Thousands of tarantulas are traveling through three US states, and residents are warned to watch out for the venomous males. Experts say the arachnids will spread across New Mexico, Kansas, and Colorado in pursuit of mates. Spider expert Dr. Lauren Davidson said, “They’re just out looking for love.” She urged state residents not to be fearful and not to interrupt the spiders’ journey because they are highly valuable creatures who make a vital contribution to ecological stability.
American tarantula breeding season has just ended in Texas, where females gave birth to vast numbers of young, sometimes producing up to 3,000 babies.
While the spider is poisonous, experts say it usually uses its toxins to kill prey such as mice, lizards, beetles, grasshoppers and scorpions. Humans generally survive a bite from an American tarantula, but officials warn people to stay away, knowing that some photographers or curious onlookers often try to get close to the creatures. Dr. Ritch Reading of the Butterfly Pavilion in Colorado, said, “You see people on their hands and knees taking pictures, and I would not recommend that.”
Tarantulas generally prefer warm climates, and large numbers live in parts of California, Arizona, and Texas. They usually remain unseen until the mating season arrives and males begin to travel. They are burrowing creatures that dig underground dens using large fangs at the front underside of their bodies.
While most people fear the arachnids, residents of La Junta in Colorado celebrate them. The town of just over 7,000 people holds an annual festival and describes itself as the Tarantula Capital of the World. The festival includes tarantula parade floats, costumes, face-painting, a hairy legs contests, and stalls selling spider-themed products. Angela Ayala runs such a stall and sells custom t-shirts and tarantula fest buttons.
Education is also central to the event, and Dallas Haselhuhn from Eastern Michigan University’s Shillington Arachnid Laboratory teaches people about the feared creatures, emphasizing that they do not attack humans unless they feel threatened. He describes the “dance” males perform to entice females to leave their burrows but cautions that if the female is unimpressed, she may kill and eat the male.
