# Herding and Migrating Tarantulas?



## CreepyCrawly (Jul 22, 2005)

Okay, this sounds very silly to me, but perhaps this is a phenominon that I have yet to hear of, or perhaps it is an urban tarantula myth (as I suspect).

People at work were asking me about my tarantulas, and asked if I housed them together, and I said no that pretty much all of mine would most likely kill each other if housed together.  Then a coworker said that I was being silly and that tarantulas live together and swarm together to migrate across the roads in Texas, and live in herds.  She says she's seen this with her own eyes.  I just started laughing, but then our manager walked up and said she'd seen the same thing - are they both lying about having seen this happen?  Or do tarantulas indeed swarm together to migrate in Texas?  

Please forgive me for being gullible...


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## Scott C. (Jul 22, 2005)

Maybe your co-workers are just mistaking a lot of T's crossing the street  at the same time with a herd. I don't live in Texas though....


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## nightbreed (Jul 22, 2005)

Probably seen lots of mature males taking the long walk in search of females


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## SPIDERBYTE (Jul 22, 2005)

You might see something like that if it's wandering male season, or late in the evening as temps cool down, they tend to hang out near the still warm asphalt road surface. Which can also mean 8-legged roadkill too   

I read a story in the net of how one vehicle's tire treads were just packed with squished T legs! -eeeww! 
I believe it was in Texas/new mexico area.


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## Arlius (Jul 22, 2005)

The important thing is it is the same species, not a whole bunch of different ones. They are heading in the same direction, but thats where the 'choice' to 'herd' ends, its not for protection or anything like most migratory animals.


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## arachnoguy (Jul 22, 2005)

its the boys taking a walk looking for somebody to mate with. we used to have that here in parts of CA kinda crazy especially when you are witnessing it while driving over them.  :8o


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## CreepyCrawly (Jul 22, 2005)

Well, the one co-worker that started with it said that she'd seen hundreds crossing at the same time... so I'm not inclined to think that she was mistaking a few wandering males for this "herd" of tarantulas...  but perhaps they had seen this years ago and are imagining something more impressive?


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## ta2edpop (Jul 22, 2005)

My wife used to live south of S.A., Texas and said the same thing. However it was right before a big rain or right after. They don't live in herds that way, just take off like that. I would figure the bulk being males. I haven't seen it yet.


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## prodgers69 (Jul 22, 2005)

I have seen about 8- 10 tarantulas crossing the road when I was in New Mexico a couple of years ago, this was before I got into T's so didn't take much notice and just drove round them went on my way.


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## CreepyCrawly (Jul 24, 2005)

Okay, I finally have the answer - she was just full of it.  Yesterday when I got into work she grinned at me handed me a printed out article from the web, and says "Not to be rude or anything, but since you act like you know so much about them, I thought you would be interested in learning the truth about tarantulas" which just got me very upset to begin with.

Here is a link to this webpage: Nojoqui Tarantula Migration

The article was about the supposed Nojoqui Tarantuloa Migration, which supposedly happens every year when tarantulas (A. hentzi is the species named) make the 50 mile journey back to their ancestral breeding grounds.  Here are some of the funnier points to the story:

"In 1864, the rotting remains of a herd of cattle that happened to wander into the migration path, were found nearly completely consumed.  Once thought to only consume leafy green vegetable matter, it is believed that the tarantulas went on a feeding frenzy prompted by an unusually dry summer that depleted the local fauna."

"In 1947, a local rancher installed an electric fence along his property.  The fence happened to be in the migration path that year.  *The tarantulas attempted to cross the fence by building a bridge with their bodies*.  The increased load on the electrical system ignited fires along the fence and the local electrical substation, plunging the entire central coast of California into a blackout and igniting one of the largest brush fires in Santa Barbara history."

They also go on to say that they don't want to attract hundreds of observers for fear of putting unsuspecting tourists in harm's way, and that they've attached radio tracking devices to some of these spiders and show a picture of a poor tarantula with a wire glued to its carapace followed by charts supposedly following the path of the migration.  

At least I learned about the "wandering male" season that does occur in that region.  So far I still believe that I am correct in belief that *most* tarantulas live solitarily unless it is of breeding age or size, in which case they are more inclined to tolerate the presence of other tarantulas.


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