Some spiders may be content to trap and eat run-in-the-mill flies, but not Theraphosa blondi, AKA: the South American Goliath bird-eater.

According to LiveScience, the bird-eater may well be the world's largest spider and would be a most unwelcome sight for just about anyone. Not for Piotr Naskrecki, an entomologist and photographer who recently encountered the arachnid.

"When I turned on the light, I couldn't quite understand what I was seeing," Naskrecki told LiveScience.

CLICK HERE to see the photos he shared with the website, but if spiders make you squeamish, you may want to skip clicking the link.

A member of Harvard University's Museum of Comparative Zoology, Naskrecki operates a blog in which he posts photos he snaps of the world's strange creatures.

He told LiveScience he was walking through a rainforest in Guyana at night when he first noticed the South American Goliath bird-eater. The spider is about the size of a small puppy, but its title as largest of its kind.

Guinness World Records recognizes the spider as the world's largest, comparing its legs to "a child's forearm" and its body to "a large fist." It has a leg-span of about a foot, which does not quite match that of the great huntsman spider. Naskrecki said comparing the two is pointless, like measuring a "giraffe [against] an elephant."

Despite its name, the Goliath is not actually a bird-eater, Naskrecki wrote in a blog post recounting his meeting with the arachnid. He said they are perfectly capable of doing so, though it is a rare occurrence since earthworms are more readily available.

The Goliath is not a creature that is likely to end a human's life, but it should still be avoided, Naskrecki wrote. The entomologist described some of the arachnids defense mechanisms, which included "a cloud of urticating hair" and "enormous fangs."