A favourite animal of mine. No not sharks.
The giant centipedes.
Check out these fangs.


[url="http://www.hunt101.com/?p=242848&c=536&z=1"] [/url]


The big ones at 12" long are the king of the critter jungle. They prey on all the other champs - insects, scorpions, tarantulas etc.- even juvenile snakes and small rodents.


Karl.

You have them there Karl? I've seen film sof them overpowering huge tarantulas in South America. Hate to find one in my sleeping bag. Some are highly poisonous, I believe (?).

Nick,
Generally considered low level venom(though painful)and only localised reaction. However the biggest can output enough of it to make some people sick- which means potentially threaten an infant or sick elderly person, or someone with an allergic sensitivity.

We get the big Scolopendra sp. here in our rainforest belt which is similar in type and rainfall to the Amazon jungle .

You can see why they could overpower the poor old bird eating tarantulas and imperial scorpions being so fast and aggressive.

I know guys who breed and sell them. When its time to move them out of their cage for whatever reason they say its easier for novice owners to put the entire enclosure into a large freezer to slow the centipedes down a bit.

Karl.

Just another delightful creature I'm glad doesn't grow larger. Can you imagine dealing with a 10 footer? Should it charge, I'd shoot off as many legs as possible, on one side, so he'd go in circles until I could finish him!

Karl,

That cooling down reminded me of the Gosford reptile park.

I was up there one year and in the snake pit all the people aroud the fence and they bring a small American alligator around for the people to pat, but its jaws were not taped close.

I said to woman with me that I bet that bin they pulled it out of was ice water. And sure enough when you touched it he was real cold. He was only about 3 foot long.

Mike

Mike,
Not sure how cold effects insects and these other crawlies.They have a fair few antifreeze proteins in their bodies apparently, but it certainly slows them down a bit.

Nick, luckily the method of respiration I think it is that limits crawlies to the size they are or we would be in trouble.

If you could scale up a centipede to 10 ft like that I would have a well zeroed flame thower.
All necessary minutes of angle covered out to 40 yards


Karl.

I don't believe insects require sleep either.

If that's true, then mammals (and reptiles) would never have gotten past the precambrian if these things had been much bigger.

quote:

Originally posted by Karl:
Mike,
Not sure how cold effects insects and these other crawlies.They have a fair few antifreeze proteins in their bodies apparently, but it certainly slows them down a bit.

Nick, luckily the method of respiration I think it is that limits crawlies to the size they are or we would be in trouble.

If you could scale up a centipede to 10 ft like that I would have a well zeroed flame thower.
All necessary minutes of angle covered out to 40 yards


Karl.

Correct.
Insects breathe through small holes in the edges of their abdomens called spicules.
This method limits the size insects can reach in the current normal air pressure and oxygen density of our planet.


I read of an experiment where a cockroach was put into a pressurized and oxygen enhanced chamber and fed high protein food.
Roaches and many other insects apparently do not stop growing as long food and living space is available- this one reportedly reached 8 or 9 inches long....
And once removed from the pressure chamber died in seconds from asphyxiation.


-Badger-

I got bit by about a 6" one in Hawaii, in the foot, late at night, going to the bathroom. Hurt like hell, and, what you guys don't mention is they must carry 3 billion germs on their teeth, or whatever. Big time swelling, and infection, very dangerous when on your foot. Couldn't sleep, and trip to the hospital.

That one healed, but, I got bit two more times by two babies, or twice by one baby, about a foot from the privates, on the inside of my thigh.

When they tore up the front of the house, which was right on the beach, at Sunset BEach in Hawaii, it turned out the entire area was a giant wood pile, home to a giant family of the buggers...

Gone now...

gs