in the Victorian/Edwardian era there were quite a few sightings of giant Anacondas ranging from 60 to 100ft; does anybody here believe these so called sightings, if so; why haven't there been any recently? in addition; where can i go on the web to read about these giant snakes:)

Malcolm,

This site is a picture of a huge anaconda.  http://members.iinet.net.au/~bush/anaconda.html

This site also gives some info on anacondas.http://www.wf.net/~snake/anaconda.htm

I couldnt find any info on any that were that big though.  Sorry.

Jamie

thanks for that; that snake is huge about 25ft, a 30 ft Anacoda has a body girth the same as a man's chest. i notice from the photo the weight of the snake, those Indians are really struggling!
there was a story of a group of explorers that encountered an Anaconda that had fallen asleep while swallowing a deer, they shot it and measured it; its head was 20 inches wide by 24 inches long and its body was 3ft wide!..it was 80 ft long; they measured it 3 times with a piece of string...these measurements are spot on compared to a 30 footer;
i drew a 30 footer on Autocad and scaled it up to
80ft!.....i have many stories like this taken from
Arthur c Clark, he has actually seen a photo of a 130 footer caught and towed down river by Indians.
this snake would weigh about 4 tons!
that 80 footer above would swallow you in one go; its jaws are wider than your sholders.
i'm convinced this monster exists (too many sightings).......more accurately; these sightings reflect this snake's nature

I've also heard about such massive snakes. There was an incident a few years back, when a man was actually eaten by a huge snake. I'm not sure how it happened, but locals took to loading the snake onto the back of a lorry, so that they could try and cut it open and rescue the man. Some photographs of the incident showed a huge bulge in the snake where the man was.

The snake was later cut open, however the man had died inside of it. It just goes to show how dangerous these snakes can be. Being bitten by one is nothing compared to being physically consumed by one !

Malcom
By using the search engine  http://www.google.com/ there was a variety of web sites to visit. Most notably  http://www.theunexplainedsite.com/giantanacondas.shtml     and  http://website.lineone.net/~oddweb/oddzoo/a/giant_anaconda.htm   The longest specimen that has been reliably recorded is twenty-four feet. Natives of the Amazon know of a creature, called Sucuriju gigante. The snakes are known to grow up to at least sixty two feet in length and some reports have them growing up to one hundred fifteen feet!

Lieutenant Colonel Percy Fawcett was exploring the Rio Abunã, near the intersection of the Rio Negro in southern Brazil, when the head of a Giant Anaconda surfaced next to his canoe. Several feet of the creatures back also came to break the muddy water as it moved towards the riverbank. Without hesitation, Fawcett shot and killed the creature with his pistol. After paddling to the shore, he found the creature to be "a length of forty five feet out of the water and seventeen feet in it making a total of length of sixty two feet." The explorer also told of another species of snake, nicknamed the "Sleeper", which is said to be black and much larger.

The stories are too numerous to mention here, but if you're interested, take a look at the web sites. They are very interesting. But keep in mind that scientists only consider accurately recorded snakes, and to haul several tons of snake a hundred feet long (if it even exists)through the largest jungle in the world just to take a measurment and get weighed is an almost impossible task.

I hope this helps
Homer

thanks for all your work Homer; i'll take a look

i took a look at those photos; that photo of a monster snake lying in the water with a hut in the background looks clearly fake; too light in colour plus the water looks suspect too!..i expect all those sightings by the local Indians are in fact giant Anacondas; just dark in colour. many Anacondas have a dark grey/black spine area, a snake like that lurking in a lake/river/swamp would be virtually impossible to detect; so well cmouflaged! Considering these areas are rarely visited its hardly surprising Westerners have no proof; only in the Victorian times were there any sightings; nowadays people dont stay long enough. Areas visited are the popular areas on the main river flow, to find this monster you'd have to travel deep into the jungle, this is never done.
Even the Brazilian embassy said to me that nobody ever ventures deep into the jungle; not even Brazilians, too dangerous...the tv nature documentaries we see on the Amazon are all filmed close to populated areas. to find this monster you'd have to travel to some deep dark swamp and stay there a month while finding someting to occupy yourself with (oil painting etc).......more likely to spot something while occupied, all the sightings were like this, in addition;
movement is detected in the perifial vision zone while doing something else, rather than staring directly ahead!.....if this monster is close by you'll sense something unnerving.....EERIE SILENCE!...the jungle will go quiet in your vaccinity. An 100 ft Anaconda is colossal; if well fed it's body would be about 33 inches wide; its head about 23 inches wide, unlikely to constrict you; more likely to crush you in its jaws and swallow you in one go, compared to him you're the size of a mouse to a Rattler!.....many of those reported sightings were chance encounters at close range (mentioned nowhere on the web; my investigations) whereby the Anaconda ignored the humans; this just could be that we're too small to eat! dont laugh, a 30 ft anaconda will ignore a rat; instead go for the Caiman, rat is far too small!.......that rat to a 30 footer is us to a 100 footer; mind you i wouldn't volunteer to test this theory! no way man!.....this brings one massive problem, what the hell does a 100 footer eat?
something the size of a horse and large prey aren't that common in the Amazon; unlike the Serengetti.

