Tarantula Hunt

Summertime?  Have any free time?  Instead of watching television, facebooking, or surfing the internet, try spending an evening observing what might come out after sunset...






One late afternoon after hiking a hillside above Provo, I decided to wait and take sunset pictures from my improved viewpoint.  After snapping a few shots, the sun was gone so I donned on my handy headlamp and began descending into Provo.





The air was warm and still, the ground dry, and the moon was nearly full.  The large boulders were radiating heat into the air -- it was a perfect evening for the nighttime bugs and animals.  But I wasn't looking for them until I almost jumped onto a snake...





It was a gopher snake basking in the middle of a large boulder but before I was able to get my camera out it had retreated into a crack.  Hoping that it would come back out for couple friendly photos, I stuck around for a while but the snake was camera shy.





So I continued on, carefully watching where I stepped, wary now that I might run into a rattlesnake…  I didn’t believe what I saw next, not more than 100 yards further down – a tarantula?  In Provo?

This time I was able to get my camera out and take a few pictures before the spider was able to retreat to its burrow.  This was the first time I had ever seen a tarantula except in pictures and I was under the impression that a bite from this guy would send me to the hospital, so I made sure to keep enough distance.  (Research later told me that a bite from a tarantula is about as dangerous as a bee sting, and they rarely bite.) 

I had to get a shot with my finger in there to provide a measure of scale.

The tarantula did not seem too rushed to get away, just slowly moved to a hole in the ground and climbed in.  As I continued down, I kept seeing things sparkling in the dirt – almost like the dirt had diamonds embedded in it.  I examined one of these ‘sparklies’ a bit closer and realized that what I was seeing was the reflection of my headlamp in the eyes of a spider, a wolf spider I think.  I saw many more of these spiders as I continued descending into the valley.





The point?  You might be amazed what you can find right outside.  Spend some time outdoors, and when you do, keep your ears and eyes open.  Many are creeped-out by spiders and snakes so maybe this hasn't been the best example but I've spent several enjoyable evenings observing owls, bats, nighthawks, raccoons,  skunks...  yes, skunks are actually quite entertaining as they hobble around without a care in the world.  Watch out however if you see a skunk doing a handstand -- it's not a circus trick but his favorite way of taking aim so that he can spray his putrid stench all over you.