These misunderstood, wandering arachnids are often simply young males in search of love. Here’s where you might see them in fall 2025.
A hairy spider native to Kansas once was the namesake of a professional, minor league hockey team, the “Topeka Tarantulas.”
That team, based in the Sunflower State’s capital city, folded in 2005, a year after it was established.
But male tarantulas still leave their burrows and roam the rocky pastures and grasslands of Kansas each September in search of mates, at times crossing highways, says “A Pocket Guide to Common Kansas Spiders,” by Hank Guarisco.
Expert’s advice on tarantulas: Leave them alone
If you’re hiking or camping in the arid Southwest and West in the next few months, get ready for what could be the experience — or fright — of a lifetime.
Across the United States, in California, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Texas, tens of thousands of tarantulas will being crawling out of their burrows in search of females — making for a fascinating, if a little creepy — display of the wonders of nature.
It’s tarantula mating season.
“If you’re lucky enough you can sometimes see them in hordes crossing the roads at certain times of the year,” said Dan McCamish, a senior environmental scientist with California State Parks.
His advice? Leave them alone.
“It’s a wild animal — it doesn’t want to be picked up and loved and hugged,” he said. “In general the species is very docile, but if you were to handle one they could bite you.”
While the idea of thousands of hairy, baseball-sized spiders picking their way through parks and campgrounds might give many people the heebie-jeebies, in general these misunderstood, wandering arachnids are simply young males in search of love.
And if they wander into your tent, they didn’t mean to.
“In truth they’re gentle, ecologically valuable animals,” said McCamish. “Mostly they’re interested in escaping from confrontations — especially with something they know could squish them.”
Here’s what to know about tarantulas during their mating season.
Where in the US do tarantulas live?
Tarantulas prefer dry climates and primarily live in Western and Southwestern states with arid and semi-arid habitats. They are prevalent in Arizona, California, Texas, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Oregon and Washington.
But they’re in other places as well. South Florida has the Mexican red rump and the Texas brown can be found in Oklahoma and Missouri.
In Kansas, tarantulas are generally found in the southern and western parts of the state, being present in western Kansas as far north as Trego, Russell and Gove counties, said “A Pocket Guide to Common Kansas Spiders.”
There are 29 described individual species of tarantulas in the United States.
Common species include the desert blonde tarantula and the Texas brown (though Texas has 14 tarantula species). In Arizona, there’s even a variety with a fiery-red abdomen.
When are you likely to see tarantulas in the wild?
Tarantulas live in these areas year-round, but they mostly keep to themselves and their nests in the ground, so hikers and campers don’t see a lot of them.
“As with most things that live in the desert in the summer, they’re generally nocturnal,” McCamish said. “So unless you’re out in the middle of the night, which I don’t recommend for safety purposes, you likely won’t see them.”
