COARSEGOLD — Furry eight-legged creatures will be celebrated Oct. 25 with the annual Coarsegold Tarantula Awareness Festival in the Sierra Nevada foothills. Coarsegold celebrates the emergence of tarantulas as they come out of their burrows in search of a mate before they hunker down over the winter. In the foothills, tarantula sightings forecast both cooler temperatures and the approaching rainy season.
While some people may shy away from them, the tarantulas are harmless and an important part of the local ecosystem, organizers say.
One of the purposes of the event is to educate people on the importance of tarantulas.
“I’ve had hundreds of people who say they spared the life of a tarantula because of the festival. People report they now gently move them from places they’re not wanted, instead of resorting to a shoe or bug spray,” said Diane Boland, creator of the event...