Children in the Piaroa tribe in Venezuela are taught at a young age how to fend for themselves, including how to find food while on their own in the jungle.
One of the youngsters’ favorite jungle snacks comes right out of most people’s nightmares: the goliath birdeater tarantula, the world’s largest spider.
These huge tarantulas can reach up to 11 inches across. Their massive size allows them to eat small vertebrates like snakes, lizards, and frogs. While birds aren’t a primary part of their diet, goliath tarantulas will definitely consume small birds if the opportunity arises.
But despite their frightening reputation with us, the goliath has a different reputation to the Piaroa children: the reputation of being a delicious snack.
The children are taught at a very young age how to find them, catch them and roast them, and apparently they’re pretty tasty.
Check out the video below to watch Orlando and two of his young Piaroa companions hunt these spiders and enjoy their hard-earned treat:
(h/t BBC’s Human Planet)
