Patrick Smith is a London-based editor and reporter for NBC News Digital.
A tarantula crossing a road to find a mate caused a traffic accident in California's Death Valley National Park that hospitalized one motorist and prompted warnings from park officials. Two tourists from Switzerland braked sharply when they saw the arachnid walking across CA-190 east of Towne Pass, a remote area almost 5,000 feet above sea level, on Saturday.
' The parks service added that tarantulas are most commonly spotted in the fall when the males leave their underground burrows to search for a mate. The rewards for doing so are short-lived however: females sometimes kill and ate males after mating. If they survive that ordeal, males only live for a few more months after mating, while females can live for 25 years.
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