Arachnophobes beware! This time-lapse video of a Mexican Red Knee Tarantula Molting over approximately a 2 hour period will haunt your dreams.
Although even as someone who is less than keen on spiders, I find this video pretty awesome. Nature is weird, and this process has to be up there with the weirdest is has to offer. The tarantula can be seen shedding its skin in order to grow, losing its previously darker colors and appearing all milky white and refreshed, ready to creep into your room at night and ... Ok, maybe that won't happen, but the first part is true. It's a process that happens several times to young spiders until they're fully-grown adults, which in the case of the Red Knee Tarantula in this video, would be to a leg span of approximately 10-15cm. Males stop molting at this point, but females continue to molt throughout their lives.
