Arizona Blond Tarantula…
Arizona desert tarantulas, also called blonde tarantulas, may appear to be big, hairy and scary — they do have a leg span of 6 inches (15 centimeters), after all — but they’re actually rather tame creatures. Although they are venomous, they don’t present much of a danger to humans. Their bite is less painful than a bee sting, for example, and only becomes serious if the bite is infected or if the victim is allergic. Also, they don’t bite unless they are provoked.
Additionally, these tarantulas hardly ever leave their burrows. They only leave it during mating season. The female, who is larger than the male, waits in her burrow until the male comes to her. Mating is rather risky for the male — unless he retreats pretty quickly afterward, the female will make a meal of him!
The venom of the blonde tarantula may not be all that dangerous to a human, but it can immobilize the tarantula’s prey. It also liquefies and digests the insides of the prey, which consists of crickets, grasshoppers, beetles and cockroaches.
A word of caution! These tarantulas have specialized defensive hairs on their abdomens, called urticating hairs, which are tipped backward and have pointed barbs. Anything that happens to brush by (like a human finger trying to pet it or a potential predator trying to eat it) gets stuck with these hairs, which are irritable and hard to get off — making any predator think twice before attacking!
Arizona Blond Tarantulas are featured in the following booka:
25 Desert Animals
101 Facts… Desert Animals
The YouTube video playlist below contains videos about Arizona Blond Tarantulas. Details of the videos featured are underneath.
The Playlist:
- Arizona Blonde Tarantula 1 by Joseph Nochera
- Tarantula captures snake on Siphon Draw Trail Arizona by wdubel
