Are tarantulas poisonous?

A good percentage of people are afraid of spiders, and none is more intimidating than the large, fur-covered tarantula. Hollywood certainly recognizes this – the tarantula has played the bad guy in countless films.

There are approximately 900 different species classified as tarantulas. Sizes range from three inches all the way up to the 12-inch goliath birdeater from South America (remind me never to go to South America). Tarantulas are among the most docile and easily-handled of all spiders, and are popular as pets.

In those rare instances when a tarantula feels threatened by a human, it will assume a threat posture and may even emit a hissing noise. The spider may slap you with their raised front legs as a final warning. It that doesn’t work it will turn away to scrape irritating barbed hairs from its abdomen and fling them at you. As a last resort and particularly if cornered, it can bite, with or without injecting venom. Yes, tarantulas are venomous, but their venom is no worse than a bee sting. Unless you have a severe allergic reaction, you will experience nothing worse than a little pain and some redness/swelling. There are no known cases of fatality due to the bite of a tarantula.

Bonus Fact: Male tarantulas live for five to 10 years but females can live for more than 30 in the wild.