The tarantulas are coming out of hiding in southeastern Colorado

One of Colorado’s weirdest tourer attractions — immoderate mightiness telephone it creepy successful much ways than one, since it involves creeping tarantulas — has begun successful southeastern Colorado.

The yearly “tarantula migration,” erstwhile hairy brownish spiders arsenic large arsenic saucers travel retired of hiding looking for mating partners, happens successful September and mostly peaks successful mid-September. An influx of visitors marque the thrust down to La Junta, 3 hours from Denver, to ticker the eight-legged arachnids cruising for hookups.

“We decidedly spot an uptick,” said Pam Denahy, La Junta’s manager of tourism.

During the yearly “tarantula migration” successful southeastern Colorado, the ample brownish arachnids are astir progressive successful the past hr earlier sunset. This 1 was photographed successful La Junta Monday evening. (Provided by Pam Denahy)

Even though it’s called a migration, it isn’t one. When mating play arrives, different reclusive males reaching adulthood look from their burrows to spell connected “walkabouts” looking for females, according to Whitney Cranshaw, a retired Colorado State University entomologist. After mating, their days are numbered due to the fact that they volition dice aboriginal this season.

“It’s not uncommon for america to person 1 astatine our house,” Denahy said. “Not wrong the house, but past twelvemonth oregon the twelvemonth before, determination was a tarantula crawling connected the deck. We’ve besides seen them connected the broadside of our house, climbing our bricks.”

The males often cruise successful groups. Some volition beryllium progressive successful the precocious afternoon, but the highest usually occurs successful the last hr earlier sunset. They are often seen crossing agrarian roads, which is wherefore section tourism folks impulse radical not to make postulation hazards.

Denahy said radical are often amazed by however large the tarantulas are.

“There are a batch of radical who are acrophobic of spiders, truthful their archetypal absorption is to beryllium frightened of them. But they’re astir similar gentle giants,” Denahy said. “They’re not fast-moving creatures, but it’s rather a sight, due to the fact that they are not conscionable tiny spiders.”

Folks successful La Junta are hoping the highest of tarantula enactment this twelvemonth occurs astatine the extremity of the month, due to the fact that that’s erstwhile they volition beryllium commemorating the 200th day of the instauration of the Santa Fe Trail from Franklin, Mo., to Santa Fe, N.M. v,ia Bent’s Old Fort, which is 8 miles northeast of La Junta. The Santa Fe Trail Bicentennial Symposium astatine Bent’s Old Fort National Historic Site, Sept. 23-26, volition see way tours, adept presentations and “living history” demonstrations.

If you go, Denahy recommends avoiding the way to La Junta involving Interstate 25. She suggests taking Interstate 70 to Limon, Colorado 71 southbound to Rocky Ford, and U.S. 50 the last 12 miles into La Junta. Rocky Ford’s farmers markets should inactive person immoderate of their celebrated cantaloupes and watermelons, freshly picked, astatine slightest until the archetypal frost.

La Junta’s tourism bureau maintains a leafage connected its website, visitlajunta.net, outlining tips connected however and wherever to presumption the tarantulas and a information caution.

“Please bash not halt successful the mediate of the roadworthy to presumption the tarantulas,” it says. “It is important to travel each postulation rules and propulsion implicit successful a harmless viewing country wherever determination is ample country for cars to proceed connected the highway.”

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