Posted on 02/18/2023 8:09:21 AM PST by Saije
Fans of the 1990 horror comedy “Arachnophobia” may find their promised land in the rural Great Plains town of La Junta, Colorado.
That’s because La Junta is ground zero for the annual mating ritual of tens of thousands aphonopelma, or Oklahoma brown tarantula. For a few months each year, this tiny community in southeast Colorado is prime viewing for fans of the brown-and-black arachnids, especially from August to October when the males emerge, looking for love.
Rather than be repulsed when overrun by the large, hairy spiders, La Junta decided last year to embrace the annual ritual as a tourism opportunity.
“We have over 400,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service land on the Comanche National Grasslands, which is wide open space where you can go and see the tarantulas,” said Pam Denahy, director of tourism for La Junta, which last year launched its first “Tarantula Fest” to celebrate the awe-inspiring – and at times horror-evoking – arachnids.
Although the phenomenon has been happening for years, it wasn’t until 2018 that the local tourism board saw an opportunity to boost visitation based on the annual mating practices of the local tarantulas.
“A lot of people call it migration, but it’s technically their mating season,” Denahy told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s the males looking to mate with the females.”
(Excerpt) Read more at cowboystatedaily.com ...
Reminds me of that William Shatner movie in the mid 70s where Tarantulas took over a small town.
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list
Kingdom of the Spiders.
Rifftrax did a show on that movie MST3K style. It’s pretty good.
That’s it! I saw it at the drive-in when it came out. I watched it several years ago and I enjoyed it throughout.
I found the VHS of it over 20 years ago, and bought it. Now, it’s widely available.
The only spider horror movie where the spiders actually win.
Shatner’s then wife co-starred with him in it, too. She played the wife of his deceased brother.
In an article about one of my grandfather’s prospecting trips near the Arizona and Utah lines, it describes him being surrounded by a tarantula migration. He built a circular fire around himself, his wife and his seven burros and stayed there in the 92 degrees desert heat for four hours until the tarantula migration passed.
Funny story about that gif.
My family and I went to a wedding in Stevens Point, WI, and discovered that it wasn’t far from Merril and Gleason, WI where they filmed that Bill ReBane movie, “The Giant Spider Invasion.”
My youngest Son and I went to those towns and visited that very same football field where that VW Beetle propped up to look like a spider drove across, chasing that crowd.
My sons grew up watching MST3K with me, especially that episode.
If there ever was a movie made for MST3K, that was it.
Agreed.
Some years ago I slept out on the ground without a tent during the Arizona tarantula mating migration (which isn’t really a migration as such). Most of the spiders I had seen in the afternoon seemed to be headed more or less south, so I made sure to have the foot of my sleeping bag to the north that night. No problems with spiders.
Told my wife about it. Her answer, “nope,nope,nope!”.
In the late 80s we had a study which took out to the lonely countryside south east of Socorro, New Mexico. While roaming the roads we saw an occasional tarantula sunning on the road. Since I was driving, I made the decision to capture one and take it home to Illinois. A brown lunch bag was empty and handy. Those were the pre 9-11 days before the Arabs ruined the world and no one cared what you took on the plane. You could even take your Mciver bag as carry on.
My little? friend successfully completed the trip. I installed him in a type of terrarium, fed him crickets and all was good until one night I woke up to a scream. There was a large spider on the loose in the bathroom. Our friend was returned to his home and the lid on the terrarium was made more secure.
Oh no!
>>I slept out on the ground without a tent during the Arizona tarantula mating migration
I believe this should be the dictionary definition of nerve.
I had to kill hundreds on Highway 1061 heading northwest out of Amarillo one time. When I pulled over for gas I expected to see dead bodies and hair all over the underside of my car and wheel wells. There was nothing.
It’s pronounced La Hunta, NOT La Juneta!!!! Stupid Sandra Bullock!
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