Mark Vins:
I'm starting my search for Arizona's largest tarantula, and normally I do
my best to not get bitten by giant hairy spiders, but today I'm going to intentionally take
a bite from the desert blonde tarantula, to see just how dangerous it really is. But before
I could do that, I've got to catch one. Let's get searching. We're searching the Sonoran Desert of
Arizona to find these tarantulas. This desert is teeming with all sorts of venomous creatures,
and the best time to find them is after dark. The sun is finally set. Headlamp is on. This
headlamp is going to be the main tool that I use tonight to find one of these tarantulas.
So I'm going to use my headlamp to sweep from side-to-side. There's not a lot that gives
away other than just getting a light right on the tarantula itself. And then comes
the tricky part, actually catching one. I also have a snake hook with me tonight, which
could come in handy in catching a tarantula, but the main reason I have it is because this is
prime rattlesnake territory. There's a lot more things crawling around out here than just big
spiders. These spiders are out tonight hunting, but if they're near their hole, they'll quickly
tuck back in. If I don't get close enough in time, it's pretty much game over and we'll
have to find a new tarantula to catch.
Whoa, we got a rattlesnake right there. You see
it coiled up? Right there. Back up a little bit, guys. That is a western diamondback rattlesnake.
Now it's not a big one, this is a juvenile, but it is still capable of inflicting a very
serious bite. We can use a snake hook to move snakes out of our way, just like this. Let the
snake go, and we keep searching for spiders. Yes. It's a great sign that we're seeing all of these
venomous creatures out on the hunt. This desert is coming alive.
Asa:
Whoa, there's a scorpion right at your foot.
Mark Vins:
Look at this. Desert hairy scorpion right there.
See if I can grab it. Best way to do this is just to grab right at the top knuckle so it can't
sting me. See if we can get him to calm down. Stay buddy. Stay buddy. Come on. There we go, that's
good. Oh yeah, he's pinching me. All right, here we go, let's show you what we got here. That is a
pretty good size giant desert hairy scorpion, the largest species of scorpion in the United States.
Luckily, I've got a good grip on its stinger there, but you can see there's even a little bit
of venom starting to come out of the tip of it. If you don't grab these guys correctly, they will
give you a pretty good pop. You can see why they call them the desert hairy, look at all the hairs
all over its body. It doesn't get much cooler than these large scorpions. All right, let's put
him back and keep looking for those tarantulas.
Scorpions and tarantulas are out here hunting the
same food. I have a feeling we're closing in on our giant spider. Oh, I got a spider right there.
Let's go. All right, I got my container. Let's see if we can get a catch. Okay, its hole's right
here, going to need to move in carefully. That is a big male. Oh no, I lost it. Hang on, hang on, I
can coax it back out. Oh, no. Ah, lost it. Wait, hang on. It's still there. Got it back. I got it
back. Snake hook is coming in clutch. Coaxing this tarantula. See it rearing its abdomen up. Okay.
Oh, just bit the snake hook. Here we go guys. Got it. Got it. Here we go. Oh, buddy. That is
a good one. Big, male, desert blonde tarantula.
After a little bit of searching, and a little
bit of luck that we brought the snake hook, we got ourselves our tarantula for the bite test. All
right, I'll take it back in. Let's go guys. Yes. As fate would have it, as we were heading back to
start setting up for the bite test, we saw an even bigger spider. Oh, another tarantula. This one
looks bigger. Oh, yeah. Okay. Let's try to catch this one too. All right, I don't know how close
it is to the hole, but I'm going to go in for the catch. Here we go. Holy cow, that is a huge
freaking spider guys. Wow. Going to catch you.
That is the specimen we have been after. That is
a truly huge tarantula. I did not expect this. Not one, but two huge desert blonde tarantulas.
What we have here are a male and a female, and unfortunately for me, I think this video
just turned from a tarantula bite test, to a tarantula bite comparison. And I'm sure you
are as curious as I am, which of these two spiders has the more painful bite. It's time to find out.
I am definitely nervous. Oh, man. Oh my goodness. Two full-grown desert blonde tarantulas, and
the table is now set for the ultimate spider bite test here in the Sonora Desert. I'm not
going to sugarcoat it, what I'm about to do is a bad idea. Please do not attempt to recreate
what you are about to see in this video.
We have two tarantulas here in front
of us. We have a male and the female, which we found unexpectedly. I think it is worth
doing a bite test comparison to see which bite is more ferocious because these spiders live very
different lives from each other. Females actually live for a lot longer. We're talking 25 years for
a female tarantula, and only five to 10 years for a male. Females tend to bunker down, they stay
a lot more localized to their nests, where the males are much more nomadic and predatory. I
have a suspicion that we have a very different bite profile to these two spiders, and we are
going to put that to the ultimate test. Let's take a closer look at Arizona's largest spider.
