PHOENIX — We all rejoice when we get a little bit of rain in the Valley, but we often lose sight of the fact that with this type of weather comes the worst critters creeping around our homes.
It's time to talk tarantulas, the nocturnal spiders love a good shower during monsoon, and it's all so they can mate and multiply. Tim Cornwall with the Phoenix Zoo says tarantulas are one of his favorites of all of the spiders.
"One of the ones you might see out walking around is an Arizona Blonde Desert Tarantula," he said.
You might see them because this is there time to shine, specifically during September and October, all in hopes of finding a mate.
"When monsoon season hits, the males decide it is time to go find a date, now the females are smart enough to stay in their burrows and the males are the ones doing all the adventuring," Cornwall added.
The males are slightly darker and have a smaller abdomen because they won't be carrying "baby weight" in the bellies so to speak.
"They have small, skinny abdomens, big huge one like that, they have some little pedipalps, that look like little boxing gloves and they have little hooks on their front legs, called "tibial hooks" to keep themselves from getting eaten during mating," he said.
So, they do have to dodge becoming dinner but don't get it twisted these guys are pretty docile even during rough weather.
"Honestly, you don't have to be afraid of them, they are pretty much harmless, they have plenty of ways to protect themselves, their first way to protect themselves is to just run away," Cornwall said.
That's the good news especially because the female can lay up to 1,000 eggs, but don't gasp just yet.
"That sounds crazy, and most people wouldn't want 1,000 tarantulas running around, but most of them don't survive to adulthood," Cornwall added.
If you're lucky enough to see a tarantula outside the movie "Home Alone," just leave it be and it won't bother you.
