5 Tarantulas

We rode Mt Diablo and Morgan Territory yesterday - 59 miles, 5,500 feet of climbing. :D

The tarantulas are out! We saw 3 while descending Diablo, 1 on Marsh Creek Rd. and 1 on Morgan Territory. Thom stopped to take a photo of the last one. We were moving too fast on Diablo and there is no shoulder on Marsh Creek.

http://tandemhearts.smugmug.com/phot...-72FVW2D-M.jpg

I was riding with a cold and so did not stop, knowing he'd have no trouble catching me. Thom said a car went over the top of this guy, flipping him over about twice and he landed on his feet. That caused him to hunker down though. Thom tried to gently encourage him across the road with a stick, but that just made the spider more defensive.

I knew they were big, but I swear some of them were 6 inches across. This guy was about 4 inches. I'm happy I didn't hit any of them. :eek:

Veronica

Wow, that is an awesome photo. Thanks for sharing.

oh what a beautiful wild creature!

I normally loathe spiders, but tarantulas are kinda cool.

I help someone's pet tarantula once. As it walked up my arm toward my neck I eagerly suggested he remove his spider.

Why did the tarantula cross the road?

To get to the girl on the other side! :D

Males migrating, looking for love.;)

Interesting they are out now. In Arizona they are definitely summer creatures and we don't see them after September

I'm an arachnophobe, but I find tarantulas oddly fascinating.

Better to find them on the road than in the house! :eek:

Thank you, Veronica, for the PSA! I will now NOT be climbing Mt. Diablo for a while!

Actually, over the summer the whole joke was that I didn't crash, only from a fear of snakes. I didn't want to be stuck on the mountain with them!

I love tarantulas- I used to keep some big ones as pets.
That's a great photo- look how beautiful it is!- a masterpiece of nature for sure.

Years ago, when we lived in Lompoc, CA, we had driven with our boys up to Mount Figeroa just outside Santa Barbara. We were on the way back home when my husband said he saw a bunch of tarantulas crossing the road... I thought he was joking. But he slowed down and I could see that there were literally thousands of them crossing...all going the same way. :eek::eek: It was a sight to see, and I am glad I got to see it from the inside of a car, and not on a bicycle! :p;)

I have never seen anything like it before or since!