Nope – Missouri Trail Cam Captures Tarantula Stalking the Woods

I'll just go ahead and apologize now for what you're about to see. A Missouri trail cam captured my worst nightmare in action. It's a tarantula stalking the woods late at night.

Somehow fate led me to this recent video share by The MO Nature Queen on YouTube. Several things to note along with my previous apology for sharing tarantula footage with you. First, the description says the timestamp on the video is wrong due to a battery problem:

"My first time seeing a Missouri Tarantula or large wolf spider on my land! Look toward the middle of the bottom near the year. The date is incorrect as I forgot to reset the date when I changed the batteries out. This is fall 2024."

If you watch the bottom of the screen approximately here, you'll see the 8-legged nightmare crawling through the woods.

Do not hit play on this video if you'd like to sleep anytime soon.

They were unsure if it was a large wolf spider or a Texas brown tarantula which are horrifyingly native to southern Missouri. I'm certain it's that second one. Tarantulas have a creepy way of walking that is unmistakable.

It makes sense that a tarantula would eventually show up on a nighttime trail cam since they tend to be shy nocturnal creatures.

This just in. I will never hike in the Missouri woods at night ever again so please don't ask.