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Spiders Have Tiny Paws And Now They're Kind Of Cute

Spiders Have Tiny Paws And Now They're Kind Of Cute

The reputation of spiders might just be about to change and it’s all thanks to one small yet significant fact

EMS 7

EMS 7

If there was any creature that represents the antithesis of dogs, it wouldn't be cats - it would be spiders.

Dogs bring joy, happiness and love into this world, whereas spiders bring fear, hatred and nopes. Here's one eating a possum if you don't believe me.

However, their reputation might just be about to change and it's all thanks to one small yet significant fact: spiders have tiny paws.

Yes, turns out arachnids have paw-like feet called tarsus, which sits at the end of their legs and is used to grip.

The colourful tufts of each pad are made up of nearly 600,000 strands of hair, which helps them to walk on vertical surfaces including grass.

What's more, spiders don't have antenna and instead they use their legs as their ears and nose to sense sounds and smells.

Web-spinning spiders (not you, Tom Holland) typically have three claws, while hunting spiders normally have two.

Apparently all arthropods - insects, arachnids and crustaceans - have tarsus, but none look quite as cute as a spider's does, don't you think?

Artist Michael Pankratz certainly agrees, so much so that he's taken thousands of snaps of tarantula's paws in a bid to rid himself of his arachnophobia.

He said: "Through these macro lenses and their images, we're able to travel into the world of our minuscule subjects, to go eye-to-eye with them in a direct encounter.

"True, they're experienced as larger than life - and yet the reality may be that it's only in this manner that they're seen and experienced as they genuinely are...

"While my personal appreciation of tarantulas has perhaps been primarily aesthetic, my growing involvement with the very passionate and remarkably prolific hobby of tarantula-keeping has been an enormously important counterpart to my photography, helping me to approach a more full and appropriate understanding of these most fascinating animals."

Not only has the photographer managed to rid his fear of spiders in the process, but he's also raised more than 100 tarantulas and created one of the most unique foot fetish photo archives the world has ever seen.

Thanks to Michael's work, you too can experience spiders' feet in all their adorable glory. And now you know spiders have paws, you can treat them just like you treat your beloved dog friend.... then again, maybe not.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: Spiders, Cute, Dogs