:58:04
That's the largest of tarantulas,
from South America...
:58:07
and it's only a foot in diameter
with its legs outstretched.
:58:10
I know.
Our Arizona species is even smaller.
:58:13
That's right.
Not more than three inches in size.
:58:15
Now there it is, coming out of its burrow.
:58:20
It's got eight legs
and can move faster than you think...
:58:23
which assures him of a long life.
As long as 25 years sometimes.
:58:28
That's the spider wasp...
:58:30
the tarantula's deadliest enemy.
:58:32
See? The wasp usually wins...
:58:35
but don't count on it, because the tarantula
doesn't know the meaning of fear.
:58:42
As you can see,
he'll back down a rattlesnake if he has to.
:58:48
See?
:58:54
They're flesh eaters, aren't they?
:58:55
Yes, and desert beetles
are their usual diet.
:58:58
Those powerful jaws are strong enough
to pierce a man's finger.
:59:01
There. The venom is paralysing the victim.
:59:04
Tarantulas predigest their food by flooding
the wound with a powerful solvent...
:59:09
so that the flesh can be sucked
into the body.
:59:12
That would account for the bones.
:59:13
Dr. Hastings,
your imagination is showing.
:59:17
So that's it, Doctor.
:59:21
- How deadly is the venom?
- Not deadly at all.
:59:25
About as poisonous as a hornet's.
:59:27
No fun, mind you, but harmless.
:59:29
The few deaths that have been reported
are the result...
:59:32
of germs entering the wound
at the time of the bite.
:59:35
- You make them sound like pets.
- Not pets, Doctor.
:59:38
Just part of the world about us.
:59:39
We must accept them as we do
the rest of God's creatures.
:59:42
Each has a function in its own world.
:59:45
But what if circumstances magnified
one of them in size and strength?
:59:50
Took it out of its primitive world
and turned it loose in ours?
:59:53
Then expect something that's fiercer...
:59:55
more cruel and deadly
than anything that ever walked the earth.