Tarantula mating season on the Central Coast

Most of the year you can’t find them, but over the next two months tarantulas can be easily seen.

The males are out for mating season, while the females wait for love. You could say love is in the air. R.J. Adams is a local tarantula expert and author. He says, “The way the males find the females is the webbing on the inside of the burrow is impregnated with pheromones. So it’s like perfume. So I described it in my talks as a big flashing sign that says females here!”

Adams says the mating season lasts from the end of September to early November. It’s the only
chance the males have find love. “Females can live for us to 30 years. The males only have 6 or 7 years. And they get one shot to mate. So once the males reach maturity, they leave the safety of their burrows and they spend the remaining few months of their lives just wandering around trying to find females to mate as frequently as possible before they die,” says Adams.

It’s also a great time to observe these 8 legged creatures while they are on the prowl. Despite their scary appearance, in most cases their venom isn’t toxic to people. It’s their body hair which they use to defend themselves defense. “Their main defense toward people are what they have, what are called
urticating hairs. These are barbed hairs with an irritant on them that are on their abdomen.”

Some top spots to see tarantulas are Pinnacles National Park and Henry Cowell State Park.