Fall is tarantula mating time in the plains of southeastern Colorado. The small city of La Junta is celebrating the spiders' season of romance with its second annual tarantula festival.
Dust swirls on the dirt roads running through more than 400,000 acres of cactus studded grasslands south of La Junta, Colo. Suddenly, Jessica LaPage spots the reason she's here: A two-toned brown tarantula about the size of an adult's fist, crawling through the scrubby plants
It's tarantula mating season around here and La Junta, a city of about 7,300 capitalizes on the spiders' season of romance with an annual tarantula festival.A festival goer gets to hold a tarantula in the education pavilion at the second annual Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colorado.A festival goer gets to hold a tarantula in the education pavilion at the second annual Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colorado.LaPage's reaction to the big hairy spiders isn't uncommon.
Along with a human hairy legs contest, an eight-legged race, food and other fun stuff, the festival has an education component, too. Haselhuhn says tarantula bites can really hurt, but their venom is only about as bad as a bee sting. And they aren't aggressive unless you try to grab them the wrong way.
"They're going to do their little dance and drum set, hopefully have a successful mate," he says. "If they're quick enough, they're able to get away and run and try and find another mate."
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Fall-like weather settles in across Colorado for the next few daysCooler weather has settled in across Colorado with high temperatures in the upper 60s to low 70s in Denver for the next few days. It'll be much warmer for the weekend.
Read more »
33 Problem-Solving Products To Help You ~Fall~ Back In Love With FallIf you've always dreamt of a way to wear your fave fall boots *without* your heels getting covered in blisters, read on, the answer lies within this post.
Read more »
27 Things From Amazon With Such Great Reviews, You May Want To Own Them YourselfCute fall clothing, the best fuzzy slippers, glowing Halloween hats, and 24 other fall essentials.
Read more »
Tribe in Idaho wants to give wolves to Colorado, but there is no deal yetThe Nez Perce tribe hopes to be a source for Colorado's grey wolf reintroduction, but the tribe's chairman said the details need to be discussed more.
Read more »