MIDLAND, Texas — You might have seen some furry friends crawling around lately.
According to Michael Nickell, the museum scientist at the Sibley Nature Center in Midland, it's just that time of year when it's the season of love for tarantulas.
"Well first off, the tarantulas that people are seeing roaming around are probably males," Nickell said. "Females generally stay in their burrows or whenever they do venture out, they don't venture very far from their burrow. The most commonly accepted idea as to what's happening is that they're males looking for a female to reproduce with."
Nickell also says tarantulas aren't aggressive species and usually stay clear of humans. As a matter of fact, they play a helpful role in the environment.
"They help control insect populations and things like that," Nickell continued. "All spiders do. They're very good about helping to control things like mosquitoes, roaches and other insects that a lot of people don't find desirable."
Because of their value to the ecosystem, if you happen to see a tarantula in your home, Nickell doesn’t recommend killing them.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to kill tarantulas at all because they are very beneficial," Nickell added. "They’re really not dangerous to humans and so instead of killing one I would recommend just, if you don’t want to put it in a cup or something like that, at least just scoot it outside.”
So while there may be more than usual out right now, there’s nothing you need to worry about from your local tarantulas crawling around.