It is the time of year the male tarantulas are out of their holes and hunting for a mate. These slow-moving hairy hunks are often found walking down the middle of the road. I understand many people think they are ugly, but I see them as vunerable, handsome creatures. I drive to and from work these days with my eyes peeled and rapidly scanning the roads, hoping my speed isn't faster than my tarantula-spotting reaction time.
I recently read that female tarantulas can live up to twenty years.. which begs the question.. why not males? I had to know.
Easy enough to google.. "If males are not killed during their search for a mate, they die soon after maturing. Most males do not live through moult as they tend to get their emboli, mature male sexual organs on pedipalps, stuck in the moult."
Now do you feel sorry for them? So while the males are out risking life and limbs -- four pair of legs and two additional pairs of appendages to be exact.. the females are safely in their holes in the ground waiting. Although either sex can be stung by a Tarantula Hawk; who then lay an egg in the paralyzed spider. And, you guessed it, the tarantula's body becomes the fledgling insect's nest and food. Now I am depressed.
But, even if I hadn't known the slim chance these large arachnids have of living a long happy life, I'd still stop traffic to avoid a preventable demise. The curious drivers, having been flagged down by me, always ask "Everything OK?". I then point to the brown spot in the road, who is unaware he had been about to become a permanent part of the asphalt. Luckily, the drivers have always obliged, while smiling and sometimes looking at me like I may have come from another planet.
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