People say, “We don’t have tarantulas in Colorado!” Well we don’t usually…
“Can you please send someone over right away. We have tarantulas in our produce section!” exclaimed the agitated grocery store manager. “And may I speak to someone. It’s urgent. We have frightened customers! One of them is causing a huge scene. We’ve got to do something quickly!”
Tom listened to the store manager anxiously described the situation. “I am happy to get right over to your store,” he replied. “However, I highly doubt you have tarantulas. Sometimes, people see wolf spiders, which can actually get fairly large, and think they are tarantulas. Not to worry. I’ll be right over.”
Dressed in plain clothes so he wouldn’t further alarm any of the customers, Tom conducted a thorough search of the banana section. Sure enough, he found a tarantula. The poor thing had hitched a very long ride all the way from the much warmer, tropical regions of Central America. He must have been snug and secure traveling such a long distance, nestled between the bananas.
Very carefully Tom removed the creature, placed it in a grocery store baggie and carefully brought it in for all the pest control geeks in the office to admire and observe. The tarantula actually didn’t last long, probably due to the effects of such a long journey.
We actually we do have mini tarantulas in southeastern Colorado but, as a general rule, we don’t have them in the Denver Metro area. Sometimes people may see wolf spiders and think they are tarantulas due to their size and appearance.
In all his years, this was Tom’s only experience with tarantulas. It was just another new, exciting adventure in pest control.
FROM THE PEST DESK 