Free Republic

Fans of the 1990 horror comedy “Arachnophobia” may find their promised land in the rural Great Plains town of La Junta, Colorado. That’s because La Junta is ground zero for the annual mating ritual of tens of thousands aphonopelma, or Oklahoma brown tarantula. For a few months each year, this tiny community in southeast Colorado is prime viewing for fans of the brown-and-black arachnids, especially from August to October when the males emerge, looking for love. Rather than be repulsed when overrun by the large, hairy spiders, La Junta decided last year to embrace the annual ritual as a tourism...

DENVER (AP) — About this time every year, southeastern Colorado towns like La Junta see more visitors looking to glimpse saucer-sized Texas brown tarantulas as they scurry out of their burrows and across fields and roads in search of a mate. The eight-legged spectacle might not last long: Scientists say climate change, theft and human development are cutting into tarantulas’ population, with fewer emerging year after year. “It’s a noticeable numbers game,” said Ryan Jones, a research associate at the Denver Museum of Nature of Science. “If you compare pictures, you can tell that there are just fewer males out...

It's that time of year again — Colorado's tarantula "migration" is underway. This annual phenomenon has gathered an increase in public interest and fascination over the past few years. The quotes around migration are there for a reason. It's not quite accurate to call their movements a migration, as they're simply just visible more than other times of year and appear to be marching around on a mission. But the phrase caught on. ...male tarantulas in the southeastern part of the state will leave the safety of their burrows to search for females And it’s only the males that walk...

Giant Tarantulas Are Invading Texas By The Thousands This Summer Everything is bigger in Texas – even the bugs. While it’s no secret that summer brings lots of critters out of the woodwork here in the hot, humid Lone Star State, the eight-legged variety will be especially populous. It’s mating season for the Texas Brown Tarantula, a large arachnid that lays up to 1,000 eggs at a time. C’mon, we know you want to see: Over 1200 different species of tarantula can be found all across earth's Southern Hemisphere. Named after the Southern Italian town of Taranto, the somewhat ambiguous...

Jintu Gogoi's neighbourhood in Sadiya, Upper Assam, is no longer friendly. Over two weeks ago, an army of eight-legged freaks invaded it. It all happened in the evening on May 8. Most of the inhabitants of Chaulkhowa Nagaon village had been to a Bihu function. When the programme drew to a close, swarms of spiders suddenly descended from nowhere and started biting the people. The festive mood soon turned into one of panic with people bumping into each other and tripping over empty benches in their frantic bid to egress. Jintu was bitten by one of these critters.

GENEVA — Swiss customs officials say they intercepted a man at Zurich airport carrying hundreds of endangered spiders in his luggage. Customs officials found 261 Mexican red-kneed tarantulas packed into individual plastic bags inside six boxes belonging to a Swiss man arriving from the Dominican Republic in August.

HARLINGEN, May 22, 2005 — As the sun sets on the Rio Grande Valley, car headlights splash shadows that crawl like black hands across the road. When spring blooms in South Texas, it’s mating season for tarantulas. From his front door, Bryant Williams sees the fat, furry spiders creep into the night. “I see them mostly late at night, like around midnight under the street light, scurrying around,” said Williams, a U.S. Border Patrol agent who lives near the Arroyo Colorado, a nesting ground for the native Texas tan tarantula. “A lot of people don’t like them because they look...

March 31, 2004 Nevada lists nuke rail line woes Planned transport would disrupt much in state By Cy Ryan <cy@lasvegassun.com>SUN CAPITAL BUREAUCARSON CITY -- A proposed railroad line that would stretch from the Caliente area to Yucca Mountain for the transportation of nuclear waste would disrupt mining, ranching and recreational activities in Nevada, the state says. The rail line, even without an accident, would cause health hazards to workers, could cross land that is sacred to Native Americans and could interfere with the applications of water rights sought by the Southern Nevada Water Authority, the state wrote to federal officials...