Malcolm

A snake that big would require large prey, just like you stated. In the Amazon Basin there isnt a whole lot of large animals, again like you stated. But like you said, most of the jungle isn't explored, and the thick jungle with it's closed canopy like vegetation makes it likely there are undiscovered animals in the amazon.

The rain forest is home to perhaps 100,000 plant species, 2,000 species of fish, and possibly 3 million animal species(of which 2 million are insect species, and 600 mammal species), which is by far the largest concentration of wildlife in the world.

The newly (June 1996) identified monkey (mico anão/dwarf cebus), no bigger than a squirrel, is the sixth primate species discovered by scientists in Brazil in the last six years. Although these recent discoveries cannot supplement the diet of a snake that large, it does leave open the POSSIBILITY of larger animals that have yet to be discovered.

One animal I thought would make a great meal for the great snake was the South American Manatee. Like the anaconda, the manatee likes shallow, slow moving waters, and spends most of the time by the river banks, just like the anaconda. The manatee averages 13ft in length and weighs about 3000 pounds. It would seem to make a great meal. Except from what I've read, the manatee has no natural enemies, and before human intervention, didnt have to worry about anything.

At any rate, it would seem unlikely, though not impossible, to find large enough animals for such a snake to eat. That being said, it would seem unlikely, though not impossible, for such a large snake to exist unless it feeds continually.

These are just my thoughts.
Malcolm, are you the Malcolm that wrote the article "Anaconda" essai and story by Malcolm at http://www.unipuma.cx/~python/anaconda3.htm   That was a very indepth article, with lots of information.

Homer

OH WOW, YES THAT'S MINE; its quite old though. the new version is miles better........i posted that in ages ago; i never even knew it was on the web, WHAT A SHOCK FANTASTIC TOO!.......
the new version has had major changes.

the bang up to date version explores human nature and the reasons why this monster hasn't been seen lately.
ITS DEFINATELY OUT THERE; but you just wont see it on a `two week vacation`........all you'll see are it's smaller brothers!.......it probably also hunts `fresh water Dolphin` in the main river flow and returns to a base camp to rest (a home lake)...this snake will swim miles a day and pass UNDERNEATH tourist boat excursions....(it hunts by hugging the river bed)...and launches an attack from out of the dark like a Great White!...as you know it also ``lurks``......but this monster will have to journey vast distances to find prey. that illustration on the other website where the guys are shooting at one, is about a 55 footer.....a 100 footer is much bigger than that; especially it's head; its head is the size of an average UK TELEVISION. that film Anaconda was total garbage,
good fun though; i've seen it 15 times!

Malcolm

If that article was your old, outdated one, then your current one must be a great read. Because I thought that article was well researched, well written, and it must have taken a great deal of your time to complete.

If that 100+ footer is out there, I sure wouldnt want to meet one. If they have been hidden for so long, yet swimming under tourists' boats, then it's intelligence would involve some kind of rational thinking.

Homer

I think the Giant Anaconda can be looked at in the same way as the Giant Squid was before it was conclusively proven to exist. In general, only a body will satisfy science, and until a 100ft giant Anaconda corpse is presented to the world, this mystery will live on. It seems like there's no limit to the sizes of animals in the world - there have been reports of evidence that suggest that Giant Squids exist of sizes in excess of 100ft long. Nobody has ever found or caught one, but they are readily believed to be out there.

The key is that their environment is so large and difficult to access, that the chances of finding one is extremely remote. I don't think there have been more than a handful of actual encounters with live Giant Squids ever. If massive Anacondas live in the deepest jungles, and underwater where nobody is likely to find them, they are likely to stay hidden from humans as easily as the Giant Squid has.

