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Tarantula Causes Traffic Collision In Death Valley National Park

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Published Date

October 30, 2023

A tarantula similar to this one avoided becoming roadkill on CA-190 when a Swiss couple braked suddenly, causing a collision with a motorcyclist behind them at Death Valley National Park / NPS file

Why did the tarantula cross the road? It was looking for love, of course. But there are all sorts of obstacles along the route, such as the Swiss travelers who braked suddenly when spying a tarantula crossing CA-190 east of Towne Pass in Death Valley National Park on the afternoon of October 28. A Canadian man on a motorcycle then crashed into the back of the couple’s rented camper van.

A National Park Service (NPS) ambulance transported the motorcyclist to Desert View Hospital in Pahrump.

The Swiss travelers are going to have some explaining to do when returning their rental vehicle.

The tarantula walked away unscathed.

“Please drive slowly, especially going down steep hills in the park,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who was the first NPS employee on the accident scene. “Our roads still have gravel patches due to flood damage, and wildlife of all sizes are out.”

Tarantulas spend most of their long lives in underground burrows. People see them most often in the fall, when 8- to 10-year-old male tarantulas leave their burrows to search for a mate. The female sometimes kills and eats him after mating. Even if she doesn’t kill him, the male tarantula rarely lives more than a few more months. Female tarantulas, however, can live for 25 years, mating multiple times.

Tarantulas are slow-moving and nonaggressive. A tarantula’s bite is reported to be similar to a bee sting, and is not deadly to humans.

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