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Tarantula is a big hairy spider that is actually afraid of you

Tarantula is a word that sends shivers down many people's spines. In movies, it is depicted as a terrifying attacker. In reality, it is the opposite: the tarantula is one of the shyest inhabitants of our planet.

Huge in size among spiders - some species with their legs open up to 30 centimeters. It's like a dinner plate. It's hairy, slow and nocturnal. During the day it hides in a hole that it dug itself in the ground. At night it goes out to hunt grasshoppers, crickets, small lizards. It ambushes at the entrance and waits.

When a tarantula sees a person, it almost always runs away or freezes. It does not attack people - a person is too big, too scary for it. If you still irritate it, it has two defensive strategies. The first: it shakes off tiny hairs from its back with its hind legs, which fly in the air and irritate the eyes and skin. The second is to bite. But a tarantula bite is no more terrible for a healthy person than a bee sting. It is painful, but not poisonous.

Interestingly, the tarantula has almost no vision. It has eight eyes, but they are weak. But it "hears" the smallest vibrations of the ground with its antennae-pedipalps. If you walk next to its burrow, it knows that you are walking - without even looking.

Some tarantulas live up to 30 years, longer than a dog. In many countries, they are kept as pets: they are quiet, clean, and do not require much attention.

So a tarantula is not a horror movie. It's a big, furry inhabitant of the night land that, when it sees you, will first think, "let's run.".