Aye, Jimmy P will show youz a Giant Ananconda,  ;) know wat I mean?

Jimmy "Hung like Ron Jeremy" Potzenpans

SaRuMaN

I found an article about a giant squid that was found dead washed up on a beach in Australia in 1997    http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9710/18/fringe.australia.squid/     The largest recorded giant squid was 18 meters(59.5 feet) long, and weighed one metric ton. The average size of a giant squid is about 6-13 meters(19.7-42.7 feet) long, and weighs 50-300kg.(110-661 lbs)

But with the vastness of the oceans, there is no telling how big they can get. Maybe the really giant ones rarely never get close to the surface. With the abundance of food, needing no light, and not needing to come up for air like whales, there is no reason to come up to the surface. They are already recorded as the largest creature in the world without a backbone

Homer[glow=color,strength,width]

i'll try to send new report to somebody who will be kind enough to upload it for me onto the web
i've no idea how to do this......i am planning to visit the amazon next year for a month or 2, it'll be a huge task to undertake......but firstly i'll need a decent map of the area. if this monster does exist it'll be in the remote areas and damned hard to spot...even close by....this jungle is the size of europe... the UK is full of Adders/Badgers/Pumas etc.......BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN ANY OF THESE....this explains everything......in that dense jungle i'm convinced the giant Anaconda exists, but spotting it will be very hard.........best time is at night also the most dangerous...this 100footer will grab you from about 25 ft away, on land it will be very sluggish, but in the water very nimble and inquisitive like an otter!........if you saw this snake; you could die of a heart attack........i saw one accurately portrayed in a nightmare while i was writing that report.......i kid you not its huge....its body is the size of a Russian oil pipeline...it would weigh about 4 tons.......its head is massive, disgustingly so..it would be about
22inches wide.............in my new report one of these monsters kills a T.REX; easily too...but it couldn't swallow it......far too big, a 100 footer would eat prey the size of a Wiberbeast.....i must find a way of uploading new report.........talk to you all soon

Malcolm,

Have fun in the Amazon.  Watch out for spiders too.  I hear they are the size of a persons head down there.  ICK  I would definetly go down there is there were no spiders.  ;D

Jamie

Malcolm,

Good luck with your visit to the Amazon.

Like Alien Big Cats, Pinemartins and the like in the UK, the Giant Anaconda is likely to be equally or even more difficult to find on demand. It's possible to spend months searching for a glimpse of a Pinemartin in Scotland, even though they are there somewhere. In an area hundreds of times more vast, filled up with nothing but rainforest, finding a rare Giant Anaconda would be a tremendous undertaking. Of course many people have attempted similar expeditions in the past, looking for Bigfeet and Yeti's etc. A recent Yeti hunt provided the Bigfoot community with some unidentified hair samples, alleged to be proof of the existence of the Yeti. Perhaps you will be able to uncover some similar evidence that helps to proove this creatures existence. In any case, a visit to the Amazon Rainforest in search of a giant snake sounds like the adventure of a lifetime !

Good luck with your trip  :)

this trip i'd have to do between jobs..i cant get the time off...i'd have to hand in my notice and dissapear and return a few months later.........the chances of seeing it are virtually zero..but i love wildlife and the Amazon is awesome!.been to the Everglades.didn't see anything there too.except a water snake and i stepped in a huge ant mound ha ha......that stung!..we went fishing there.
i'm convinced it exists..no doubts whatsoever...i'd take a large sealed tent to keep those spiders out!
i would have to visit the most remote swamps where nobody has gone before..this trip would also be mega expensive.i'd need a motor boat..full provisions.......first aid........and take something to do all day.......this is what surprised me about the everglades..it looks exciting for the first day......then it starts to get boring..MUST TAKE SOMETHING TO KEEP YOURSELF OCCUPIED.........there is a white guy that travels through the Amazon bare foot.....he's a researcher over there.....he's never been bitten!......you'll be surprised to read this.......these creepy crawlies aren't that common/avoid you too; if you're walking briskly!.....just dont look down ha ha!........you'll not notice most of them during the day; at night....THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!
also the Anacondas too.........basically you dont barge your way through thick undergrowth/ vegetation...but walk in clear areas and watch your step;D.......stealthily does it...........best thing to take is a large police dog! he'll warn you of danger.......he'll smell the snake on dry land, you and i will have no idea where it is..he'll know instantly!. worst danger are mosquitoes/ malaria etc

Malcolm

I sure wouldn't want to join you. Like Jamie, those spiders really freak me out. Largest snakes in the world, largest spiders in the world, what a nightmare.

