Wrightwood tarantula

[yarncat]

Thanks for relocating my post.  I did not know that the topic had been brought up before.  I enjoyed reading others replies.  It is amazing what goes on in your own backyard that you are unaware of.  Wonder  what else is hiding under the bushes!

[RobertW]

Many are under the impression that Tarantulas only live at low elevations and the desert areas of California.  As you can see from the above posts, this isn't true.

Tarantulas do live in the foothills and higher elevation forests and are found throughout the Angeles National Forest and the High Sierras as well.

Not to worry, Tarantulas are not poisonous and will only bite if they feel threatened.  As a defense they also can eject the hairs on their backside, much like a porcupine does.  The hairs are barbed and contain a mild irritating venom, but cause nothing more than an irritating rash. But for the most part they are very docile and won't bother you at all, even when picking them up.

They make great pets.

[KW]

Oooh, this brings back memories. When I was a kid in Riverside, we found a huge (in my mind!) tarantula crawling along our garden hose in the front year.

I remember it being about the size of my palm, but I bet my palm was a little smaller back then...

[ChrisLynnet]

At high school a visiting lecturer brought some bugs, spiders et. al. with him. I didn't mind letting his pet tarantula crawl on my hand in this controlled environment (besides, I was a kid and taking a dare). I wouldn't hurt one but I'd give them a wide berth now.

[superMom]

They make great pets.

You are right Robert W....I can honestly say that of all the "pets"our future wildlife biologist son had as pets (snakes, lizards, scorpions, turtles...) his tarantula was by far the best.  He was the most animated, never failed to entertain us and lived a really really long time!!!

[Freebird]

If you ever see a "for sale" sign on the Freebird Lodge, it means that I've seen a tarantula in Wrightwood (or anywhere within a 20 mile radius.)

[ForestGal]

If you ever see a "for sale" sign on the Freebird Lodge, it means that I've seen a tarantula in Wrightwood (or anywhere within a 20 mile radius.)

AMEN, sister!  
I hate bugs of any sort.  If someone put a tarantula anywhere on my arm, I would probably pass out.  If I found one in my house, I'd be out in the driveway calling 911.  I wouldn't be on the roof, cuz I'm terrified of heights too.....   

I wouldn't hurt one either, but I sure don't want one near me!   

[Mrs. Hillbilly]

Do these things pee all over you if pick them up in the wild? 
I can handle a small bite or hair pokes, but don't be spraying spider pee all over my hands...

[TheSandman]

i don't know but i've been known to do that if picked up in the wild.

[luvroses]

Haven't seen any unusual spiders up here this year -- but, it wouldn't surprise me. After the fire in LPC last fall, we started seeing unusual wildlife and birds in the east end of town. Last week, I saw a cotton-tailed rabbit in my yard. In the 30+ years we've been here, we've never had bunnies before! 

[RobertW]

You are right Robert W....I can honestly say that of all the "pets"our future wildlife biologist son had as pets (snakes, lizards, scorpions, turtles...) his tarantula was by far the best.  He was the most animated, never failed to entertain us and lived a really really long time!!!

You're son sounds like a kid after my own heart.    

I had snakes, cameleons, lizards, rats, horny toads, frogs, etc, as pets, but never had a tarantula.  We have picked them up when at the River at the Parker Strip on vacation.  In the evenings you need to be careful where you step on the beach.

To this day, I rarely will kill a spider in the house.  I'll take it outside.  Kim, my wife, after 33 years of marriage, still can't see eye to eye with me on this.   I don't get it.  ??

[Freebird]

To this day, I rarely will kill a spider in the house.  I'll take it outside.  Kim, my wife, after 33 years of marriage, still can't see eye to eye with me on this.   I don't get it.  ??

When I find a spider in my house, it's him or me!  If it's big and I don't kill it, I know I will have to move out of the house. 

About two years ago, I found a HUGE black widow right next to my Jacuzzi in the back yard - sitting on the wall.  Seriously, this thing was a good three inches.  (I have pictures as proof.  I didn't know they could get that big.)  I knew if was going to be like killing a small animal!  Because it could fall between the Jacuzzi and my house (and I didn't want to move out), I knew I had one chance...  I got my mom on the phone for moral support (speaker phone, of course) and got a shovel.  One whack was all I was going to get.  With trembling hands and shaking knees, I slowly approached....  WHACK!!!  Got the b*tch!!  Took a pic of the smashed guts too.  There was a big egg sack among the guts.  Still creeps me out to think about it. 