Ladies first. In order to get some really good footage of the spider I'm going to move it
into this glass dome, and of course, we don't want our spider to get away. All right, delicate
little procedure here. Wow. There we go. Perfect, transfer. Oh my goodness. The fangs on these
spiders are enormous. It's not just going to be the venom that I'm up against today, we're
talking actual puncture wounds from fangs that large. In terms of what they're out here hunting
and eating, pretty much anything that they can grapple onto. They are very strong spiders and
of course possessing those large fangs, they can subdue a variety of prey. Even small lizards
would be a good meal for a spider this size.
The females tend to be a little bit bigger
than the males. They're called a desert blonde tarantula, predominantly because you can see those
hairs and just how blonde they are in the middle. But that is a full grown desert blonde tarantula.
The best way to probably go about doing this is for me to grab it by its carapace, the top of the
head of the spider, and I'm going to try to pin it, grab it, and then I'll be able to show you
the fangs. And of course, inflict the bite right here on my thumb. All right. Brought a couple
of things with me today. I have a large pair of tweezers. Of course, we always bring a first
aid kit. The thing I need the most is the EpiPen. The worst outcome that can happen besides the
pain that I'm about to experience is an allergic reaction. I think it's time to take the first of
two bites from a tarantula. Okay, here we go.
Now the females are known for being a little more
docile than the males. Easy girl, easy girl. Back. So you see how it's rearing its abdomen up right
there. Beyond their capability to inflict bites, they also possess another defense mechanism,
which is to flick the hairs off their abdomen. Females are rumored to be less aggressive,
but this one looks ready to bite. And what I'm trying to do right now is to get a good hold
on the carapace. This is the safest way for me to hold it for both me and the tarantula. There we
go. Oh, geez. Okay. That made my heart go. Okay. The spider just wants to come right at me.
Oh my gosh. Did you hear that? That is the sound of spider fangs scraping the table. Okay.
Look at the size of those fangs. And their fangs are retractable just like a snake, and they are
thick, and we're talking some very large fangs. Those are going to pop holes in my skin, for sure.
Got to get up a lot of nerve to do this. Okay, I've got a good grip on the spider. I'm
going to go for it. On three, I'm Mark Vins and I'm about to take a bite from Arizona's
largest spider, the desert blonde tarantula, on three. One, so nervous. Two, three. The
spider's fangs are on my skin. Yep, got me.
You can see there's a little blood right there.
Only popped one fang through. I think I got to take a better bite, guys, it wasn't a good enough
bite. All right, I'm going to do one more. Ready? On three, one, two, three. Yeah, that time it
got me. That time it got me good. Oh my God, that freaked me out. Oh my gosh. Okay, hang on.
Let me get the spider back. Get back in there, girl. Get back in there. Yeah, this it's right
there. See that? Definitely burns. Oh my gosh. My adrenaline is firing right now, guys.
I feel like my soul just jumped out of my body. That is the most freaked out I've been
around an animal. And it definitely burns. Oh, man. My neck. Yeah, my neck is seized up.
It's like I've got a cramp right here.
I don't know if it's from the bite or if it's
from just the nerves and the tension. Oh my gosh. I think it's nerves, I don't think it's from
the venom. Definitely burns, it's definitely a burning sensation. I had to really try hard to
get that spider to bite me. I want to point that out that this spider did not want to bite, but
that was not an aggression bite, for sure. Okay, I think I'm good enough to do another bite. I
think it's time to bring in the second tarantula and see if the male can inflict a more aggressive
bite wound, which I have a feeling that's going to happen. Males are known to be more aggressive,
and that's why I wanted to do a bite test here.
Much darker in coloration than the female, too.
Not looking forward to this. And my hand still burns from that first bite. Okay, come here. Come
here you. Come here. Got it pinned. Oh my gosh, way stronger. Way stronger, way more aggressive.
Look at it attacking. Got him. Oh boy, that was tough. Okay, there you have it. The male desert
blonde tarantula. Here are the fangs you could see just as terrifying as the female spider, and
you can see there's even venom on these. Okay, on three. I'm about to take my second bite, this
time from a male, and much more aggressive desert blonde tarantula. On three. One, two, three. Just
waiting for the bite to come. You see, he does not want to bite me.
Asa:
It's not as angry as the female.
Mark Vins:
No. Big reaction is that these animals do not
want to bite me. So while we've given this spider plenty of opportunity to inflict a bite, you can
see it really has no intent to do me any harm. And frankly, it should be a lot more afraid of me than
I am of it. So I hope after watching this video, we all have learned some important lessons
about Arizona's largest spider. Even though these spiders are large, and admittedly
pretty creepy, we really have no reason to fear them. And honestly, their venom isn't
that strong because spiders this large tend to use their strength to overtake their prey. They
don't want to bite you, and even if they do, it's really not that bad. All right, let's
let our spiders back off into the desert.
