We came across this sizeable arachnid when hiking through the cloud forest of Monteverde. It’s an amazing place and usually our eyes were up in the trees and clouds, and not on the ground.
Still, it was hard to miss this sizeable creature, its legs and body being the size of my hand (including my digits). Like most people, I don’t like spiders, although I don’t suffer the crippling panic some people have when they see arachnids. After watching it for a minute, it became clear that this was lifeless. The photo is actually of the exfoliated shell of a spider that has molted and emerged — hard as it may be to believe — an even larger creature.
Great spot – apart from the spiders! Our son is moving to Monteverde from Jaco next week.