California: Pre-Halloween creepout at Tarantula Festival in Coarsegold

You might not like tarantulas much, but Coarsegold does. The mountain town on California 41 near the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park will celebrate its 17th Tarantula Festival on Saturday with tarantula races, costume contests and arts and crafts activities.

Why tarantulas and why now? Because they’re wildly misunderstood (do not kill them!), and they come out of their burrows in October to mate.

“I’ve had hundreds of people who say they spared the life of a tarantula because of the festival,” founder Diane Boland says in a statement. “People report they now gently move them from places they’re not wanted, instead of resorting to a shoe or bug spray.”

Boland should know. When she was new to town, she smushed a tarantula. She was admonished by a neighbor who pointed out the spider’s importance to the local ecosystem.

Since then, Boland has spread the word, particularly through the festival, which is sometimes called the Tarantula Awareness Festival.

Here are some things to know about tarantulas before you go:

--They are harmless to humans (yes they bite, but their venom is weaker than a bee’s).

--They can be 4 to 5 inches long, and they are skilled predators, usually scarfing down insects.

--Females sometimes eat the males after mating.

The festival also has a kicky contest for the hairiest legs, with separate categories for men and women.

The festival is free and runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Coarsegold Historic Village, 35300 California 41.

Info: 17th Coarsegold Tarantula Festival