National Tarantula Appreciation Day 2024

My earliest interaction with a tarantula was in high school.

My friend Michael Miller, who is now his honor, the Mayor of Wagener SC had one and was showing it to me as he described some of the animal's behaviors.

He said that you could tell when the spider was contemplating a strike because it would stroke it's abdomen with it's hind legs.

Back then I was fascinated. I'm afraid all of that passed over the years. While I'm certainly not against any arachnid I don't feel the warm and fuzzies I once did for them. I am sorry to say I never took the plunge of tarantula ownership, either. They are large, furry, and imposing animals to the uninitiated.

I suppose the realities of work and career rather obscured them in the context of my activities of daily living. Things I once thought to be of paramount importance pale by comparison these days ...

Something about that pay check rolling in every month makes you rather callous to all those discarded heartstrings from the past.

Today is National Tarantula Appreciation Day. It is held each August 8 annually and appears to be a vehicle to promote the fact that despite their appearance they are not actually scary animals at all.

Anyway, I have no desire to go into the references of them throught antiquity only to say that it remains my policy to live and let live. This goes for the tarantula as well. If I see one I will simply let it be. Not likely where I live, however.