The Congolese Giant Spider is a cryptozoological creature that is said to exist in the Congo, possibly representing a new species of arachnid. Comments Off. They call it the J’ba Fofi and, if you’ve got arachnophobia, it’s your worst nightmare. Now, how big would you say a spider would have to be before you ran away screaming? June 18, 2020. 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. 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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. 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. said Robert B. Durham. Regardless of the validity of the video, the J’ba Fofi might have something important to reveal about human psychology as it relates to spiders and other creepy crawlies. 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. Their preferred method of hunting was said to be laying an ambush for prey by weaving a series of webs between trees on either side of a game trail and lying in wait within a ditch covered with a pile of leaves woven together with webbing and said to be reminiscent of a pygmy hut. The newly hatched young spiders were said to be a bright yellow color with a purple abdomen, and gradually became a dark brown as they matured. Are these misidentifications of some other creature? The size of your thumbnail? The good news is they are not deadly. Jba Fofi Jba Fofi is the name the Baka tribespeople of the Congo have given this creature. on Giant Spider in the Congo (WITH VIDEO) #congo spider, #giant spider, #jba fofi. 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. Witnesses describe the spider as brown, with purple markings on the belly, and three-foot-long legs. Giant Spiders have a terrifyingly low attention span, switching targets often. Perhaps the sightings could even tell us something about human psychology. 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. If they existed, they may already be extinct. The largest known spider is the South American bird-eating spider, which goes by the name of Theraphosa blondi. These are both disturbingly large spiders to be sure, but quite possibly the maximum size attainable for a spider and still nowhere near the incredible sizes reported for the J’ba Fofi. 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. Thanks for reading! The bad news is a four-inch spider … He writes blogs about his travels; everything from searching for living dinosaurs to psychedelic shamanism and analytical psychology. 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. 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. 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. Is this a case of misidentification, or is there really a giant spider lurking in the jungle? Campers heard so many stories of villagers finding burrows and giant webs that they set up trail cameras as they were sleeping. How big would it need to be to really freak you out? 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. It is not known how large they grow but tribespeople say they have seen them as large as five foot and that is just their body length. Even if that were the case, there is still another, perhaps even more insurmountable obstacle to face and that is their exoskeleton. Tonight the PRT crew discuss encounters with giant versions of everyone's favorite eight legged friends! 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. 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 … Presumably it is an unknown and very rare species of arachnid, and its fame has grown enormously in recent years. Pictures on Google’s mapping tool show what could be the massive insect scuttling on an island off the coast of Mexico. 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. Is it possible that we are projecting our own instinctual fears onto nature? Murphy says spiders may have stowed away in crates that came through Atlanta’s airport at some point. 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. 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. 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. According to the Congo natives, the giants seem to be disappearing. The mere sight of a spider can leave a lot of us cringing, recoiling, jumping away, or reaching for a rolled up newspaper. Right now I guess they're knd of like bigfoot- they may be there, but they are not proven to be. The violin spider belongs to the family Loxosceles and is known in other parts of the … Recently I've been hearing about the different myths and legends behind giant spiders (5 1/2 foot long) in the Amazon Rainforest. According to cryptozoologists, most of the J'ba FoFi dwell in the Congo. 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 a new species. Chad Many Jr. Violin Spider. The J’ba Fofi of the African Congo. Besides the fact that no such spider has been documented by science there seems to be no reason to assume they would be lying about such things and this has all of the hallmarks of an ethnoknown animal, or one that is known by natives or locals but is not typically yet formally recognized by outsiders or science. In the nearby country of Mozambique, a video has surfaced that claims to have captured the J’ba Fofi on camera! There’s more Cryptozoology posts just like this one, posts about the strangest plant psychedelics known, theories on ancient history, a virtual art gallery, and much more! In 1959, Remy Van Lierde served as a Colonel in the Belgian Air Force at the Kamina airbase in Belgian occupied Congo. 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. 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.” 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. The J'ba Fofi, also known as the "Congolese giant spider" is an African cryptid that has been mainly seen in the Congo. [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. The major problem with the J’ba Fofi, or indeed any reports of giant spiders around the world, has always been more one of physiology. This could just as easily have been a deer or some other animal that was distorted by the poor lighting. 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. Many people have claimed they witnessed giant spiders in the Congo. Your hand? Several giant spiders swiftly descended upon them, injecting the men with poisonous venom. 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. 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. Whether the Congo spider is real, or a myth remains to be seen. What does it mean when we venture into dark, unknown parts of the jungle, only to come back with tales of terrifying monsters for which we have little evidence? It waits silently for prey to come wandering by and, much like a trapdoor spider, lunges out and devours its victim. The mere sight of a spider can leave a lot of us cringing, recoiling,... Read more » Could there be genetic memories within us of the giant, now extinct, monsters that our ancestors had to face? 