OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — In the second edition of Zach at the Zoo, I take you to the Berniece Grewcock Butterfly & Insects Pavilion to learn all about the zoo's intimidating, yet very fragile, tarantulas.
- Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium has nine different species of tarantulas
- We interact with the tarantulas and get to hold their old molts, while learning all things tarantulas.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
This week’s visit takes us to the Berniece Grewcock Butterfly & Insects Pavilion, but we’re not here to see butterflies.
“She is one of our bigger girls."
In fact – quite the opposite.
“They will eat pretty much anything that comes across that’s smaller than them,” Zookeeper Taylee Pratt said. “Even sometimes, depending on the size of the spider, they can take down small mammals.”
But Pratt and Supervisor for Butterflies and Insects, Sarah Jenkins, say tarantulas aren’t as tough as they seem
“A lot of times people look at these tarantulas and they’re these big, hairy, dark, scary looking spiders when in reality they’re very fragile. A fall from a handful of inches could kill a tarantula.”
For that reason, they don’t handle the big spiders directly.
However, I did get my hands on the bodies that the zoo’s nine different species used to call their own
“Most adults will molt every year to two years depending on size and age,” Pratt said. “Unlike us, like mammals or reptiles that have an internal skeleton, they wear there’s on the outside.
I replied, “Yeah, I think what’s throwing me off is I want to think, like, a reptile that would shed its skin. This looks like it can be the real thing.”
“Probably the easiest way to think of it is like a medieval knight in a coat of armor,” Jenkins added. “They can’t grow within that. If they need to get bigger, they need a new coat of armor, but they need to grow one underneath before they can take the old one off. Which is just like magic, but it’s science and it’s amazing.”
The fangs are pretty amazing, too.
For tarantulas like the Brazilian Whiteknee though, it’s not the fangs you should be worried about if they feel threatened.
“These guys specifically will kick hairs. They have these hairs along their abdomen called urticating hairs,” Pratt told me. “They’re pretty much like little hairs that have barbs that will get stuck in the skin and be really itchy and irritating. That’s their main defense mechanism.”
But our two spider experts say if you do come across one of these eight-legged critters :
“They don’t want to bother you. They typically are going to be more scared of you than you are of it.”
I‘m not sure that’s the case for all people – especially my mom!
You can check them out for yourself at the Butterfly & Insect Pavilion – right next door to the Scott Aquarium.
Next week, I’ll introduce you to one of the strongest and most intelligent animals that call the zoo home.
