Kicker: spider romance

Editor's note: The following text is a transcript of a podcast story. To listen to the story, click on the arrow beneath the headline above.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: Everybody likes a love story, right? Well, this fall, thousands of hairy, eight-legged romantics will leave their burrows in search of a mate. Tarantulas!

You might spot them across the Southwest, and Mary, even in your state. Turns out, the Texas brown tarantula likes that Missouri hospitality.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Turning that off right now.

MAST: Experts say they are gentle and shy, really not that into you—unless you are a female tarantula. So if one wanders into your vicinity, just give it a nudge and wish it well on its dating journey.

REICHARD: Love is a many-legged thing. Or something like that.

MAST: It’s The World and Everything in It.

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