I've been to the everglades too. I seen a few manatees, and some snakes. Like you said, it gets real boring. Mosquitos and fire ants is what I hate about it over there.

Homer[glow=color,strength,width]

Malcolm,
       i read in the paper about a year ago that a reporter went to the amazon to do a story and when he was there he caught the flesh eating virus and died a few weeks later So when you go there try not to cut yourself, because that's how it enters.
And watch out for leeches. They are well known for being **** suckers!  ;D

Heres a site that might answer some of your questions on the giant squid.

 http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/squid.html



             X

Malcolm & Homer,

   You guys may find this photograph interesting;



  It was taken by an explorer named Col.Rémy van Leeuwarde while flying over the Belgium Congo(No date given). It is supposedly a picture of a giant anaconda taken from a height of approx. 150 to 200 feet. Unfortuneatly there is no mention of anyone locating the exact area to try to get any kind of measurements from landmarks to help determine the snakes size.

MAGIKMAN

hi......i've seen that photo before, actually it was taken over the Congo; so that is probably a Boa constictor......about 45 ft long...there are reports of giant Boas too!, so that is quite believeable..BUT that photo looks fake to me, the snake looks in focus but the surrounding area strangely blured with no way to judge scale..the snake is also very dark in comparison to its surroundings........i think it's fake...why didn't they take more photos or get much closer?....i smell a rat!.......if you take a photo you need something close by to judge scale, in water it could be 30 or 60 ft long...on dry land..easier chuck a shoe close to its head and then take photos,
you'll definately need something like this.
anaconda is very sluggish on dry land so you should be safe throwing something from 20 ft away...but dont get any closer....the chances are if you saw a 100 footer at close range you'd die of fright...it would be a disgusting sight....all the eyewitness accounts say the same thing..a coiled up oil pipeline.. but of reptilian skin yuuch!..in one account a crew in a canoe rowed right over the top of one before they even spotted it.....10 ft of its body was on the bank 20 ft away and the rest of it was under their keel and this was in a shallow tributary!.....they wondered where the rest of it was LOOKED INTO THE WATER and saw a dark s-shaped shadow underneath them. they shot at it...missed and it swam off smashing into the underside of their canoe.......at first; they didn't know what it was because it was covered in Butterflies feeding off its skin yuuch!.it was fast asleep..
yes; 8 people didnt notice a 100 footer till they were right over it.......NO WONDER IT'S NEVER SEEN!
this isn't the type of thing that's made up...this story seems realistic to me; far more than that photo. ;D.........this monster exists and at the end of next year i'm off to find it; i've investigated this snake for some time and i'm convinced its out there but nobody so far has gone to the right places to spot it...........you're looking for a dark gloomy swamp....with a Jurassic atmosphere.....quiet, BUT CLOSE TO THE MAIN RIVER FLOW...DEADLY IMPORTANT!......MUST BE CLOSE....it feeds in the river but returns to a ``home base`` to crash out....this swamp will be a real spooky place....this snake will be spotted on the bank or part of its body on the bank....DONT LOOK FOR THE SNAKE.....look for tree fall/ logs on the bank/dark shadows....rotten/slimy tree fall...this will be the Anaconda........he'll not appear as a snake but in the disguise of a tree trunk!...like a Demon. as one of the eyewitness accounts said..`` i was so tired i shook with terror because i suddenly noticed the fallen tree trunk was moving!..i cant believe i didn't spot it earlier...the Anaconda is so well camouflaged!..its too hot and humid over there..i'll be tired all the time..as such; i'll not spot it...but i'll give it a go!...i expect many people have seen it but not noticed it......just a piece of log sticking out of the water and lying on the river bank!......the proof of this is the eye witness account above...8 people didn't see it till it was too late and only 20 ft way......THIS IS FRIGHTENING......AND JUST LIKE AN
ALIGATOR THIS SNAKE LURKS AND WAITS TO TRAP YOU...it is a master of the ambush tactic...thus if he's on dry land you're safe....he's not in hunting mode.....you could walk quite close to him. if he starts creeping into the water you're dead......just like an otter he's very alert
and inquisitive; he'll suddenly spring into life...he'll accelerate like a torpedo towards you.............he'll swim along the contours of the river bed and lunge upwards to grab you!
 ;D

