In Death Valley National Park.
A Canadian tourist was injured Saturday (10/28) in a car accident caused by a tarantula in Death Valley National Park, California.
According to the National Park Service, the driver of an RV belonging to tourists from Switzerland slammed on the brakes to avoid killing the tarantula that was crossing CA-190 east of Towne Pass.
The motorcycle following the trailer, driven by a 24-year-old man, crashed into it, injuring its driver, CBS News reports.
The tourist was taken by ambulance to Desert View in Pahrump and his condition is not known.
As for the tarantula, it was unharmed and escaped into the desert, according to a post on the park’s Facebook account.
Tarantulas spend most of their lives below the surface of the earth. People see them most often in the fall, when male tarantulas come to the surface in search of mates, the National Park post noted.
Sometimes, after mating the female kills and eats the male. Even if this is not done, the male tarantula rarely lives more than a few months after mating. However, females live up to 25 years and mate many times.
Finally, the park notes that tarantulas move slowly, are not aggressive, and the bite of these spiders is not fatal to humans.
