If you’re hiking or camping in the arid Southwest and West in the next few months, get ready for what could be the experience – or fright – of a lifetime.
Across the United States, in California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas, tens of thousands of tarantulas will being crawling out of their burrows in search of females – making for a fascinating, if a little creepy – display of the wonders of nature.
It’s tarantula mating season.
“If you’re lucky enough you can sometimes see them in hordes crossing the roads at certain times of the year,” said Dan McCamish, a senior environmental scientist with California State Parks.
His advice? Leave them alone.
"It’s a wild animal – it doesn’t want to be picked up and loved and hugged,” he said. “In general the species is very docile, but if you were to handle one they could bite you.”
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