TARANTULA

TARANTULA

( No photos of tarantula because I am afraid of spiders after seeing Eight Legged Freaks movie , I like to read articles about spiders without seeing their images)

All tarantulas are venomous and some bites cause serious discomfort that might persist for several days, so far no bite has been reported to cause a human fatality. In general, the effects of the bites of all kinds of tarantula are not well known. If a person gets bitten by a tarantula, the bite will probably feel a lot like a bee sting, with pain  in the area of the bite. It will look like a bee sting, too, with redness and some swelling. Because the tarantula's venom (poison) is weak, it's unusual to have more severe reactions involving other parts of the body.

The goliath birdeater tarantula of South America is arguably the biggest spider in the world.

DIET

Tarantulas are slow  movers, but accomplished nocturnal predators. Some tarantulas succeed in occasionally capturing small birds, small mammals such as mice, and even small fish, but their ordinary prey consists of insects such as crickets (for ground dwellers) and moths (for arboreal species). They also secrete digestive enzymes to liquefy their victims' bodies so that they can suck them up through their straw-like mouth openings. After a large meal, the tarantula may not need to eat for a month.

SELF PROTECTION

All Tarantulas have an interesting way of defending themselves.  They have hairs on their abdomen (stomachs) that have sharp little barbs, or pokey things, on them.  When threatened, the spider will rub these hairs with their legs and shoot them at their predator.  That would hurt.