;D Wow Malcom... you sound very enthousiastic about finding the biggest one yet. You seem very prepared and knowledgable about the snake. Tell me though... as you mentioned earlier...catching a 100 foot snake in the middle of nowhere can be done, it's bringing it in for the papers and proof that's the hard part. How will you get it out of the Jungle? Helicopter maybe?

interesting question...the problem is you need proof,one way is photographic proof that includes scale of size as mentioned before...i.e something everyone will recognise placed somewhere very close by..the problem with this is you need to be a good shot or get close to it!........other than this there is no other way..you cant get it out alive..
if its dead then a severed head is good enough; its skull!.this skull would be about 20 inches wide..flesh on the skull would be no good...it would rot and stink like crazy.....you'd never get it home.......remember this find is top secret you have to get this evidence out of brazil without them knowing.......this type of find is something you keep quiet about till you get ``safely home`` !!!..killing the beast? forget it...dont get too close...without a machine gun you wont kill it
and a rifle you have to hit it just right..this snake has the brain the size of a golf ball...you miss the brain you're dead...the chances are if you fired at it, it would retreat quickly.....others did!.....this snake will be ultra hard to spot most likely it'll spot you first......or when i'm there remain submerged all day.....it's only really active at night.it attacks during the day also but its mainly noctunal......THIS IS THE WORST CASE SCENARIO......if you're staying where it lives for 2 weeks..you'll have to be careful about midnight stroles by the swamp...you simply wont see it!...the only clue you might have is it'll be deadly quiet.....TOO QUIET!........i cant over emphasise this threat.....if this monster exists they'll be quite a few of them....the Anaconda is quite common...and the chances are there will be a big one nearby.. remember i'll be going where few humans stay for long.....this is another big clue choose a large swampy lake and stay for 3 weeks..
you'll not see a thing in A one day visit...YOU'LL HAVE TO STAY THERE......there are so little clues or ways of spotting this snake..infra red- heat seeking night vision might work.......other than this take a dog..he'll spot danger..but not if it's in the water..no scent!

Some of you will no doubt be familiar with Dr Mike O’Shea.  His recent television documentary series “O’Shea’s Reptiles” was very successful and has added to his weight as a serious expert in the field of reptiles.  A little less known fact is that around 3 or 4 years ago O’Shea headed an expedition into the Amazon region in search of giant snakes.
Now he did find anacondas ranging from 20 to 25ft in length he didn’t find any larger specimens.  What he did find though was evidence that giant snakes do exist.  At various times and points the Amazon is slightly shallower than normal result in wet mud flats extending between forks in the river.  Its normal for snakes to leave the river and cross these mud flats to reach another part of the river.  When they do they leave behind a distinctive pattern in the mud.  O’Shea discovered such patterns in a mud flat several kilometres across.  The pattern was similar to that made by the anaconda however the wide of the pattern was just over a metre.  That means the snake that made the journey across the mud flat was at least a metre wide.  Applying this to the anaconda meant that the snake in question could be anything from 70 to 80ft in length.  Again though as many have stated before, only a carcass will satisfy science.
O’Shea was perfectly willing to accept that giant species do exist in the unexplored regions of the world.  If only more ‘professional’ scientists would take a leaf out of his book and start to examine more of these so-called ‘fanciful tales’.

:)yes Fawcett mentioned he'd seen similar tracks too, the ones he saw were also a metre wide. i wonder when they cross these mud flats; maybe at night, its frightening to think that the anaconda could be somewhere near by. if it was crossing these wide open mud flats it would be very easy to spot; it would stand out a mile away, but once it entered the water it could be anywhere! probably long gone by the time you saw the tracks; i'm guessing they swim huge distances in search of prey.
i must admit it is still surprising that nobody has seen them recently; not really since the Victorian era..Indians yes but not Westerners.

