<div><p>Spiders are generally pretty gross and terrifying, especially since in theory they could <a href="https://www.shared.com/spiders-could-eat-everyone-on-earth-and-still-be-hungry/" target="_blank">eat us all in a year. </a></p><p>But I guess in theory they're actually fascinating creatures. They've got incredible strength and keep the eco-system in check. </p><p>Especially in the case of tarantulas, these creatures have mesmerizing habits. Take, for example, this Mexican Red Knee tarantula shedding its old exoskeleton. Exoskeletons are shed several times before a tarantula reaches full size, and it takes about 3 hours to do it. </p><p>The tarantula contracts its abdomen, which pushes fluid to its upper body and puts strain on the exoskeleton. It then works to break through the weak spots. </p><p>Andrine Shufran watched this video of the Mexican Red Knee shedding her exoskeleton and says "she essentially pops off the top of her head and pulls her body out."</p><div><figure><amp-img src="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/nw-dly-ds1702001-183-tarantula-molting-vin_640x360_952567875805.jpg" srcset="https://www.shared.com/content/images/2017/05/nw-dly-ds1702001-183-tarantula-molting-vin_640x360_952567875805_GH_content_550px.jpg 550w" sizes="89vw" title="" alt="" height="9" width="16" layout="responsive"></amp-img><figcaption class="op-vertical-center"><cite>National Geographic</cite></figcaption></figure></div><p><!-- [invalid-shortcode] --></p><p>"Tarantulas that get stuck while molting nearly always die," said Shufran. To avoid this, tarantulas don't eat for weeks before they begin molting so they don't become too big for their old exoskeleton and get stuck.</p><p>I normally hate spiders, but this was really fascinating to watch!</p><amp-iframe sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin" layout="responsive" frameborder="0" height="9" width="16" src="https://assets.ngeo.com/modules-video/latest/assets/ngsEmbeddedVideo.html?guid=0000015c-3c42-dd1b-afff-3f4f01bf0000"></amp-iframe></div>