i am interested in a job in the tempe area, but i have reservations as to whether i should pursue it. i have been to the desert many times, and love to visit. i love the heat...120 degrees? bring it on.

however, i cannot shake the image of a story relayed to me a few years back. a friend was staying in a cabin on the hillside/mountain area about an hour (north i think) outside phoenix. it was apparently "tarantula season" and dozens of tarantulas littered the outside walls of the cabin.

so my question is, do these beasts stay away from populated urban areas? is there such a thing as tarantula season? if so, when is it? has anyone ever seen a "wild" tarantula within the city limits?

i have a morbid, paralyzing fear of regular spiders so i really believe that i might have a full-blown attack of some sort if i ever encountered a tarantula on the loose or god forbid, in my house.

thanks in advance for any help.

Julie,

What a cool, cool question! I doubt anyone has ever posed it before, so I'm pleased to try to help.

I lived in Mesa and Tempe from ages 7-22. I never saw a single tarantula, not even when we went camping or hiking, but I can't swear that they weren't there.

There is one thing I should mention that did freak me out: scorpions. When you go out and get the newspaper in the morning, make sure you unroll it before you bring it in. I failed to do that once and let a scorpion loose in the house. I ran and asked my dad to handle it, and I don't remember anything after that. I understand that most aren't poisonous, though. But if spiders are your only phobia, you should be just fine.

Enjoy your time in Arizona!

I am sure we have far fewer bugs than most locations...no mosquitos and I was born here 62 years ago and have never seen a tarantula and only two scorpions. If you live in a new area where the ground has recently been disturbed, you may see some scorpions because their nest was dug up. Otherwise, I doubt you'll see anything other than a cockroach now and then.

Never encountered a tarantula in my years in PHX, but did have a few black widow battles! I wasn't wearing my contact lenses early one A.M. and almost stepped on one in the middle of the kitchen floor. Had several of them in our storage shed (in an apartment building).
Had a scorpion drop out of the ceiling vent in the bathroom and land straight in the toilet bowl. (Good thing he/she missed the seat!!).
And the worst varmints in PHX in my opinion? Those disgusting sewer roaches. Would line the walls at night sometimes (outside) and were HUGE! I mean 3-4 inches with antennae included.
AZ still isn't half as bad as Florida when it comes to bugs.
Certainly not a reason to avoid moving to PHX in my book.

Geez, Arach Ned, you're really freakin' me out! Yea, I guess you're right. We had black widows too. Maybe five sightings the whole time I lived there, but Julie, if you have a spider thing, that is something you should know. I saw the sewer roaches in Phoenix, but never where I was in Mesa and Tempe. Odd. And I neglected to mention the lizards . . . .

Julie, I hope this isn't weirding you out too much. If you get past the different wildlife, you may like Mesa/Tempe given that you like the heat.

Don't let a tarantula freak you out. They look pretty gross but they're really quite sweet! I had a friend once who kept them for pets. She said they're only common during one of their infrequent migrations. Do keep in mind that they stay alive by eating other bugs and spiders!

When we were last in Arizonia we were at a state park and a female ranger was standing in the path with a tarantula in her hands. It was huge and a PET of hers! My husbnad held it briefly and I got a photo but no way I would hold it! The ranger said scorpions can be very dangerous but not tarantulas although she said a bit from them would hurt. I used to live in New Mexico and we also had those huge roaches you'd see outside at night and they even flew (or was it hopped high and long, I'm not sure which). Like someone said here Florida is even worse for creepy crawlies.

Addie, I'd forgotten about the mobility of those disgusting roaches until you mentioned it. Walking to our apartment was like running a gauntlet some nights. Those roaches would climb up the walls of the outdoor walkways and as you passed, some of them would fly or jump or whatever they do. I absolutely hated those things.
I also remember seeing one tarantula, but it was walking across a road in Sedona. They really are kind of endearing in an odd sort of way as they are very slow, fuzzy, and just don't seem to be a bother. The scorpions are nasty little beasts with bad attitudes.

So, Julie....are you lots more anxious to move to the desert now?

thanks everyone!

your responses have actually made me feel a lot better. i was fearful of answers like: oh sure, tarantula season...the last two weeks in june they're everywhere! or: tarantula season? no, but they do creep into your house every now and then.

i figure black widows aren't any worse than the brown recluse spiders that i've had to battle in other locations. and scorpions, though somewhat scary, do not induce the severe panic attack-like symptoms in me that spiders do.

i am, however, developing a small phobia of giant flying roaches....just kidding!(kind of)

My sister and husband just moved to Phoenix from Denver and my sister hates spiders and all those creepy crawlers! I dare not tell her about the scorpions or the other things I've just read!