- Check this out.
Got a tarantula.
Good size one, too.
Look at this.
Oh, it's onto us.
I'm gonna move in and try to coax it out.
And you may be thinking to yourself,
"This is the living arachnophobic nightmare."
Ooh, almost ran right up onto my face.
(exciting music)
(stone cracking)
- [Coyote Narrating] Nothing makes the hair on your neck
stand up like the thought of a spider crawling up your back.
Trust me. I know.
I've been there many times in an attempt to demonstrate
that spiders are not out to get us.
Worldwide, there are more than 45,000 spider species.
They come in many shapes, sizes,
and every single one of these eight-legged arachnids
is considered venomous.
I can sense your arachnophobia meter climbing by the second.
But if you live in the United States, I have some good news.
Aside from the black widow
and the brown recluse, there isn't a single spider species
that is considered dangerous to humans.
Hold up. Wait.
Coyote, aren't you forgetting about the tarantula?
That giant hair covered,
thing-wielding, desert roaming nightmare.
Those spiders are huge!
Like Hollywood movie huge.
And did we mention the hairy part?
Are you telling us that these spiders are harmless?
For the most part?
Yes.
To prove it, on this adventure,
we are heading out into the star-lit desert of Arizona
to get hands on with one of these supposed nightmares.
People who live in the Southwest
are typically used to seeing tarantulas.
And if you love spiders enough to desire seeing one yourself
there's a good chance you will spot one
skittering across the parched rocky substrate
if you head out for a night hike.
- Good?
That is a huge wash.
Well, this is gonna make walking a lot easier.
All these embankments here.
Let's check this out.
Whoo, I'm walking on the moon.
Yeah, this is great.
Something like this, the sand is really dense.
It'll be hard for us to walk on.
It's thinner towards these edges
but all these embankments are gonna be areas
where animals are traveling up and down.
They can go up into the underbrush
and they can use this little Ridge line right here
to move from spot to spot.
What do you think?
Which direction you want to go?
That way or this way?
- [Mario] Let's go that way.
- This way? - Yeah.
- All right, let's do it.
When the rains pour down, we're talking hundreds
of thousands, probably millions of gallons of water
all converges down into a river bed like this
and the water can be
10 feet high, just ripping through the desert
and that water all soaks back down into the sand
incredibly quickly, so it completely reshapes the landscape
every time there's a monsoon rain that pushes through.
But for us, this is perfect.
Far fewer cacti and better opportunities to quickly move
through the environment to find animals.
All right, Mario, let's head this way.
Check this out, got a tarantula.
Tarantula.
Good size one too.
Look at this.
Whoa, it's onto us.
Mario, come up slow.
It's really close to this underbrush.
Just want to take a look at it.
I'm gonna have to gently coax it back out into the open.
You see it?
Come up slow.
It's like right in front of you here.
When you look at a spider like this,
and immediately you think, "Oh, arachnophobia.
"I'm terrified of whatever this is."
Oh, he's getting up into the underneath.
Bring him back out into the open.
(whispers indistinctly)
This is very cool.
I was hoping we would come across a tarantula tonight.
All right, buddy.
Okay.
(whispers indistinctly)
Oh, don't go under there.
That's where I don't want you to go.
Want you right out in the open.
There we go.
That right there, is a desert blonde tarantula.
And you may be thinking to yourself
this is a living arachnophobic nightmare, but whoa!
He almost ran right up onto my face.
All he wants to do right now is get away.
There we go.
Now if I let it walk from hand to hand...
Here we go.
Look at that.
That is one big spider.
One of the most common spider species you will see
out here in the Southwest.
When it comes to defenses,
this spider's armed with very large fangs
but not a very potent bite.
Actually what's more potent are these little hairs
on the back of the abdomen.
And when they feel very threatened
what they will do is use their high legs to flick
off some of those hairs.
They're called urticating hairs,
and if those get into your eyes or into your nose,
they're very, very itchy.
They'll burn your eyes, it'll burn your nose.
So any predator that comes into the environment says,
"Oh this looks like a good snack."
You get a face full of those hairs, trust me.
It is not going to be a comfortable situation.
When it comes to this being an animal
that you need to be afraid of,
it may look hairy and may be covered in fur,
and it may be armed with fangs,
but this is one of the most docile creatures
you can come across.
And the spiders simply just want to navigate the desert
looking for things to feast upon.
And when it comes to the toxicity of the venom,
a bite is no more potent than that of a honeybee sting.
And the odds of you ever being bitten by a tarantula
are slim to none.
They use the bite as an absolute last defense.
And usually only in an instance
when they feel as if they are going to get squished.
Letting the spider just slowly walk
from hand to hand like this is completely safe.
Now I would not recommend that you ever come
out into the desert and pick up one of these tarantulas,
but oftentimes people have them in captivity
and they're used to help people
get over their fear spiders, to help cure arachnophobia.
Because you can see once it's on your hands
and moving slowly,
it's actually a very cool, very calm experience.
Now despite the fact that this is a very large spider,
is rather creepy looking with all those hairs,
on a scale of one to five,
when we're talking about dangerous
or potentially deadly desert dwellers,
this tarantula only ranks as a one.
Very cool.
Definitely one of the creepy crawlies
I hoped we would come across tonight.
See you later, big guy.
- [Coyote Narrating] The Coyote Pack has been witness to me
performing a number of dangerous wilderness stunts.
And it's responsible to say
that holding a tarantula poses risks.
These spiders can and will bite if they feel threatened.
So while they're venom is not lethally toxic,
it's definitely not something you want to experience.
If you see a tarantula in the wild,
it's okay to get close,
but it's always best to admire these spiders naturally
without trying to pick them up.
Hey, Coyote Pack,
If you are afraid of spiders
make sure to go back and watch the episode
where I help fellow YouTuber Collins Key
overcome his fear of these fuzzy arachnids.
And don't forget subscribe and join memberships
so you can brave alongside me and the crew
on our next wild adventure.
- Well it's figured out at this point
that we are not predators.
As they're not trying to eat the spider.
- So cool.