googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(‘/37886402/VN_PG_DTBT_ATF’, [728, 90], ‘VN_PG_DTBT_ATF_58097fb58b763’).addService(googletag.pubads()) googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_MB”, “VN_”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_SC”, “VN_ORGN”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_TS”, “TS_D”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_AT”, “VN_ORGN_PG_D_REV_1.0_ASYNC_DEFAULT”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_CC”, “VN_ORGN_D_UNK_118117_A”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_PG”, “1”); googletag.enableServices(); googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DTBT_ATF_58097fb58b763’); }); Though they definitely scare me, I don’t have a huge problem with spiders. However, that doesn’t mean that you’ll see me trying to touch or hold them anytime soon. Okay, I’ve actually held a tarantula once, but the experience was so nerve-racking that I would never consider having one of my own. One woman in Brisbane, Australia, though, couldn’t disagree with me more. Not only does Lisa van Kula Donovan love spiders (and basically all other insects), but she keeps five of them as her beloved pets. Donovan is very hands-on when it comes to her spiders. YouTube / Wannabe Entomologist She even lets them crawl all over her face and head. YouTube / Wannabe Entomologist The way she handles them would freak most people out, but she thinks nothing of it and obviously enjoys it very much. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(‘/37886402/VN_PG_DCI1_BTF’, [300, 250], ‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF_58097fb58a195’).addService(googletag.pubads()) googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_MB”, “VN_”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_SC”, “VN_ORGN”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_TS”, “TS_D”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_AT”, “VN_ORGN_PG_D_REV_1.0_ASYNC_DEFAULT”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_CC”, “VN_ORGN_D_UNK_118117_A”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_PG”, “1”); googletag.enableServices(); googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF_58097fb58a195’); }); When she moved to Australia about eight years ago, she fell in love with all the spiders and insects she discovered there. It became such a huge passion that she decided to share her home with some of them. Facebook / Lisa van Kula Donovan Read More: Boy’s KFC Dinner Sent Him To The Hospital…And It Only Gets More Gross From There The largest critter in her collection is a massive female huntsman spider that she affectionately named Cuddles, even though she was bitten by the same kind in the wild. YouTube / Wannabe Entomologist Surprisingly, none of her spiders have ever chomped on her, but she’s well aware that it could happen at any time and isn’t afraid of it. She also has a variety of other creepy-crawlies that she adores as much as if they were her children. Facebook / Lisa van Kula Donovan She even lets her own kids hold some of them — but not any spiders. You have to admit that this one is pretty cute. Read More: Man Enters His Kitchen Only To Find Two Huge Pythons Battling Each Other Although Donovan’s passion may creep people out and disgust them, she doesn’t care. She wouldn’t have her life any other way and is perfectly content with her unusual pets. Facebook / Lisa van Kula Donovan (via The Sun) I applaud her fearlessness when it comes to her pets, but I would never follow in her footsteps. The creepy factor is just way too high for me. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/spider-woman/
Urban Explorer Seph Lawless is known for exploring empty, eerie places — and Picher, Oklahoma, is definitely one of the most unsettling. Picher started out as a promising mining town in 1918, but today, it is known as the most toxic city in America. After years of water contamination and sludge buildup, the whole town was evacuated. googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBP_ATF’); }); For his latest project, Lawless journeyed to this foreboding town and walked its silent streets. There is nothing safe about being inside Picher’s city limits, but that definitely wasn’t enough to extinguish his curiosity. Abandoned for over a decade, this city once thrived with a booming mining industry in the early 20th century. Seph Lawless googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCBM_BTF’); }); During Oklahoma’s expansion in 1913, huge amounts of lead and zinc were found in the area. Being at the center of all this new mining work, a settlement was formed and its population had reached nearly 10,000 people by 1920. Seph Lawless It was named after Oliver Picher, owner of the Picher Lead Company. Seph Lawless It became so successful that at one point, it was producing over $20 billion of ore, quickly making it the most lucrative mining settlement in the state. Seph Lawless Over half of the lead and zinc used by the U.S. military during World War I came from the city. Seph Lawless But everything changed after mining stopped in 1967. Hazardous waste and contaminated water from mine shafts created a toxic environment. Seph Lawless googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI1_BTF’); }); The situation got so bad that the U.S. government designated it as a Superfund site, which identified it as a candidate for cleanup because of the dangerous risk that was posed to people living there. Seph Lawless Unfortunately, Picher couldn’t be salvaged. Officials evacuated the area in 2009 and classified it as the most toxic city in America. Seph Lawless Residents were forced out of their homes and relocated. They left many of their possessions behind, which turned their houses into chilling time capsules that now commemorate an awful point in Oklahoma’s history. Seph Lawless Lawless noticed when he started exploring that people’s clothes were still hanging in their closets as if they’d only just left. Seph Lawless Because of extensive mining, the ground beneath the explorer’s feet could have given way at any time. Seph Lawless As Lawless walked through the streets, he feared that he would fall to his death. Seph Lawless googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DCI2_BTF’); }); Mining also left behind huge piles of siliceous rock and dolomite waste called “chat.” The mounds are so large that they look like mountains surrounding the city. Seph Lawless Approximately 34 percent of children from Picher were found to be suffering from lead poisoning by the time 1996 rolled around. Seph Lawless In the short amount of time that Lawless spent on one of the hills, he reported feeling nauseous and very uneasy. Seph Lawless But despite all of the dangers, the city’s pharmacist, Gary Linderman, refused to leave […]
googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.defineSlot(‘/37886402/VN_PG_DTBT_ATF’, [728, 90], ‘VN_PG_DTBT_ATF_581bf4c06fce4’).addService(googletag.pubads()) googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_MB”, “VN_”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_SC”, “VN_ORGN”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_TS”, “TS_D”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_AT”, “VN_ORGN_PG_D_REV_1.0_ASYNC_DEFAULT”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_CC”, “VN_ORGN_D_UNK_118352_A”); googletag.pubads().setTargeting(“NOVA_PG”, “1”); googletag.enableServices(); googletag.display(‘VN_PG_DTBT_ATF_581bf4c06fce4’); }); As a little girl, I was irrationally afraid of sharks or crocodiles showing up in swimming pools and biting my feet off. Because of my extreme fear, let’s just say I’ve been more than a little paranoid when it comes to any body of water. Unfortunately, the following footage really doesn’t do much to help me get past this phobia. When a couple was having a private swim in Kariba, Zimbabwe, one nasty visitor headed straight into the pool and proceeded to attack them. I’d probably never get in a pool again if I were her. Read More: These Tourists Found A Cow Carcass Out In The Ocean…And Saw A Shark Devour It It’s a good thing that swimming pools have already been ruined for me, because that’s just terrifying. On a lighter note, something tells me that guy is going to be in the doghouse for quite a while. Read more: http://www.viralnova.com/crocodile-pool-attack/
