COARSEGOLD, Calif. (KMPH) -
Coarsegold is tarantula country, especially this time of the year. Each year the community holds a Tarantula Festival to prove that the hairy spider is really harmless.
The 15th annual Tarantula Festival is more than just a community event. People came from as far as Reno and Oakland due to their love for the large arachnid. Gabriel Haas is from Oakland. "My wife's a big fan of tarantulas. We've got several at home as pets. So she just wanted to come out and check out what this little festival was about."
But the fun wasn't just for grownups. There were a lot of things for the kids to do too. "The first one to blow a bubble that stays, a good size bubble that stays is gonna win." The kids found the gum buried in a mound of whipped cream and they went to work on creating that good size bubble.
For the even younger crowd there were tarantula races but the spiders weren't real. The Coarsegold Historic Village created the event to help promote awareness for the defenseless spider. Diane Boland is CEO. "People like to run over them or get scared to death so we like to make them aware that they're really good for the environment and relatively harmless."
Tarantulas are not poisonous. They like to eat bugs, rodents and small snakes. Jenny Haas of Oakland says they also have a long life expectancy. "We have two spider–lings and one large one and each of them should live twelve years or more up to 30–35 years. And we're getting another one here."
This is the time of year that male tarantulas hit the countryside looking for a mate. Locals have a message for motorists... drive with caution. "They're not scary and they're actually really harmless and they're nice, so don't kill them. Be nice to them."
The Tarantula Festival is believed to be the only one of its kind in California.
