A festival for a spider? Absolutely! If you are like me, the eight legged hairy spider creeps me out but I overcome my fear at the Coarsegold Annual Tarantula Festival by holding and touching my first ever tarantula, actually, holding my first ever spider.
I admire those people who have no fear of spiders, I really do, so if you fit in the no fear category, the festival is for you. But even if you don't care for them, there is so much fun to be had for the family, especially the kids. There was a pumpkin pie contest, scream off (boy, can those kids scream!),pumpkin decorating, tarantula poem contest, hairy leg contest for men and women ages 16+, children's costume contest, and of course, the tarantula race.
I learned the diet of the tarantula includes grasshoppers, beetles and other spiders. Vertebrates such as mice, toads, snakes, frogs and lizards may also fall prey to the tarantula depending on the species.
I was very happy to learn they do not bite humans unless provoked, although I don't see myself picking them up in my yard.
During October, tarantula's emerge in Oakhurst, Coarsegold, Mariposa and I am sure other local neighborhoods.