Assuming, of course that this creature can live for quite some time, then it probably has learned that man = danger.  Thus menas that most of the larger ones probably stay out of sight and feast at the most ungodly hours of the night.  That is assuming that giant annacondas exist.

the Anaconda is not intelligent enough to think this
(i dont think so anyway).it would see a human as nothing more than prey! the Anaconda isn't as intelligent as the Reticulated Python......i cant explain to my own satisfaction why its never seen, just flimsy excuses..it could be that its so big it rarely comes ashore, but rests with only its head clear of the surface and a few feet of its body. therefore its even harder to spot than a 20 footer.
i'm guessing as it gets older its feeding habits change and it searches more for larger prey (it has to because large prey are rarer).the Amazon is so damned large that it could be anywhere..even if there were 300 you'd still not spot them in an area the size of europe!.i'm wondering when the best time to visit is, probably the monsoon season when its damp and humid!

i'll be going to the Amazon at christmas time (Manus)for only 2 weeks, this is just to find out what its like and to gather information ( a scouting mission if you like just to suss the place out) the major excursion wont be until the end of 2002. i'm looking while over there for places to visit; where i can dissapear to i.e swampy areas. this main visit in 2002; i'm looking at about 2 months, i'll pick 3 to 4 places and stay there for a few weeks each!........i'm looking for photographic evidence only with scale of size included, nothing more than this on that visit!
i might see something at christmas time; i'll hire a boat, but i doubt it...Manus is too well populated!.i dont expect giant Anacondas to be anywhere near here but in remote swampy areas that are close to the main river flow choose a main tributary; travel up it for a few days and find a large swampy lake near by!.......i think the lake
(its home) will be within ``slither`` distance of the river Amazon or its tributaries!.i think this monster travels long distances but always returns to a home base......AT NIGHT! thus it's never seen.

A big thanks to Malcolm for sending me his Anaconda essay to us for upload to the site. The essay is highly interesting and well worth a read, and can be viewed by visiting this URL :

http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/anaconda.htm

The essay is also accompanied by several photographs and drawings of the Anaconda and it's giant relative.

Thanks again to Malcolm, and good luck with your expeditions.

thanks Gareth:-
for all your help ;D my latest version of this essay has additional illustrations that members might quite like, the plans are to visit the Amazon at christmas time, i couldn't go last year because i lost my job a week before booking vacation...
i've heard of a giant spider called Megarachne that might also live in the Amazon.......this monster has a 20 inch legspan and a body about 13 inches long.....it's huge! it of course supposedly went extinct at the end of Carboniferous era. i've heard of nothing new concerning giant Anacondas, but i have heard they're making Anaconda 2.

Malcolm,
Yuck! How can you bring up giant spiders. Call me a sissy if you want, but spiders freak me out. That being said, I never heard of Megarachne before, but looked a little into it. For more information:
http://www.saddleworth.net/gedspage/megarachne.htm

Homer[glow=color,strength,width]

*shudders*

You would need a bloody big glass to catch that  :D

I don't know much about spiders or photography, but the picture looks fake. Like the picture of the spider was superimposed on the background picture.

Homer[glow=color,strength,width]

oh yes that picture's fake, in fact; it looks slightly different, that one is ``Goliath``.....but Megarachne had a beak of a mouth with a single 15mm dia eye..truly enormous maybe even bigger than 20``.....the fossil of it is huge, its body is about 5 inches wide by about 13 inches long...in the Congo (used to be joined to the Amazon) someone saw a giant spider in the swamps 4ft across, there are about 5 sightings of giant spiders like these. i really hate spiders this would seriously freak me out!.....Megarachne would have eated Rat sized mamals, and ``Goliath`` eats mice.....Megarachne didn't build a spiders web but roamed around on the forest floor hunting...that fossil found in Argentina at 20 inches across could have been a male.......the female is even larger, yuch!.......no reports of live specimens in the Amazon only the Congo, but of course nobody stays for long in the Amazon and this spider is mainly nocturnal. Goliath is bad enough at 12 inches across but just imagine finding this monster in your tent.

"...in the Congo, someone saw a giant spider in the swamps 4ft across, there are about 5 sightings of giant spiders like these."



Yep, thats one spider I wouldn't like to run into.  Ugh..just the thought of it... :-/

Tommy  

Uh, I Can't stand spiders, not even small ones. If I came across a 12 inch spider you'd have to pick me up off the floor before I would be able to do anything.

