By Mike Donahue

Moapa Valley Progress

Karl Krebs, of the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP), right, explains the life of the desert tarantula to, from left, Aurelie Stratton, 1 1/2, Summer Omer, 12, and Anna Stratton, 12, all of Moapa, and Taylor Massaro, 12, of Las Vegas. Photo by Mike Donahue.

An inquisitive group of kids learned all about tarantulas on Saturday during this month’s presentation at the Moapa Library by a Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) representative.

Armed with several hairy specimens (encased in plastic or mounted on a board, of course) Ranger Karl, also known as Karl Krebs, a SNAP environmental education and outreach specialist with the Great Basin Institute, explained to the kids that autumn is the best season to spot desert tarantulas in the wild.

And while the arachnids are certainly fearsome looking, people have little to fear from them, Ranger Karl said.

Tarantulas subdue their prey with poison, but for most people a bee sting is probably worst than a tarantula’s bite, he said.

The shaggy spiders generally have little to do with humans but there is an occasional confrontation.

Ranger Karl explained, however, that a bite from a tarantula typically only causes redness, swelling and some localized pain and that’s about it unless a person is allergic to their venom.

The kids at the library, all girls, thought the presentation was “way cool.”

Anna Stratton, 12, of Moapa, said she’s been at every Ranger Karl presentation and added “It’s really interesting to learn new things.”

Ranger Karl has been coming to the Moapa Library once a month since about the first of the year, according to Jan Johnson, librarian.

“He really does an outstanding job interacting with the kids and giving them information about the plants and animals in our area,” Johnson said. “In the past we’ve had presentations about butterflies, animal tracks, the desert and, most recently, the birds that inhabit the Moapa Valley area.”

Krebs, (Ranger Karl) said SNAP is made up of four federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the U.S. Forest Service and the National Parks Service (NPS).

“The goal of the program is to do environmental education that connects people with where they live,” he said. “It gives kids, everyone really, a chance to learn what’s outside their front door. Everything I do here, all the presentations, are geared toward what’s around Moapa Valley.

“We’re really trying to inspire a sense of place,” Krebs said.

Upcoming Moapa Valley presentations include:

• In October, “Water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink,” in which Ranger Karl will discuss the distribution of water in the west;

• In November, “Mohave Max,” when Ranger Karl will teach attendees about the well-known desert tortoise;

• In December, “Coyotes: Tricksters or Geniuses?” when Ranger Karl will teach some fun Native American legends of the coyote and how the animal adapts and thrives everywhere it goes.