Motorcyclist hospitalized after car swerves to avoid tarantula that was crossing the road
In a bizarre series of events, an unlucky motorcyclist ended up in hospital after a tarantula was able to cause a major car crash.
You've heard of a chicken crossing the road, but how about a spider?
Well that's what happened when two Swiss tourists traveling across Death Valley in California on 28 October when they were taken aback from an encounter with the spider.
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Even more so when it attempted to cross the CA-190 highway, east of Towne Pass in Death Valley National Park.
To avoid hitting the spider, the couple quickly braked and the 24-year-old Canadian riding a motorcycle behind them then crashed into the back of their camper van.
Lucky for the eight-legged creepy-crawly, it managed to scuttle away from the accident 'unscathed'.
The motorcyclist, on the other hand, was transported to Desert View Hospital in Pahrump after the National Park Service (NPS) ambulance arrived.
His condition is currently unknown.
Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who was the first NPS employee on scene, has since issued a warning to all traveling in the area following the incident.
“Please drive slowly, especially going down steep hills in the park,” he said.
“Our roads still have gravel patches due to flood damage, and wildlife of all sizes are out.”
The NPS also explained in a press release that guests can expect to see an increase in tarantulas over the coming weeks.
“Tarantulas spend most of their long lives in underground burrows. People see them most often in the fall, when 8- to 10-year-old male tarantulas leave their burrows to search for a mate,” they said.
They also stated that, in the event a person comes into more personal contact with the tarantulas, it is important to note that they are slow moving and non-aggressive - this luckily isn't Eight Legged Freaks after all.
Adding: “A tarantula’s bite is reported to be similar to a bee sting, and is not deadly to humans.”
That's one less thing to worry about at least.
But there's actually one breed of tarantula that you would be able to see coming from a mile off - because it's so bright blue.
And, luckily for people terribly afraid of spiders, the peacock tarantula has never been recorded successfully killing anybody (that we know of).
However, it is a venomous spider and could bite people if they get too close for comfort, and even if it generally prefers to apply a 'dry bite' where it doesn't inject venom it can still have fangs three quarters of an inch long.
If you ever do get bitten by one of these big blue beasties, you can expect a painful week of headaches, stinging pains, swelling and cramps.
It's better just to stay inside, to be honest.
Gerrard Kaonga