I grew up in Oklahoma. We had Tarantulas twice as big as grapefruits everywhere. The darn things actually seemed to travel around in herds of hundreds of spiders. We kids used to catch them and tie a string around their waist with the other end pinned to our shirt. They're a pretty docile critter in spite of standing a foot high and being big, black and hairy. Treat them gently and they don't bite. Get one mad enough to bite you and they are really painful. Someone once told me that the males make better pets as they aren't as likely to ever bite you. You can buy little bitty (baby?) ones in pet shops, usually only three or four inches across. Hopefully you could, in captivity, grow one to be large enough to protect you from small dogs though. Or maybe consume a burglar or two on the side.
LOL! How did they get along with your jackalopes?