But, but, why only that year which was no different from any other? Was it the tarantula equivalent of a mating Woodstock?
And levdrakon, they were very nice tarantulas, with wonderful manners and soft furry bodies that would tippy toe up your arms and creep slooowly across your bare neck… Enjoy!
Four year old? Hell, I’m almost forty-four and I still haven’t outgrown that.
:eek: Right now, I’m really glad I don’t live anywhere near the desert. That’s one of the most disturbing things I’ve ever heard! We’ve had some rabid raccoons in the neighborhood, and I thought that was bad, but that’s nothing compared to hordes of marauding giant spiders.
A herd of tarantulas?! :eek:
I don’t think they herd; I think they swarm or something.
It was like a description I once read about how there used to be so many buffalo they covered the earth from horizon to horizon. Only smaller. So herd seems apropo, no?
And really, they were very nice tarantulas! Even if you could make them bite, a bee sting was worse. Like most critters, they just wanted to get on with their business and not fuss with the humans.
Show of hands, how many folks thought the OP title was a euphemism for something?
No?
Okay.
We’ve got snakes n hawks, and coyotes*, and foxes, and bunnies, and salamanders**, and voles.
** = There’s a single native species of Salamander that’s native to Colorado! Who’da thunk?
You should see our neighbors grouse (heh) about all the wildlife they get…you’d think they woulda thought about living next to Open Space
I was in Northern California during tarantula mating season the year before last, and I have to say, they don’t really maraud, they mostly just meander. I mean, there’s a lot of them doing a lot of meandering, but they don’t have tiny little eyepatches and cutlasses or anything.
Would they have four eyepatches?
Four hooks?
Ar, avast me hearties!
Cervaise, Mr. Taters enjoyed your quail story.
While growing up there were always pheasants, quail and rabbits in my backyard. I lived in south Tacoma then, out where there were a lot of apple orchards and pastures. We had a pasture that adjoined our backyard. It was pretty cool.
Now, we mainly have raccoons, squirrels, and crows with the occasional possum wandering through.
When we first moved out here, we had deer and foxes too. Alas, too much development has cut down on sightings of those animals.
Perhaps it was some sort of exotic quail that had escaped from a neighbor? I used to have Button Quail in a small indoor aviary with Zebra finches. The quail helped clean up the dropped seeds, but dang they were dumb. If something startled them they’d fly straight up and then stop flapping and drop like a rock. I kept expecting them to break their necks.
Chickens invented the idea of taking out self-loathing on those weaker than us. 
I had them with fava beans and a nice chianti