Spider lovers scurry to Colorado town in search of mating tarantulas and community

LA JUNTA, Colo. (AP) — Love is in the air on the Colorado plains — the kind that makes your heart beat a bit faster, quickens your step and makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

It's tarantula mating season, when male spiders scurry out of their burrows in search of a mate, and hundreds of arachnophiles flock to the small farming town of La Junta to watch them emerge in droves.

Scientists, spider enthusiasts and curious Colorado families piled into buses just before dusk last weekend as tarantulas began to roam the dry, rolling plains. Some used flashlights and car headlights to spot the arachnids once the sun set.

Back in town, festivalgoers flaunted their tarantula-like traits in a hairy leg contest — a woman claimed the title this year — and paraded around in vintage cars with giant spiders on the hoods. The 1990 cult classic film “Arachnophobia,” which follows a small town similarly overrun with spiders, screened downtown at the historic Fox Theater.

For residents of La Junta, tarantulas aren't the nightmarish creatures often depicted on the silver screen. They're an important part of the local ecosystem and a draw for people around the U.S. who might have otherwise never visited the tight-knit town in southeastern Colorado.

Word spread quickly among neighbors about all the people they had met from out of town during the third year of the tarantula festival.

Among them was Nathan Villareal, a tarantula breeder from Santa Monica, California, who said he heard about the mating season and knew it was a spectacle he needed to witness. Villareal sells tarantulas as pets to people around the U.S. and said he has been fascinated with them since childhood.

“Colorado Brown” tarantulas are the most common in the La Junta area, and they form their burrows in the largely undisturbed prairies of the Comanche National Grassland.

In September and October, the mature males wander in search of a female's burrow, which she typically marks with silk webbing. Peak viewing time is an hour before dusk when the heat of the day dies down.

“We saw at least a dozen tarantulas on the road, and then we went back afterwards and saw another dozen more," Villareal said.

Male tarantulas take around seven years to reach reproductive readiness, then spend the rest of their lifespan searching for a mate, said Cara Shillington, a biology professor at Eastern Michigan University who studies arachnids. They typically live for about a year after reaching sexual maturity, while females can live for 20 years or more.

The males grow to be about 5 inches long and develop a pair of appendages on their heads that they use to drum outside a female's burrow. She will crawl to the surface if she is a willing mate, and the male will hook its legs onto her fangs.

Their coupling is quick, as the male tries to get away before he is eaten by the female, who tends to be slightly larger and needs extra nutrients to sustain her pregnancy.

Like many who attended the festival, Shillington is passionate about teaching people not to fear tarantulas and other spiders. Tarantulas found in North America tend to be docile creatures, she explained. Their venom is not considered dangerous to humans but can cause pain and irritation.

“When you encounter them, they're more afraid of you,” Shillington said. “Tarantulas only bite out of fear. This is the only way that they have to protect themselves, and if you don't put them in a situation where they feel like they have to bite, then there is no reason to fear them.”

Many children who attended the festival with their families learned that spiders are not as scary as they might seem. Roslyn Gonzales, 13, said she couldn't wait to go searching for spiders come sunset.

For graduate student Goran Shikak, whose arm was crawling with spider tattoos, the yearly festival represents an opportunity to celebrate tarantulas with others who share his fascination.

“They're beautiful creatures,” said Shikak, an arachnology student at the University of Colorado Denver. “And getting to watch them do what they do ... is a joy and experience that's worth watching in the wild.”

Tarantula crossing stickers are piled on a table at the Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Andrew Motte, a filmmaking student at Montana State University, films a tarantula on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A male tarantula looks for a mate while a researcher's dog stands watch on the plains near La Junta, Colo., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A tourist looks for tarantulas on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Raven Myhre, of Fort Collins, Colo., draws a spider at the Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Kendall Foreman, left, and Raven Myhre, right, both of Fort Collins, Colo., create artwork at the Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A male tarantula looks for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A tourist photographs a male tarantula looking for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Car headlights shine on a male tarantula looking for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A male tarantula looks for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A classic car is decorated with fake spiders at the Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colo., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Goran Shikak, an arachnology graduate student at The University of Colorado Denver, shows off his spider tattoos during the Tarantula Festival in La Junta, Colo., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A male tarantula looks for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A man walks in the Tarantula Festival parade in La Junta, Colo., Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A male tarantula looks for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., on Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Dr. Cara Shillington, a biology professor at Eastern Michigan University, surveys the plains during tarantula mating season near La Junta, Colo., on Saturday, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

Car headlights shine on a male tarantula looking for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

A male tarantula looks for a mate on the plains near La Junta, Colo., Friday, Sept. 27, 2024.(AP Photo/Thomas Peipert)

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Typhoon Krathon made landfall Thursday in the major port city of Kaohsiung, packing maximum sustained winds of 126 kph (78 mph) near its center, with gusts of 162 kph (101 mph), according to Taiwan’s weather authorities.

The slow-moving typhoon has doused eastern and southern parts of the island over the past five days, forcing thousands to evacuate from mountainous or low-lying areas. Schools and government offices have been shut around the island for two days, and all domestic flights have been canceled.

Gusts and heavy rains pelted the empty streets.

Many residents woke up Thursday to mobile phone alerts urging them to take shelter from fierce winds of up to 134 kph (83 mph), with gusts of more than 166 kph (103 mph). The weather administration posted a Facebook message warning Kaohsiung and Pingtung County residents to not go outside when the eye of the storm passes above their area and the weather calms briefly, because the winds and storms will pick up again afterward.

Weather-related events attributed to Krathon injured at least 123 people around the island, according to Taiwan’s fire department. Two people died — one after driving into fallen rocks on the road in the southeastern Taitung county, and the other while trimming tree branches in the city of Hualien. Two others remained missing.

Thousands were evacuated from areas vulnerable to mudslides and landslides. Almost 40,000 troops were on standby to help with rescue efforts.

Mountainous areas in the island’s south have seen up to 169 centimeters (5.5 feet) of rain over the past five days.

China's weather agency said some eastern and southern parts of Taiwan are set to see extremely heavy rains of up to 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) over the next 24 hours.

Typhoons rarely hit Taiwan’s west coast, affecting instead the mountainous, eastern side of the island. Krathon is forecast to slowly travel north and weaken into a tropical depression by Friday before it reaches the capital, Taipei.

On Monday, the typhoon lashed northern Philippine islands, where four people were killed and at least 5,000 were displaced, officials said.

A man rides in the wind and rain generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Traffic cones litter the pavement as Typhoon Krathon arrives in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A street view from a hotel that taped the glass of its front door as Typhoon Krathon arrives in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman struggles in the wind and rain generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

Wind and rain blow through Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, as Typhoon Krathon arrives Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A man struggles in the heavy wind and rain generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman struggles with winds generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman struggles with winds generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)

A woman struggles with winds generated by Typhoon Krathon in Kaohsiung, Southern Taiwan, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Chiang Ying-ying)