He travels all over the world to find and study these hairy arachnids whose name is derived from a wild Italian dance, the tarantella, which is said to mimic the gyrations of a person bitten by a tarantula. To dispel the myth of tarantulas being biters, West claims that, in all his years of handling them, not once has he been bitten. Research has to be done before sun-up, for temperatures can easily climb to 120 degrees C during the day. Having discovered the entrance, he blows air through a tube into the hole to check for the burrow's occupant and coaxes her out with a stick. Handling the spider gently, West points out the various body parts and explains the warning colours of several species.
Tarantulas have two million hairs per square centimeter.
Special hairs can irritate or even blind an attacker. Predators such as the grasshopper mouse, the roadrunner and the wasp easily devour the spider, but the tarantula will fight certain predators and has even been known to take on a snake. When food is scarce, such as during a drought, tarantulas do not reproduce, but, when moisture finally comes, the spiders begin to look for mates. For the male, there is great danger in approaching the female. Like the black widow, the female tarantula might eat her suitor shortly after mating if he does not make a hasty getaway.