It’s tarantula time!

Lisa and Charles Luna’s dog Ace checks out a tarantula near his Pontiac home. Tarantulas are a common sight crossing Ozarks roadways this time of year. The Missouri Department of Conservation says the huge spiders may have lived in this part of the country as long as 8,000 years. It’s believed they’re seen most commonly in the fall because that’s when males travel wider distances in search of females. MDC says that most Missouri spiders, including male tarantulas, rarely live longer than one season or one year, but female tarantulas can live more than 30 years.