What in the hell is this thing and why is it in my house

[feclnogn]

Ok folks here is my problem. I am sitting here next to my computer strumming my guitar and I look down at the ground and this big brown thing with ever bigger brown teeth goes scurrying past my feet. Well I let out a scream ran around the house in a panic and called the wife to exterminate this little fugger. She saw this thing and let out a scream and then ran around the house panicking as well. After she convinced me to come out from under the covers Idispatched this with a well place hit from a yellowstone walking stick. Please see the pics and tell me what this is. Did I narrowly escape a painful and lingering death. This thing has me freaked out. Its about 6 feet long and four feet high. should I call the pesticide folks or should I move.

Please help, I am scarred and want know what to do.

 

[ELKCHSR]

IT has to be an Aracnid of some sort I would guess, it has eight legs...

 

[Kraven]

Looks like a Scorpion but hell I have never seen one before so dont take my word for it

 

[Elkhunter]

That is one scarey fugger for sure. I think it is time to move away from there.

 

[wilecoyote76]

Maybe it's one of those Camel Spiders from Iraq!! That thing gives me the willies that's for sure. I bet that 'school girl' scream was something else, too!!!

 

[ELKCHSR]

Run it down to the local collage if you are fairly close to one and see if their bug department can tell you what it is.

 

[feclnogn]

Actually it is a camel spider or one of its relatives called a wind scorpion. They are from the Solifuge(SP) family. Evil little fuggers. Not poisonous though. I think I am moving to Alaska. I hate bugs.

 

[RogueWarrior1957]

We have those little guys around here as well. They are relatives of the camel spider, but I'm not sure what their scientific name is. They are known around NW New Mexico as Vinegaroons or Sun-spiders. I heard one guy refer to them as a pseudo-scorpion. They are voracious hunters of insects, and we used to see them at the plant when I worked shiftwork in operations. I was a lab technician, and caught one in a beaker to "study" him. Now get this...this is the same old boy who is deathly afraid of spiders! I went outside and caught a miller moth and threw it in the beaker. Our little friend pounced like a cat on a fat field mouse...both sets of jaws working independently of the other...and baled that moth up in a tidy little bundle. After a period of munching and turning his prey, he expelled the wings, legs, and other dry parts after extracting all the soft stuff. As far as I know, they are not poisonous, but they do have a nasty temper and fear nothing! I discovered that they do not like stink-bugs. My counterpart started teasing the little guy with a Bic pen...those antennae-like things have little suction cups on the tip instead of the pincers that all true scorpions have, and he came right up the side of that beaker with them and came after us. Then's when I did my impersonation of Jesse Owens!

 

[Elkhunter]

They are ugly, creepy, scarey and just don't look normal.

 

[pawclaws]

It is a Vinegaroon. They are not poisonous.

 

[ELKCHSR]

That's cool guy's....
I like spiders, will welcome them and let them live, I will even just toss them outside alive if they are in the house...
One thing to keep in mind when you see spiders in the house....
They don't eat dust, nor vegetable matter (your house plants)...
They are carnavours which means you have other bugs in the house if you find spiders....

 

[danr55]

I've seen those before. They were called Ghost Scorpions. Scarey as hell to look at, and they can bite you (I'm told) but they are not dangerous to life or limb. Go back to strummin' and thunkin'and everything should be fine...

 

[JohnSWA]

Yup! It's a vinegaroon!

 

[smalls]

Poisonous or not, seeing one of those would send my voice into another octave. Never seen a scorpion and never want to. Cockroaches give me the damn willies too.

 

[Gunner46]

6 FEET LONG!!!!

And you whacked it with your cane?

You DA MAN !!!!

Kinda looks like one of those Alein Spider thingy's in the new 'Lost In Space'. "Danger Will Robinson....Danger" !!!!!

 

[2fastnaz]

Man I'd load a shotgun . Thats the hariest one I've ever seen. Maybe he didn't like your guitar playing and came to complain.

 

[wyomingtim]

I think Alaska sounds better all the time.

 

[scottymack]

Do you have a license to kill those..... oh wait that's California only

 

[ELKCHSR]

LMAO!!! I think some may even have been dancing on a chair, wondering if that was high enough off the floor to keep the ghastly beasts from devouring them and their children ...

 

[Dennis Cash]

Sun Spider, Vinegaroon, Wind spider, all names for the same family of critters. They won't hurt you, but make you hurt yourself getting away from them. We have one in the garage that is about 3" across....no bugs in the garage, but frequent panic attacks when we happen to see it.

C'mon down here guys, and I will show you some scorpions that will make you wet yourself.