A brief History of Tarantulas

This is a tarantula.

Along with scorpions, they are a myth of a creature that supposedly lives in desert-y places like, oh, say, Elko Nevada. Until recently. 

We were calmly driving down the road when Wayne says, "Huh. I just ran over a tarantula." No, ya didn't, honey, but I'll play along with it just in case someone's pet tarantula got loose and met it's demise under our car. I'm not really sure Wayne believed it himself until our friend Keith showed us this picture. He has been seeing them frequently near Rawhide, about 250 miles from here.

Well, unfortunately tarantulas aren't that exciting of spiders. They are harmless to humans. Female tarantulas, however, can live up to 25 years. Oh, just one fun little tidbit: tarantulas don't have teeth, their venom is used to 'liquify' their prey so they can slurp up their meal. How lovely.

Apparently it's a good year for spiders. We also have black widows around, and have seen quite a few this year. Others in the area have reported finding dozens in window-wells.

I'm generally not squeamish around spiders. I once had a pet spider that made a web inside the car between the door and windshield. I would see him there whenever I drove. Later, we were half way to town when Wayne nearly had an accident (and heart attack) when he spotted my little pet. But that's another story.

Back to the squeamish part. Get this: A female spider's venom is 15 times as toxic as a rattlesnake! That fact is sort of freaking me out.

So what if a black widow bites you?? Well, apparently they usually just 'bite' you and no venom is left in you. No worries, right? It's just a bite. Feel something crawling on your neck yet?