>>5173179
I’ve looked for years through pictures of possible bugs from the area and shown my dad. I’ve never found the bad bug. That could easily make sense, though. What fucking entomologist is ever studying on the outskirts of Mogadishu?
And that brings me to my point, soldiers are in a unique position to be fantastic wildlife observers. Being in dangerous places scientists would never go, sneaking around quietly at unusual hours of the day, watching the surroundings constantly for danger. Even though they’re not necessarily trying, they’re definitely going to see some shit. Goliath bird eaters were first described by soldiers who were told they were full of shit. I saw one at my local pet store recently.
Through all of Vietnam, there are descriptions of insane insects that really are real. Orb Weavers the size of a grown man’s hand with webs that stretch all the way across trails. Centipedes nearing 3ft long. There are plenty of other examples.
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I want to collect/compile stories and materials about these things before the soldiers of past wars die and can’t tell us about weird animals anymore.
>Does anybody have a soldier in their family who ever told you about a weird animal or plant they saw? What was it? What did they say about it?
>Unlikely but have any of you yourselves been soldiers and seen some weird shit re: plants and animals?
please keep this discussion about the animals. I hate to mention this twice but I find this a fascinating subject and do not want the topic removed because the conversation swerves to being about the military itself.
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One last thing, I really did look for a book on the subject before coming to you guys. There isn’t one. Closest thing is something called Six Legged Soldiers, but that’s about using insects as weapons of war and doesn’t have much to do with observation. Maybe if I could somehow compile enough accounts, I’d write the book.
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I don't think treating soldiers as nature observers is a reliable avenue, they can't even distuingish between friendlies and hostiles half the time without accurate coms

>>5173183
I get that
but please take the OP picture for example, that is not any less crazy of a big just because the man holding it isn’t a genius. They obviously took the picture because it was crazy stuff. Not every crazy encounter had a photo opportunity, though.

>>5173185
anon that's forced perspective, the man is holding a stick that is holding the centipede closer to the camera than he is.

>>5173202
Oh okay nevermind. There’re no big bugs and nobody ever sees anything if they aren’t smart.

>>5173204
Oh don't be such a pee-pot

>>5173179
>>5173180
wendigoon sort of did a video covering this a couple weeks ago. he mentioned cryptids reported by soldiers or monkeys throwing rocks in the jungle or something.

>>5173306
i've heard of soldiers seeing gigantic spiders like from the hobbit movie

>>5173306
Rock apes, reported by american soldiers in Vietnam.

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I was there in '93.
Somalies feared us and called the mutt rangers pussies,just saying. We were with them a few times as a protection team while they were doing drug deals ,or weapon deals with local warlords. I agreed with the somalies.
What you talk about is the sun spider or camelspider, we also kept them, i also kept scorpions and baby mambas, I had many pictures of Somalia and still have many souvenirs, including a rangercoin ,yep.
I watched a camelspider kill a lizzard in less than a minute, the lizzard was 20-30 times larger than the spider.they were put in a bucket. It's cruel and unnecessary, i was not a fan of it but many did this kind of stuff to pass time,including shooting a lot of wildlife.
I think the camelspider is the most violent creature i have ever seen, when it feels threatened. If you were gentle you could let it walk in your hand.
I watched spiders catch birds in their web and eat them. A hyena walk in a classroom and run of with a small somali to eat it.
Africa is a pretty wild place. You don't want to be there without guns.

>>5173521
For what it’s worth, it definitely wasn’t the camel spider. Dad was later deployed to afghanistan later on in the early
2000’s and got extensive experience with “those fuckers”
I think he mentioned something about having to use extra laundry detergent to keep them away. Something about them eating by spitting this goop that dissolves flesh and then slurping it? I think he said they had problems with them coming in the tents and feeding on people’s legs at night. My memory isn’t so clear about that but I do remember him being specific that the bad bug was definitely not a camel spider.
>I watched spiders catch birds in their web and eat them. A hyena walk in a classroom and run of with a small somali to eat it.
Jesus Christ that’s all so horrific.

>>5173531
This is legit re camel spiders
>>5173180
Scientists and naturalists go to lots of random places, plenty of weird animals were described even just during the 1700s, let alone later. They get funding to go hide in bushes often the more obscure the better
Soldiers can certainly spend more time and man hours in a place, no doubt, but they also often don’t give a fuck and just want to go home

>>5173531
Assassin bugs, probably Psyttala or maybe Platymeris. Spit out goop, also stab and inject flesh-dissolving fluid with their rostrum to slurp up their prey, painful as fuck bite. Their american cousins evolved into bloodsuckers.

Another possibility is water bugs, Lethocerus ("toe biters") and the like, those don't spit but otherwise match the behaviors. I'm particularly mentioning those because they're attracted to light so that'd explain why they need to be kept away from getting into tents.
Also consider goo-spitter beetles (Anthia),