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MEET THE TARANTULA

One of those animals that has all kinds of stories.

There's a history of tarantulas scaring people but Arachnophobia is actually a fairly common phobia. And actually, they do play an important role in our ecosystem because they are crawling out at dusk looking for as many small animals, insects, small lizards, small mice.

If you're stung by a large spider like this, it's sort of like a bee sting. As long as you're not allergic to bees, it's fine. It's the small spiders like the black widow, the brown recluse that we need to worry about.

This one, even though they're strange looking and they're scary and there's lots of tales about how dangerous they can be, they're helpful to have sharing our planet with us.

Updated on November 22, 2023

They may look creepy and crawly, but tarantulas play an important role in our ecosystem that cannot be ignored. Learn more from wildlife expert and Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom host, Peter Gros.

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