Tarantulas: terrorists or just taking care of business?

One of my earliest recollections of living in Fallbrook involves my numerous encounters with tarantulas.

My family built a home here in 1960, when I was four years old. As it turns out, the small hilltop near the downtown area where my parents chose to build consisted of a great deal of granite. To level a pad for the house, dynamite had to be used. Little did anyone know that making room for our house would mean emergency relocation for families of tarantulas.

I remember quite vividly riding my bicycle on the dirt road around our house and coming upon tarantulas that were purposefully wandering to new spots. Time after time I remember seeing the large, hairy, all-black spiders and instantly panicking. This panic usually caused me to launch off my bike in a one fluid movement, not touching the ground until I was quite a distance away. I would watch the bike continue to move upright down the path, by itself, and the scary creature being nonplussed by it.

Someone, probably my older brother, fed my horror by telling me that tarantulas can jump. It was also stated that they could jump as much as three or four feet in the air. As an adult, I have learned that is a myth and that no tarantula researcher has actually observed that type of athletic behavior. What they have said is that any full-size tarantula that fell that distance would be seriously injured.

I do not have arachnophobia, I am just not that fond of arachnids in general. The problem I had with these spiders was that they are jumbo-sized and look horrifically menacing. I said that the ones I encountered as a youth were solid black; they were. Since then, I have seen the brown/bronze ones and the ones that are black with orange "knees." Interestingly enough, in Southern California it is said that the brown ones are what are commonly found.

While I admit to being terrorized as a kid by them, I now view the tarantula as a somewhat freakish creature, because experts say they are fairly harmless to people. While they reportedly have a painful bite, experts said their venom is very mild - weaker than a typical bee sting.

Then there are those who keep tarantulas as pets. I don't really see the point in that, but to each their own.

There are some really interesting facts about this big, hairy spiders that are worth sharing.

• *There are over 50 varieties of tarantulas found in the southwestern United States and central states.
• *The life span of a tarantula is pretty amazing. Females can live between 20 and 30 years in the wild. The male's lifespan is typically much shorter - from five to 10 years.
• *Size of tarantulas vary; they can be as small as a fingernail or as large as a dinner plate.
• *Tarantulas are rather docile creatures and rarely bite.
• More tarantulas are seen in summer than any other season, because the males are looking for female counterparts.
• Tarantulas periodically shed their external skeletons in a process called molting. As part of this process, internal organs such as female genitalia and stomach lining can be replaced and lost parts of its body can grow back.
• These spiders are burrowers that live in the ground.
• Tarantulas move slowly and deliberately and do their best predator work at night. They are particularly fond of insects, cockroaches, crickets, scorpions, frogs, toads, and mice.
• Webs aren't something a tarantula uses to catch its prey; they do spin threads as a warning system around their burrow however.
• When a tarantula attacks, it uses its legs to grab the prey and bites with its fang which dispense a venom. They also have a digestive enzyme which can liquefy an insect's body for ingestion.
• The tarantulas number one enemy is the parasitic pepsis wasps. These wasps can paralyze a tarantula with their sting and lay their eggs on the spider's body. After the eggs hatch, wasp larvae feed on the still-living tarantula.
• Tarantulas defend themselves by scraping off the sharp hair from their legs and throwing it at a predator.
• A fall can be fatal to a tarantula; their abdomens rupture easily.
• For those who do not feel comfortable having a tarantula on their property, it is recommended to "chase" the spider into a glass jar with something like a paintbrush. Then, the person should take the jar as far away as possible and release the spider. Tarantulas are beneficial for insect and rodent control in the environment.

Since tarantulas are of benefit in the environment in controlling insects and rodents, they shouldn't necessarily be killed. However, because of their oversized and somewhat frightening appearance, or use in horror films to create terror, it appears the tarantula is destined to continue with somewhat of a bad rap.