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Tarantula Trek Every year, the mature adult male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you're interested in finding wild tarantulas, I can take you to the spots that have the highest likelihood of finding these animals. I can provide equipment and/or provide tips for photographing them as well. I have been on dozens of these treks and have always found at least one Tarantula. I typically find 2 to 3 and have found up to 7 tarantulas in one trek. This photo safari is only offered during the Fall. Click here to see a few more of my Tarantula photos in my Animals Gallery
On The Prowl © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith In honor of Halloween, I thought I would post a few more creepy spider shots. :D Since the Trick O' Treaters are coming out this evening, my husband put out a larger-than-life fake tarantula and that reminded me of my other un-processed tarantula shots. This photo of a wild tarantula was captured during one of my excursions to Mt. Diablo State park in September of this year. Every fall, the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. They never seem to stop moving and so it's difficult to capture an up-close, in focus, shot of them. This one seemed to stop for a moment to catch his breath, and voila, I was able to get this shot. It's one of my favorite ones since it shows the entire spider and is crisp. :) This "little" guy was about the size of my hand. Posted 31 October 2010. You can see a collection of all my spider photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders
On The Hunt © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. Friend Colleen on Facebook In honor of Halloween, I thought I would post a few more creepy spider shots. :D Since the Trick O' Treaters are coming out this evening, my husband put out a larger-than-life fake tarantula and that reminded me of my other un-processed tarantula shots. This photo of a wild tarantula was captured during one of my excursions to Mt. Diablo State park in September of this year. Every fall, the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. They never seem to stop moving and so it's difficult to capture an up-close, in focus, shot of them. I thought I would let one of them crawl up and over my leg in the hopes of getting him to stop for a moment - well he did, and then as I was peering into my camera to take a shot, he did an unexpected little jig on my leg. I flew about 10 feet and so did he! I bet he didn't expect the "earth beneath him" to move so violently. My husband exclaimed "What are you doing? That was the perfect photo op!" - I didn't expect the Tarantula to move that way and let my imagination run a little wild. (Of course, I didn't see my husband with a Tarantula crawling on him at any time during the photo shoot either!) The little jig the Tarantula danced on my leg reminded me of the song by Will Smith, "Gettin Jiggy With It" - hence the title for the photo. Don't ask me why that song in particular - it just popped into my head at the time. After thinking about it later, I actually think the Tarantula was just testing the new surface (my jeans) to see what it was.... the male tarantulas, when they come across the entrance to another tarantula "den", will tap, tap, tap on the ground near the entrance as a way of knocking on the front door to get the female to come out. So, maybe the Tarantula just thought he found his true love. :D Posted 31 October 2010. You can see a collection of all my spider photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders
Waiting For Dinner © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith In honor of Halloween, I thought I would post another creepy spider shot. :D This is a photo I captured during one of my excursions to Mt. Diablo State park - seems spiders are everywhere on that mountain. Took this shot by hand, at dusk. I was surprised how close this spider let me get to him. You can see a collection of all my spider photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders
Wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake I found while hiking Mt Diablo over the weekend. Rattlesnakes, copperheads and cottonmouths are all pit vipers. Pit Vipers are snakes with two pits under their nostrils which detect heat and enable the rattlesnake to hunt warm-blooded prey. The pits are so sensitive that the snake can determine the size of the warm-blooded animal and can even detect prey in complete darkness. Rattlesnakes have a forked tongue that they flick up and down. The tongue picks microscopic airborne particles and gases from the air and uses the sent to identify food, enemy (humans), mate, or other object or substance. We saw a lot of wildlife on this trip to Mount Diablo: two snakes, two tarantulas, two quail, two turkeys. Seemed that everything came in pairs that day! Posted 21 September 2010. Best viewed in the largest size. You can see a collection of all my Wildlife photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Wildlife
Wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild Pacific Coast Rattlesnake I found while hiking yesterday. I went back to Mount Diablo State Park to see if I could find and photograph more wild tarantulas and came across this mature, very large, rattlesnake sunning himself on the trail. What an exciting find! It had been a very cloudy (and relatively cool morning) and the sun was just starting to come out when I encountered this little guy. Rattlesnakes pick up vibrations through their body muscles which send sound through to their jaw bones and on to their inside ear parts. Rattlesnakes do not have outer ears and therefore rely on vibrations to pick up sound. They tend to not be very aggressive and will choose to flee from you if given the chance. When I got too close to this large rattler, he turned tail, and moved away very quickly - he didn't even pause to shake his rattle. Posted 20 September 2010. Best viewed in the largest size. You can see a collection of all my Wildlife photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Wildlife
Yikes! © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith> This is a photo of a wild tarantula I found prowling the trails of Mount Diablo State Park in Northern California. Yes, even tarantulas have a mating season - so every September the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you walk slowly, and look closely, you can find them. I let this one crawl all over my legs to see if I could get a good shot of him (I was wearing jeans of course) :) The local tarantula expert I spoke to in the area said it wasn't a good idea to let them crawl on your bare skin (other than hands perhaps) - this is because the tarantulas use their hairs as a defense mechanism, sort of like a porcupine. Tarantula hairs have little barbs on the ends of them and will stick in your skin, causing a rash. If you ever find one with a hairless rear-end, then you know it's felt harassed. They'll raise their rear end, and use their back legs to scrape the hairs off their backside - they'll then wave their legs in the air to stir up the hairs in the hopes their harasser will breath them in. Barbed hairs inside your nose - must be really uncomfortable! Posted 16 September 2010. You can see a collection of all my Tarantula photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders
Hairy Bugger! © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild tarantula that I found prowling the trails of Mount Diablo State Park in Northern California. Yes, even tarantulas have a mating season - so every September the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you walk slowly, and look closely, you can find them. It's really difficult getting a crisp photo of these little guys - since they're out looking for a mate, they are constantly on the move. So they hardly stop and strike a pose for you. :) And of course, all photos have to be shot by hand. After this photo shoot, I was covered from head to toe in dust and grass since I had to lay on the ground to get most of my shots. My husband was not too happy with all the dirt I deposited in the car on the ride home. :) Posted 15 September 2010. You can see a collection of all my Tarantula photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders
Ready to Pounce © 2010 Colleen M. Griffith. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, modified, or redistributed in any way without written agreement with the creator. This image is registered with the US Copyright Office. www.colleenmgriffith.com www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith This is a photo of a wild tarantula that I found prowling the trails of Mount Diablo State Park in California. Yes, even tarantulas have a mating season - so every September the mature male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you walk slowly, and look closely, you can find them. Since these are wild creatures, I don't recommend handling them because they can be a bit unpredictable. However, I'm told by at least one tarantula expert in the area, this type of tarantula isn't known for aggressive behavior. You can see a collection of all my wild Tarantula photos by going to www.colleenmgriffith.com/Galleries/Flora-and-Fauna/Spiders
Tarantula Trek

