Ursula is the Center’s newest ambassador!
She is a young, Mexican Red Knee Tarantula. These spiders are nocturnal, hunting insects, small frogs, lizards and mice in the wilds of Mexico’s deserts, mountainsides and forests. They are ambush predators, lying in wait in their burrows, detecting prey with their sense of touch via the hairs covering their bodies. Once they pounce on the prey, they drag it into the burrow, inject venom with their fangs, then suck out the insides of the animal with their straw-like mouth parts.
Mexican Red Knee Tarantulas are classified as “near threatened’ in their native habitats due to habitat destruction by local farming and illegal capture for the pet trade. These spiders are the most common pet tarantula in the world. Only captive-bred spiders can be sold as pets in the U.S.
Indian Run EEC 