Good to know that I can kill for my own survial, if need be.  Perhaps I will put pics of my kill on the windows of the Freebird Lodge to discourage criminals...  Be forewarned... I have a shovel and I'm not afraid to use it.

[Joe Schmoe]

I was going to post a reply that said we used to see them all the time in Azusa Canyon, and that there always seemed to be a "season" when you'd see them.  I figured that wouldn't be interesting to a Wrightwood resident...but then I ran across this one on Glendora Mountain Rd. today...

I have a couple creepy photos, but my webspace is down for a few days...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GsZiUrLng-A

[Iris]

Haven't seen one outdoors since I lived in Phelan about 12 years ago. Have been thinking about one as a pet, just found out you can get them at rescues...who knew.

And I too will most often relocate a spider outside my home rather then end its life myself 

[WWDREAMN]

There was one crawling around the construction site at Hillside Church two Sundays ago. All the kids had fun watching it.

[superMom]

You're son sounds like a kid after my own heart.    

We had all the same cast of characters you had...   And he is now a Junior at Humboldt State with a projected double major in Wildlife Biology and Zoology.  We "rescue and relocate" everything except ants (just too hard to get that many of them to cooperate )

[Freebird]

So, my neighbor and I were enjoying my Jacuzzi near dusk last night.  Suddenly my neighbor pointed up with a shocked look on her face!  About 5 feet above us, seemingly suspended in midair and backlit by the still light enough sky was a HUGE garden spider.  The abdomen, alone, was a good inch in size.  Clearly, at any moment, it could drop onto us, paralyze us, cocoon us up and feed on us for the next year.  It had to die. 

I surveyed the situation.  I surmised that it must have a web going from the bamboo on one side of us over to the patio on the other side of us.  The only option would be to try to knock it down and hope that it would fall on an open part of the patio so it could be quickly and violently killed.  It was going to be him/her or me. 

I got out of the Jacuzzi...  dripping everywhere, but no time to dry off...  I grabbed a large push broom for myself and a flash light for the neighbor who was still in the Jacuzzi...  I climbed up onto a patio planter to get within reach of the beast (broom length reach, mind you)...  my fat, gray cat sat below me, watching the whole thing with obvious amusement and being absolutely no help at all... 

Ok...  I had one shot...  the broom went through the air and I know I made contact - my neighbor screamed!  I ran away.   

WHERE WAS IT NOW?!  WAS IT ON THE BROOM I WAS STILL HOLDING?!  WAS IT ON ME?! 

After the scream, my neighbor quickly came to her senses and shot the flash light over the side of the Jacuzzi to look and shot out a second scream!  Gee, do you think she found it? 

By this time, I was laughing so hard at the behavior of two grown women I could barely function...  but, there was still killing to be done.  I darted around to the other side of the planter where she had the flashlight aimed.  She was yelling, "There it is!  There it is!"  It looked even bigger down on the ground and I, being in a bikini, had an uncomfortable abundance of skin exposed to be so close to something like this. 

No time to think -- WHAM WHAM WHAM WHAM!!  For over 30 seconds, I beat the beast with the broom bristles.  It mocked me by merely balling up to wait until I was done.  "Haha, I'm fine.  Watch me just walk away!"  OK, then, perhaps being briskly brushed back and forth for awhile will be the end of you!  Nope.  Mocked again.  Time for you to die, moster, die!  I turned the broom over and with one well aimed whack of the hard wood it was over. 

Now, I just have to clean the giant splat off the patio.

[luvroses]

Loved your story, Freebird! Was that in WW, or down below? (I remember you saying that you were moving up here)
OK, so you do know that we have jumping wolf spiders up here, that can get up to the size of a quarter (easily)? After 30 years up here, they still scare the you-know-what out of me, when I walk into a room and see one. Over the years, however, I have become a deadly aim with a house-slipper (sorry, no catch-and-release here).

[Freebird]

It was in OC...  and spell check has forsaken me - that main line was "Die, monster, die!"

[ForestGal]

Freebird, your eloquently written story just cracked me up!     That's pretty much my opinion of spiders also.  I'll leave them alone outdoors, but any creature bearing more than four (count em' 4) legs, is definitely NOT welcome in my house.  I did dispatch a black widow in my garage a couple weeks ago, using long-handled tools, but I figured hey, it's not outdoors per se, it's in my garage.  

I definitely DO NOT like bugs!