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Tarantula mating season is here - and if you're in the Southwest, you might see hordes of these fist-sized spiders marching across the landscape.
From late summer through fall, male tarantulas emerge from their burrows on a singular mission: to find a female and mate before they die, experts say.
"These males ... they've been alive for five to eight years," Cara Shillington, a biology professor who studies tarantulas at Eastern Michigan University, told Fox News Digital. (See the video at the top of this article.)
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"They have one mating season. At the end of the season, they will die."
This means that if you see a tarantula out and about between August and October, you're witnessing its grand finale - the final act in a long, hidden life underground.
"Tarantulas are less active during the cooler months, spending this time dormant in their burrows," Paul Biggs, a board-certified entomologist and technical services manager at Orkin, told Fox News Digital.
"Because of the harsh environmental conditions, they take shelter and conserve energy during this time," added Biggs, who is based in Riverside, California.
Tarantulas are commonly found across the Southern and Southwestern U.S., including in these states and areas:
In some areas, their movements are so noticeable that the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website refers to it as "a migration."
Southeastern Colorado even hosts an annual Tarantula Festival in the town of La Junta, Shillington noted.
Tarantulas don't just live on forest floors. The Colorado species also thrives in trees and prairie grasslands, said Shillington.
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"In Colorado, they are in very distinct burrows. In Missouri, you find them more frequently under rocks," she said.
The spiders' ability to burrow depends on the soil, the expert noted. For example, hard clay makes digging tough, so some may opt for hiding under natural cover.
First, don't panic. Tarantulas are not aggressive and prefer to avoid confrontation.
"Tarantulas don't pose any threat at all," Shillington told Fox News Digital.
She noted that "they're more scared of you than you are of them."
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The arachnids rarely bite, and if they do, it's a defensive move, which is why it's best not to try to pick one up or mess with it.
"Any time you try to grab it, the first thing it'll do is try and run," said Shillington. "They respond to anything trying to grab them as a threat."
If you find one in your home, trap it in a large container and take it outside, said Shillington.
Biggs cautioned against using pest products, which may "make the situation worse."
He advised, "If you can contain it to one area in the meantime, do so without physically handling it."
Even though tarantulas are well-known in popular culture, and even as pets, scientists still have many unanswered questions.
"We actually know very little," Shillington admitted. "I don't know when exactly they first come out or what prompts them. I have no idea how far they are walking to find females."
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She and her team are working to track activity across tarantula territory to better understand how the spider's behavior changes over time.
