Tarantulas typically remain in the burrows throughout most of the year, and only come out at night, according to the National Park Service. But come mating season, adult male tarantulas throw caution to the wind for the sake of finding a female.
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In the hilly range land of eastern Stanislaus County about a half hour east of my shack were my favorite dirt roads, miles of dusty roads that I'd drive down just to unwind after a hard day at work, take in the scenery, and enjoy a cold six pack or two.
There was one stretch where there was a dirt road for a couple three miles, then a 50 yard stretch of paved road, then a couple more miles of dirt road.
Why the county felt a need to pave only that 50 yards, I have never figured out, but for about 2 weeks during the spring and fall of the year, it would be just covered in tarantulas, I'm talking so thick you were hard put to see the road. There were so many you could hear them crunching and crackling under your tires,
I always figured they were attracted to the blacktop in the spring because of the heat it radiated, but the fall gathering always threw me.
One day I pulled up and stopped and started thinking, "Do all these damned spiders travel any distance to come to this part of the road or are they this thick everywhere around here and I just don't see them?" For a good long while after that, I wouldn't get out of the truck without my eyes on the ground.
