Tarantulas

A Missouri trail cam captured many people's worst nightmare walking through the woods at night.

What is your greatest fear? For me, spiders are near the top of the list and that's why this time of year in Missouri is always nerve-racking. That's because the 8-legged freaks are about to come out of their holes and take over parts of the state.

I like to think that I'm brave, but I'm also sometimes stupid. (Somewhere I imagine my wife is saying "Amen!") That's why I have to remind myself not to put my hand down mysterious holes in the ground in Missouri and that's especially true this time of year. I'll explain.

There's a reason why I tend not to travel to the southern parts of Missouri during the late summer and early Fall months. It's because of an annual nature tradition where you'll soon see hordes of 8-legged freaks crossing the roads in that part of the Show Me State.

I'm not really afraid of anything with one big exception - spiders. That's why I'm not convinced that Missouri's largest spider is truly a big ole cream puff even though the "experts" are trying to convince me it's true.

Two things I should make clear first. #1 - I was born and raised in northeast Missouri. #2 - I am deathly afraid of spiders. That's why I was more than a bit alarmed to learn today that there's only one thing preventing tarantulas from making their home in the northern parts of Missouri and it's not likely to be removed anytime soon.

I will confess that I was in denial about this for years, but it's true that there are tarantulas in Missouri. As much as I hate to admit it, you really shouldn't fear them.