Tarantulas

[indygal]

This is the third summer we have discovered a tarantula in our basement. I've done a little homework and learned they are relatively harmless and actually provide the benefit of eating other bugs. That said, it doesn't make them any more appealing when you see one on the floor in the middle of the night! Why can't they stay outdoors where they belong? Anyway...

During my online refresher course last night (just making sure one more time this impressive creepy crawler can't hurt anyone!) I came across a little gem from a KAKE blogger and thought you all would find it interesting:

Sep 16, 2010 at 02:52 PM
Supposedly south of Howard in Southeast Ks. at certain times of the year tarantulas cover the highway....i think it is one of those urban myths but I don't know.

So is there any truth to this? Has anyone heard of this before?

[flintauqua]

When my mother, Joan Durbin, was postmaster at Longton and drove there from Moline each morning, she would frequently see large numbers of tarantulas crossing the highway from one side of the quarry east of the Rodeo Grounds to the other, usually on the short stretch of highway that runs north-south.

Another interesting fact about that quarry - In the entomology department at Kansas State there is a mounted specimen of centipede that came from the Moline quarry.  It's 13 inches long!

[frawin]

Indygal, about 50 years ago I worked for the Denton family and every Spring the Tarantulas would do a mass migration out of the rocky hillside along the road that goes South/SouthEast from Polk Daniels Lake entrance. They would cross the Road East of the Roy Perkins Farm, go down towards the Creek to the South. In the Fall they wouls migrate back to the rocks in the Hillside. There were literally thousands of them. I don't recall anyone ever being bitten by a Tarantula, but they sure looked  scary to me.

[Mom70x7]

I didn't know (or remember ) that tarantulas migrated. So I looked them up. Found some fascinating reading:

http://ag.arizona.edu/yavapai/anr/hort/byg/archive/tarantulas.html

Part of it says:
Tarantulas are the largest of all spiders and 30 species are known to live in Arizona. Adults range in size from 2-4 inches (5–10 cm). Typically, tarantulas of all species are light to dark brown in color and the abdomen and legs are densely covered with hair. Large tarantulas can weigh in at over 1.1 ounce (30 gm). Yes, tarantulas possess fangs and are venomous, but they do not bite unless seriously provoked. There are no records of serious harm to humans resulting from tarantula bites.

In the Southwest, tarantulas spend most of their lives on or in the ground. They dig burrows when they are spiderlings and live in them for many years, enlarging them as necessary. Once established at a site, an individual tarantula usually spends its life there, hunting in an area only a few meters adjacent to its burrow. They are nocturnal and usually remain hidden during day. Tarantulas may feed on cockroaches, crickets, grasshoppers, and newborn mice.

Female tarantulas may live as long as 35 years and males are shorter-lived. After 8–10 years, male tarantulas migrate in search of mates between June and October.

People often encounter wandering male tarantulas, and in some cases, they enter dwellings, sometimes causing alarm. If one should wander into your home, it can be swept up in a dust pan, emptied into a full-size grocery bag or cardboard box and released outside the house. Tarantulas are not aggressive and, with gentle handling, will not become agitated. The container used to transport the tarantula may have some urticating hairs in it, so it should be discarded after the spider is released.

Thanks, Indygal. 

[Clubine Ranch]

Many years ago we lived on the Copperhead Gulch Ranch. One son was walking and one son at the crawling age. In the late summer the landlord would have the house professionally sprayed for insects. Several weeks later the scorpions and tranatula would start appearing. We had a doctors appointment in Sedan and I asked Dr. Taylor what I should do if the boys got stung or bite, as we were truly in the middle of nowhere, and it would take time to get to medical help. He just laughed and said they may cry for a moment and be okay but that I would probably die of a heart attack. He said both that lthe scorpions and the tarantulas that lived in this area were not poisonous but did have a nice sting. We always saw the tarantulas crossing Hwy 99 going to Sedan. They were big and it sure did not make me feel very easy driving by them. I don't drive that direction much anymore so I don't know if you still seem them or not. If I remember correctly they only lasted for a week or so. So take heart Lynn, maybe this too will pass.

[Catwoman]

I can remember, when I lived there, driving down to Floyd's market in Sedan...At certain times of the year, there would be the unavoidable experience of running over the things as they were crossing the highway.  Made quite a huge crunch! lol 

[thatsMRSc2u]

Boy this thread brings back memories........I had always seen tarantulas around growin up there but never saw em in full migration mode till one time I was workin for an outfit when they were takin up all those gatherin lines south of Beaumont and I was drivin a truckload of pipe back to the yard in Moline and west of moline I came on em crossin the highway......well I am SERIOUSLY weirded out by spiders and when I figured out what all those big black things runnin across the highway were lets just say it was a good day cause God kept me out of the ditch LOL

Couple years ago my oldest son was over by Miami Oklahoma and saw em and decided to stop and catch one.....was chasin it and it turned around and rared back and run at him and he decided he didnt really want a pet tarantula that bad LOL Last year my youngest son CAUGHT one and decided it would be funny to chase Mom with it  bout had to build him a new fence.........

[Diane Amberg]

Now that, I've never seen. I'd love to see that migration! I've seen the big turtle migrations out there but not the spiders.

[indygal]

Wow...these are some great stories! I guess this is one rural legend that has some truth to it after all.

[flintauqua]

Wow...these are some great stories! I guess this is one rural legend that has some truth to it after all.

You mean it's a story that has legs!

(That one's for you Rudy and Kermit)