DEATH VALLEY (AP) – A tarantula crossing the road in Death Valley National Park in the United States caused a traffic crash that sent a Canadian motorcyclist to the hospital, the National Park Service said.
Swiss travellers, driving a rented camper van, braked suddenly to avoid hitting the tarantula as it crossed State Route 190 on Saturday, the park service said. The 24-year-old motorcyclist then struck the back of the camper van. The motorcyclist’s condition was not immediately available on Tuesday.
“The spider walked away unscathed,” the park service wrote in a statement.
While tarantulas spend most of their lives in underground burrows, eight-to-10-year-old males go aboveground in the fall to search for a mate, the park service said.
A bite from the non-aggressive arachnids is reportedly similar to a bee sting, officials said, and is not deadly to humans.
