Tarantula on road leads to crash in Death Valley, park officials say

By Brett Clarkson Las Vegas Review-Journal

7 months ago

Best advice if you come upon a tarantula: Look and admire, but leave it alone. (Deborah Wall/La ... — Best advice if you come upon a tarantula: Look and admire, but leave it alone. (Deborah Wall/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

A visitor checks out a rare lake in Badwater Basin in the recently reopened Death Valley National Park in California Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Flooding from Hurricane Hilary’s heavy rains closed the park in August. Visitors to the recently reopened park were treated to a rare sight — a massive lake on the normally dry salt flat. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Visitors check out a rare lake in Badwater Basin in the recently reopened Death Valley National Park in California Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023. Flooding from Tropical Storm Hilary’s heavy rains closed the park in August. Visitors to the recently reopened park were treated to a rare sight — a massive lake on the normally dry salt flat. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

There are about 800 tarantula species worldwide, and about 50 of those species live in the American Southwest. (Deborah Wall/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

Mature tarantulas in our region are usually one-half inch to 4 inches long. (Deborah Wall/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

(Getty Images)

A tarantula on the road contributed to a crash in Death Valley National Park on Saturday, park officials said.

A 24-year-old Canadian man driving a motorcycle was hospitalized after he crashed into the back of a camper van driven by a Swiss couple who had braked suddenly to avoid the spider, according to a news release from the national park’s spokesperson Abby Wines.

The Canadian man was taken to Desert View Hospital in Pahrump. Wines said in an email that his injuries were non-life threatening but serious enough to warrant being taken to the hospital.

As for the tarantula, it “walked away unscathed,” the news release said.

The crash happened on California State Route 190 east of Towne Pass. The spider was crossing the road.

“Please drive slowly, especially going down steep hills in the park,” said Superintendent Mike Reynolds, who was the first National Park Service employee to get to the scene of the crash, in a statement. “Our roads still have gravel patches due to flood damage, and wildlife of all sizes are out.”

According to the park service news release, tarantulas are mostly seen in the fall, when the males leave the underground burrows to search for a mate.

Death Valley National Park, which was closed after extensive damage from flooding from rain associated with Tropical Storm Hilary in August, partially reopened on Oct. 15, but multiple roads in the park remain closed, according to the park’s website.

Contact Brett Clarkson at bclarkson@reviewjournal.com.