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Giant Grasshopper?


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So I found this on the net, and I really can't believe that its true.

101539.jpg

What do you guys think?

The site says:

32.5 lbs found in Maungawhau NEW ZEALAND

Specie Name:Calecus Grasshopper

The name alone makes it very suspicious.

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ROFLZ t-rex, anyways nah i've seen that pic before i dun think it's real altho i have seen my fair share of large grasshoppers can't posibly grow that big thats dinosaur times huge lol. The tarantula hawk wasp surprises me i've seen lots of em where i live but never as big as the one depicted in the photo, interesting.

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Doing a quick check, the largest grasshopper currently is a 4 inch grasshopper in Florida. (Hey, that's around here then!)

I'm not sure one that size could even hop. Square cube law, it'd be just to big and to heavy.

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So I found this on the net, and I really can't believe that its true.

101539.jpg

What do you guys think?

The site says:

32.5 lbs found in Maungawhau NEW ZEALAND

Specie Name:Calecus Grasshopper

The name alone makes it very suspicious.

Chuckle! A few points do make this one "rather" suspect:

1) Note sun angle - Sun apparently almost directly to the left of the young gentleman.

2) Note apparent dark shadow just below the pocket opening of the young gentleman's left front pants pocket. Given the trophy grasshopper's perspective placement, may not one expect to see more shadowing of the gentleman's left leg?

3) Photo would appear to be '50's/early '60's vintage. Note belt, amongst other factors.

4) Though shadowed, rifle would appear to be a Winchester Model 94 or variant. Over the years, this rifle was produced in a number of calibers. Though the most well-known and common caliber was the .30-30 (quite suitable for larger game), one of the calibers produced was the rather light-weight .25-20, which was suitable for smaller game.

Doctored rabbit hunt?

Also, as per ShadowSot's contribution, a grasshopper of this dimension would, due to size, suffer from respiratory failure.

The following is quite amusing:

http://www.dochemp.c...rasshopper.html

Edit: Punctuation.

.

Edited by Swede
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Well, here in NZ we do have rather large bugs. Such as, The Giant Weta which i have been (un)lucky enough to encounter in a walk through old railway tunnels. Im sure it was bigger then the 8" max length quoted in the link. You may remember this bug from the latest king kong movie.

But 32 pounds, thats crazy.

And Swede, that link is hilarious

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Also a grasshopper of that size would be considerably heavy....he seems to be holding it up effortlessly.

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Well, here in NZ we do have rather large bugs. Such as, The Giant Weta which i have been (un)lucky enough to encounter in a walk through old railway tunnels. Im sure it was bigger then the 8" max length quoted in the link. You may remember this bug from the latest king kong movie.

But 32 pounds, thats crazy.

And Swede, that link is hilarious

Glad that you enjoyed the "reference". Not all readers would catch the inside humor!

.

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Well, here in NZ we do have rather large bugs. Such as, The Giant Weta which i have been (un)lucky enough to encounter in a walk through old railway tunnels. Im sure it was bigger then the 8" max length quoted in the link. You may remember this bug from the latest king kong movie.

But 32 pounds, thats crazy.

And Swede, that link is hilarious

Oooh, I've seen a few of those in my garage and on the road at night a few times. Much smaller though, probably only about an inch.

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Chuckle! A few points do make this one "rather" suspect:

1) Note sun angle - Sun apparently almost directly to the left of the young gentleman.

2) Note apparent dark shadow just below the pocket opening of the young gentleman's left front pants pocket. Given the trophy grasshopper's perspective placement, may not one expect to see more shadowing of the gentleman's left leg?

3) Photo would appear to be '50's/early '60's vintage. Note belt, amongst other factors.

4) Though shadowed, rifle would appear to be a Winchester Model 94 or variant. Over the years, this rifle was produced in a number of calibers. Though the most well-known and common caliber was the .30-30 (quite suitable for larger game), one of the calibers produced was the rather light-weight .25-20, which was suitable for smaller game.

Doctored rabbit hunt?

Also, as per ShadowSot's contribution, a grasshopper of this dimension would, due to size, suffer from respiratory failure.

The following is quite amusing:

http://www.dochemp.c...rasshopper.html

Edit: Punctuation.

.

Bloody good post mate! I'll go with what this guy says. I mean come on, if they ever got something this big do you not think we would have heard it about now?!?!

And if they did, do you not think you would be able to buy it in McDonalds by now!!!

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Reminds me of those post cards they try to sell the tourists with people holding up unusually large fish or standing by one.

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Reminds me of those post cards they try to sell the tourists with people holding up unusually large fish or standing by one.

This is what it reminded me of.

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Its from Weekly World News. An issue from the early 90's or so. God I loved that magazine. So ridiculous.

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There is not enough oxygen saturation in the air to support an insect that big. Higher oxygen levels is the only reason insects got as big as they did millions of years ago, it's just not possible with todays atmosphere.

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The grasshopper's a fake.

But that's a nice pre-war Model 1894 Winchester carbine he's holding. I can tell by the saddle ring on the left receiver.

I suspect this photo was fabricated in the 1950s or 1960s.

Definitely a fabrication.

But if he had a grasshopper that big, it would be good eating. Clean it out, bake it well to kill any parasites, and enjoy the meat that has a potato taste.

Now you know where McDonald's gets all the potatoes for its French fries! :devil:

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101539.jpg

This is probably legitimate, because the proper way to hold a giant grasshopper is by grasping the air in front of its legs after all.

Edited by Soul Kitchen
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That reminds me of the "hoppers" that I've heard quite alot about.

Supposedly they were driven to extinction by a band of gluttonous boy scouts.

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back when i was in 2nd grade my friends and i found a living grasshopper that was about 4-6 inches long we killed it then i think a bird got it but it was the biggest grasshopper i have ever seen

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Its from Weekly World News. An issue from the early 90's or so. God I loved that magazine. So ridiculous.

LOL. Yeah, I remember that one as well!

I've not read it in years, but it was always fun to grab an issue when we were travelling.

Of course, the more recent ones are now so ridiculous that it's like a dare to see how bad they can do it.

It used to be that at least the writers were pretending this stuff was real.

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  • 3 months later...

I think in the original photo he would probably be holding a rabbit or hare. Definitely would not be holding up holding up 23lb effortlessly like that.

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Am I the only oldie here?

These postcards were very popular during the WWII period I think. Giant insects and vegetables were commonly featured on postcards.

Here is a little girl dancing with a Giant Beetle

tumblr_lcrzeo8wsD1qzfsnio1_400.jpg

And Some Giant Veges! (more popular I believe)

exagpostcard2.jpg

2402913701_10f06754ab.jpg

boy-scouts-tall-tale-exaggeration.jpg

Someones Flickr account with many examples link

577596733_0f2bd316c5.jpg

It is not real, it is a lark. BIG was just the theme at the time. Personally, I prefer those gorgeous pinup girls from the era.

Edited by psyche101
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