<Shudder>

The last spider i killed i drenched it in insect killer and just to make sure it was dead i got a few needles from my mum's sewing kit and stabbed a few times just to make sure it was dead


people can be so cruel sometimes. hehehe

in addition, they have giant centipides over 17'' long and they are nasty, they have mega bad attitudes. they eat mice,rats etc and have a dreadful bite. they're worst than the Goliath spider in terms of viciousness, i think they're even uglier than the spiders! they also have giant wasps that fight and paralyse the Goliath, lay eggs in it......i doubt Megarachne still exists this was around over 250 million years ago, in the era of giant 26'' wingspan Dragonflies; the Carboniferous era. there is a possibility that Giant ground sloth, 9ft tall Terror bird and even Sabre tooth cat could still exist....Smyladon. i've downloaded a map at home of the Amazon region; its totally enormous about 80 percent of the size of USA.........i'm telling you giant anacondas exist, but without photographic proof forget it.........Manus is a good destination as is Venezuela, swamps are best but a serious health hazzard, the mosquito although common doesn't carry the same threat as it does in Africa, Borneo.......Malaria isn't that common in the amazon, but what does bug me are those Goliath spiders, at night time they're everywhere.
there is a Brit that lives over there he walks through the jungle barefoot and never been bitten.......its all tv hysteria, these creepy crawlies aren't that common. its a bit similar to the Florida Everglades.....when you get there you think ``well what``.....even the Gators and water snakes dont take your breath away, you're just aware of them.........the Amazon is actually a place that might even bore you, just miles and miles of plain jungle unless you dig around in the undergrowth you might not see anything.......strange thing to say maybe but that is exactly what the Everglades were like......exciting for an hour then you get used to it.  

the essay i wrote was exciting on purpose, i made it colourful..but i doubt it would be like this. you're more likely to discover something else there rather than this snake........i think this snake is way too alusive. a priest that stayed over there had only 2 sightings in 9 years.
still worth a visit simply for a holiday!

Malcolm that is an exciting essay. It sounds to me that visiting the Amazon is like a dream to you. If I had such a desire to visit someplace specific, I would do everything I can to accomplish that visit. Even if you're not successful at seeing the Giant Anaconda, it could prove to be quite educational in terms of real life experience, especially if you want to continue to search for this elusive creature throughout your life. And goliath be damned >:(

4ft spider  :s01

leaving now after my imagination showed me what it would look like roaming around my flat eeekk!!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys offing spiders. :s8

I usually beat them till they're a gooey paste. I let them dry, then vacuum them up. No way will I touch one unless absolutely necessary (which it ain't!).

Watching 'The Chronicle', last night, where people were sucked up into an oven, which sent them to some other dimension where their worst fears were realized, I kept picturing spiders and snakes if I were to be sent there.  :s4  Fortunately, I'm not prone to nightmares.  :sn

Yuk on the giant anacondas...I curse them with indigestion!  :s2

Dalia

;D that's what i like about Anacondas, spiders etc its the horror that i find alluring and a mystery waiting to be discovered :sg.......
life is pretty mundane at the best of times and i think it's important to have a goal in life other than a career. :si
i agree i cant stand spiders snakes are great but spiders make my skin crawl :'(
i dont know what it is about spiders i think it's because they creep about the place and turn up when least expected, but that centipede is even worst. :s01
when i was in Florida i went outside for a cigarette late at night, something crawled across my bare feet...i took off did the 100 metres in 9.8, it was a bloody great frog
i was well scared...........felt just like a spider :s01
they have these giant 6ft cobwebs in the everglades with these spiders slap bang in the middle......totally revolting sight......they have long thin legs with a body like a half smoked cigar, about 6 inches across.... we were out fishing i spent most of the day transfixed by this spider; it didn't move once :s01
In the Amazon, Jaguars will avoid humans so will Goliath
also to an extent will the Anaconda, but the giant centipede will attack, it's a vicious sod :s8
the guy that keeps them as pets never touches them, just looks at them......trouble is; they're damned ugly too :s03

This one of the same page is just a Gross!!!  Big ugly insects.... they all disgust me  :s01

http://www.saddleworth.net/gedspage/images...olopendra01.jpg

hmmmmmm i wonder if he plays around with his pics.... what do you think  ;D


{http://www.saddleworth.net/gedspage/images/Ged+Atlasbeetle01.jpg}

Weeeee...that looks fun. :s03 Insects are a little creepy. I can see a giant anaconda living in the rainforest, they are always finding new species in the Amazon.  ;D

http://wintersteel.homestead.com/Unexplain..._Creatures.html
giant congo snake, on more recent sightings.

aaawwww the snakes sound so beautiful . pheenix wants a snake. not a giant anaconda though. pheenix is not wanting to wake up in a snakes stomach.