve got arachnophobia, it’s your worst nightmare. It is considered a cryptid and only in recent years has received publicity." According to cryptozoologists, most of the J'ba FoFi dwell in the Congo. It was then that it became apparent to the horrified explorers that the creature was in fact a gigantic spider with a purported leg span of at least 4 or 5 feet. However, Megaphobema is best known for its aggressive temperament. These are the spiders which will truly send even the bravest of us darting away in terror, and for which you are going to need more than a rolled up newspaper. Moments after being bitten, the porters were reported to have become feverish and delirious, their extremities swelled up considerably, and death followed shortly after. Lurking within the thick, nearly impenetrable jungles of the most remote parts of primarily the Democratic Republic of Congo, but also Cameroon, Uganda and the Central African Republic, are said to be enormous ground dwelling spiders which the natives of the region refer to as J’ba Fofi (pronounced ch-bah foo fee), which literally translates to “giant spider.” Through various conversations with local tribes, it soon became apparent that not only did the natives know of them and see the giant spiders on a fairly regular basis, but that they had a good deal of knowledge about their behavior and life cycle. The problem with an exoskeleton is that it is heavy, which at smaller sizes is not really a problem. Gibbons’ information is very intriguing to me not only for its detail, but also because it demonstrates that the tribes of the area saw the J’ba Fofi as a very real flesh and blood creature and a real part of their world. This limitation of the respiratory system of arachnids puts a cap on how big they can get, and the largest known spiders today are the Goliath birdeater (Theraphosa blondi), which can have a leg span of up to 11 inches (28 cm) and can weigh over 170 g (6.0 oz. Yet the problem with these methods of respiration is that neither one of them is particularly efficient for exchanging atmospheric gas when dialed up to large sizes and this limits the sizes attainable by terrestrial insects and arachnids. Many people feel a natural aversion or revulsion to spiders. On the way, he fights a giant spider. I have linked the video here for you to see and draw your own conclusions. They call it the J’ba Fofi and, if you’ve got arachnophobia, it’s your worst nightmare. With Johnny Weissmuller, Sherry Moreland, William Henry, Lyle Talbot. In fact, in Equatorial Africa, there are said to be spiders more like the size of a large monkey or a dog, which prowl through the darkened underbrush and our nightmares as well. The size of your thumbnail? The Congolese Giant Spider is a cryptozoological creature that is said to exist in the Congo, possibly representing a new species of arachnid. ), and the giant huntsman spider (Heteropoda maxima), which is not as heavy but has a longer leg span at 12 inches (30 centimeters) and incidentally was discovered in Laos only recently in 2001, despite being so frighteningly large. The good news is they are not deadly. Sep 4, 2015 - Many people feel a natural aversion or revulsion to spiders. It was not long before at least two giant spiders with leg spans of around 4 feet across pounced upon the ensnared men and bit them before Simes was able to drive them off with his pistol. Directed by William Berke. Until then, it might be best to keep an eye to the ground while exploring the jungles of Africa and be wary of any tangles of webs that may cross the path, just in case. Reports from missionaries in the region and natives have suggested that the spiders are even known to kill humans on occasion and that their venom is extremely potent, which is illustrated by old reports from the jungle choked African interior of porters or tribesmen succumbing to giant spider bites in short order. Presumably it is an unknown and very rare species of arachnid, and its fame has grown enormously in recent years. Although the giant spider is most known for living in remote regions of the Congo, its range apparently extends even farther than that! The J'ba Fofi, also known as the "Congolese giant spider" is an African cryptid that has been mainly seen in the Congo. "I first became aware of a giant ground-dwelling spider through Miss Margaret Lloyd, … Comments Off. The description of the spiders is very matter-of-fact, and there seems to be no attempt on the natives’ part to play up the attributes of the spiders or make them seem like anything other than just another of the many denizens of the jungle, with a normal life cycle like any other real organism. If you liked this post, consider exploring the website further. This makes retargetting less likely. Tags africa Creepy cryptid Cryptozoology Mystery Animals spider cryptid spiders Strange Creatures. In the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, returning from a mission by helicopter, he reported having seen an enormous snake as he flew over the forests. At first, they thought it was a cat or a monkey, but they soon realized it was a spider with legs nearly 3 feet long. Spiders have either book lungs, which are respiratory organs consisting of stacked alternating air pockets and tissue, or a tracheal respiratory system consisting of a network of small tubes that branch out into the body, which is present in many insects as well. Another report of giant spiders comes from Uganda during the 1890s, when an English missionary named Arthur Simes was exploring along the shores of Lake Nyasa. Violin Spider. The problem with the tales of such colossal spiders prowling through African jungles to me is not that sightings are few and far between or that we know of them mostly from native accounts, nor even that we have no real physical evidence for them. The spider first gained recognition in 1938 with a sighting made by married couple Reginald and Margurite Lloyd. Feel free to comment down below any ideas you may have! This could just as easily have been a deer or some other animal that was distorted by the poor lighting.