Jeiba Fofi (j'ba fofi) means "giant spider" from the Baka tribe of Congo This creature is a frequent guest of local fairy tales and tales, but its existence has not been scientifically confirmed.
For the whole world, the giant spider Congo is no more real than the yeti or the Loch Ness monster. However, this world learned about this creature relatively recently: after in 2008 the giant Congolese spider was mentioned in the American paranormal series "Monster Quest", as well as from the book published at the same time by researcher William Gibbon.
Earlier, from time to time, reports of very large spiders of an unknown species were also reported from different countries in Africa.
In 1890 in Uganda, British missionary Arthur Simes went to a settlement near Lake Nyasa. As he and his porters passed through the dense forest, several of the porters became entangled in a huge sticky web. And when they tried to get out of it, spiders a meter in diameter came running from all sides and began to attack people and bite them with their powerful jaws.
In 1938, a certain Reginald Lloyd and his wife personally observed such a spider in Zimbabwe. The couple were driving their car along a forest road when they noticed a spider in the thickets, the size of a large cat. The spider outwardly resembled a tarantula, but its legs were very long and in general its length, including legs, reached 5 feet (150 cm).
The case with the Lloyds in the 1980s was accidentally discovered by researcher William Gibbon, who was trying to find a dinosaur-like creature Mokele-mbembe in the Congo.
During his travels, Gibbon met with representatives of the Baka tribe and, just in case, asked them about the giant spider. And they confirmed that such a spider really exists and is usually called the "giant spider", that is, Jayba Fofi. They also gave detailed descriptions of his habits, which Gibbon later wrote about in his book.
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These spiders live in underground tunnels, and place their trap nets in places where other animals like to walk and hide: that is, close to the ground among trees and bushes. Their prey mainly consists of small mammals and birds, and from larger animals, duker deer sometimes fall into the sticky web.
According to representatives of the Baka tribe, these spiders are very strong and much stronger than humans. They lay eggs the size of peanuts, from which young spiders hatch, yellowish-purple in color. Adult spiders are brown in color and reach a length of 3-4 feet (90-120 cm), but some have described completely monstrous spiders with a leg span of 6-8 feet (180-240 cm).
The forest pygmies of the Baka tribe.
Despite certain taste preferences, these spiders could attack humans, especially children, who can easily get entangled in their webs. Therefore, the natives are very afraid and hate these spiders.
If they find their nest near the village, they will do everything to destroy it, preferably burn it clean, and kill all the spiders. At the same time, it was recognized that spiders in recent years have become very few, because people are increasingly taking over their forests.
Scientists theoretically admit the existence of large spiders in hot countries, but emphasize that they cannot be as large as the natives describe them.
According to one version, a spider's exoskeleton will not be able to support such a weight, and according to another theory, a spider of this size will not be able to breathe.