Every year, the mature adult male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you're interested in finding wild tarantulas, I can take you to the spots that have the highest likelihood of finding these animals. I can provide equipment and/or provide tips for photographing them as well. I have been on dozens of these treks and have always found at least one Tarantula. I typically find 2 to 3 and have found up to 7 tarantulas in one trek.

This photo safari is only offered during the Fall.

Click here to see a few more of my Tarantula photos in my Animals Gallery
Click here to see a few more of my Tarantula photos in my Animals Gallery" href="javascript:openLB(1087249872,'',Large,'',800,534);">Tarantula Trek Every year, the mature adult male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you're interested in finding wild tarantulas, I can take you to the spots that have the highest likelihood of finding these animals. I can provide equipment and/or provide tips for photographing them as well. I have been on dozens of these treks and have always found at least one Tarantula. I typically find 2 to 3 and have found up to 7 tarantulas in one trek. This photo safari is only offered during the Fall. Click here to see a few more of my Tarantula photos in my Animals Gallery
Tarantula Trek

Every year, the mature adult male tarantulas come out of their burrows looking for love. If you're interested in finding wild tarantulas, I can take you to the spots that have the highest likelihood of finding these animals. I can provide equipment and/or provide tips for photographing them as well. I have been on dozens of these treks and have always found at least one Tarantula. I typically find 2 to 3 and have found up to 7 tarantulas in one trek.

This photo safari is only offered during the Fall.

Click here to see a few more of my Tarantula photos in my Animals Gallery
See photo in original gallery.
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COLLEEN M GRIFFITH San Francisco Bay Area Photographer: Weddings, Portraits, Events, Photo Safaris, Restorations, Fine Art --- CONTACT ME: csmgriffith@yahoo.com, cell 303-506-3479 --- FRIEND ME ON FACEBOOK: http://www.facebook.com/colleen.griffith