Every year, thousands of tarantulas migrate to Colorado in search of mates, generally showing up in La Junta and southeast Colorado towards the end of August.

The male spiders are searching for female mates that burrow in the Colorado prairies. The city of La Junta lists some tips for seeing the hoards, including:

• September is the ideal time of year to view the tarantula migration – specifically around September 10.
• There will still be some in October, and some are crawling about before that.
• Venture out on a day that is warm, and preferably not too windy.
• Some tarantulas will be active in late afternoon.
• Things really pick up in the hour before sunset.
• Around 5:45 p.m. -6:00 p.m. or so, and peak lasts about an hour.
• Scout area where there are tarantula hawks, the spider hunting wasps that prey on tarantulas and other large spiders.

La Junta also lists the ideal spots to see the tarantulas, this year being south of La Junta on Highway 109 on the Comanche National Grassland.

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