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. 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. 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. The mysterious breed is said to exist in the Congo is alleged to be as large as a monkey. Tags africa Creepy cryptid Cryptozoology Mystery Animals spider cryptid spiders Strange Creatures. If you liked this post, consider exploring the website further. Nothing wrong with a few giant spiders … "I first became aware of a giant ground-dwelling spider through Miss Margaret Lloyd, … 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 … A dinner plate? You know, the spider that lived in the mountains of Mordor and tried to eat Frodo. Get the MegaPack collection now for this great price. Although the giant spider is most known for living in remote regions of the Congo, its range apparently extends even farther than that! According to the account, the Lloyds were exploring in a remote region of what was then known as the Belgian Congo when they spied a dark shape skitter out from the underbrush and across the road in front of them. 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. 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”. 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. 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. I have linked the video here for you to see and draw your own conclusions. Chad Many Jr is an independent filmmaker, podcast host, world traveler, and internet personality. 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. The J'ba Fofi are said to prey on large animals, such as deer, birds, and would not be above eating humans. Many people feel a natural aversion or revulsion to spiders. Common lure in the Plains of Havoc. Strategy. The first is respiration. Jungle Jim must protect rare pony-like animals whose glands produce a powerful narcotic. Simes claimed he drove the giant spiders off with his pistol. 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. 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.” The J’ba Fofi are said to be reminiscent of a tarantula in both form and color, with adults exhibiting a dark brown coloration, but the real difference is in the size, as the Congolese Giant Spiders are said to attain leg spans of anywhere between an unsettling 4 to 6 feet. The J'ba Fofi are said to be golden when young but turn brown when older. The body of this giant spider is brown in maturity and bright yellow with purple abdomen in its youth. What this means for the spider is that its exoskeleton will at some point become too heavy for it to carry or for it to even move. EP83 - Giant Spiders! However, Megaphobema is best known for its aggressive temperament. Copyright © Mysterious Universe. 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. 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. 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. Feel free to comment down below any ideas you may have! Sep 4, 2015 - Many people feel a natural aversion or revulsion to spiders. 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. Is it possible the reports are of some very large spider, but perhaps the sizes have been exaggerated somehow? Natives tell stories of the giant web-nests the spiders build, similar to a trap-door spider. People report children and pets being carried off and eaten. The spider first gained recognition in 1938 with a sighting made by married couple Reginald and Margurite Lloyd. They call it the J’ba Fofi and, if you’ve got arachnophobia, it’s your worst nightmare. That does not mean nothing larger than Rosi exists. But could there be a spider that does? 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 name literally means ‘Giant Spider’. It is a formidable challenge for any arthropod (a creature with an exoskeleton) to overcome if it is to become very large. Directed by William Berke. Later, all the men's extremities swelled, they grew feverish, delirious and then died. 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. The problem with an exoskeleton is that it is heavy, which at smaller sizes is not really a problem. When they woke up the next morning and checked the footage, they were shocked at what they saw! And we're not just talking Goliath birdeater giant, either, we're talking Shelob giant. It is said to burrow a hole between the roots of large trees and camouflage itself with leaves. Many species of spiders have both. Bear in mind that a great many new species that were discovered, including ones that at one time were even considered fantastical or absurd, such as the gorilla, okapi, and panda, were at some point ethnoknown animals, and native accounts of the creatures which they take as a fact of life but for which we have no strong evidence yet are not always to be brushed off or dismissed so lightly. The discovery has prompted fears that the J’Ba Fofi – also known as the Congolese Giant Spider – has spread to central America. With Johnny Weissmuller, Sherry Moreland, William Henry, Lyle Talbot. 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. The answers to these questions are likely to elude us until we find more evidence of the existence of the J’ba Fofi, or even some proof that its existence is physiologically feasible. 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. But the huntsman is … 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. 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. One of the most famous of these sightings happened in 1938 When Reginald Lloyd and his wife were exploring the Congo region. ), 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. In the remote jungles of Africa mainly in the Congo region there are legends about huge spiders that can trap and eat human beings. On the way, he fights a giant spider. Some can … This makes retargetting less likely. 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. 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. 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. Congo; Papua New Guinea. There are two main hurdles for a spider to get to the sizes reported here. 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. 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. To put it simply, the weight of the exoskeleton is growing faster than the strength of the muscles that support and move it. 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 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. Almost. 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. 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. Moments after being bitten, the porters were reported to have become feverish and delirious, their extremities swelled up considerably, and death followed shortly after. 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. In one occasion, a J'ba Fofi was said to have dragged off a dog from a village.
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