[pct-l] Tarantulas in the Sierra

[jas8313 at adelphia.net (JAMES)]

>From the book Sierra Nevada Natural History it indicates that Tarantulas in
the Sierra are distributed to the middle 
elevations..  This may correspond with the distribution of the Yellow Pine
Belt.. to 5500 in the north, 6500 central 
and to 9000 in the southern Sierra.  Active at nite, ground dwellers..
James

Message: 13 
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 23:30:39 -0700 (PDT) 
From: David Davis <atvet@sbcglobal.net> 
Subject: [pct-l] Tarantulas in the Sierra 
To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net 
Message-ID: <20041003063039.85932.qmail@web80512.mail.yahoo.com> 
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
A previous e-mail questioned the existence of tarantulas in the Sierra.
This sent me to google to find how high they can live, but alas I didn't
find the answer. What I am certain of though is that tarantulas are common
in the Sierra foothills to at least 4,000 feet. While common, they are
seldom seen because they are nocturnal and during the day burrow in the
ground. The one exception to their elusiveness is in September when male
tarantulas venture out in search of females. One September day while
driving on a Sierra back road I saw what seemed to be hundreds of
tarantulas over 30 miles. On the other hand, I've hiked all over the foot
hills and I've never seen any (although their holes are common). In other
words, I can't attest that the hiker saw a tarantula at high altitude, but
it was the only time of the year you would find one.


SirJames from Southern California
Candidate ... PCT Class of 2008