Black Mesa road wildlife has given me two chances to stop for photos during this Oklahoma camping trip. One was a gopher snake crossing ahead of my truck. The other was a tarantula near Lake Carl Etling.
Black Mesa Road Wildlife: A Gopher Snake Crossing
The area has received much-needed rain for several days while I’ve been camping at Black Mesa State Park. I’ve used breaks in the rain to drive and explore outside the park.
My gopher snake encounter came before the rain arrived. I stepped out of my truck, took a few quick photos, and left it to continue its journey.
In Oklahoma, the local gopher snake is commonly called a bullsnake. Bullsnakes belong to the gopher snake species, Pituophis catenifer. These nonvenomous snakes eat rodents and hunt in and around their burrows. Oklahoma’s wildlife department places them in prairies and woodlands across the western two-thirds of the state.
Their defensive behavior can fool people. A threatened bullsnake may coil, hiss, and vibrate its tail, which can lead to confusion with a rattlesnake. Those behaviors describe the species, rather than anything I saw this snake do.
This encounter brought back my 2022 visit to Antelope Island State Park. I photographed another road-crossing snake there and shared it in Gopher Snake In Utah.
Getting Low With a Tarantula Near Lake Carl Etling
The tarantula was crossing an asphalt road near Lake Carl Etling. I got out of my truck and lowered myself for a view closer to the spider’s level.
As I moved in front of it for different angles, it moved toward me. That surprised me because the tarantulas I encounter tend to move away. I couldn’t tell why this one approached. After a few photos, I let it continue across the road.
Oklahoma’s burrowing tarantulas hunt insects such as crickets and grasshoppers. They use silk around their burrows instead of spinning aerial webs to catch food. Much of their hunting takes place at night.
Fall also brings wandering males searching for mates. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation describes this activity beginning in September, when people may spot them crossing roads. That fits the season of my encounter, though I haven’t confirmed this spider’s sex or reason for traveling.
I covered other encounters in Oklahoma Tarantula Sightings Peak in Early Summer. Tarantula activity extends beyond early summer, and these fall movements deserve attention too.
Exploring Outside the Park Between Showers
I appreciate the rain this area has needed, even when it changes my photography plans. Between showers, I’ve been able to explore nearby roads and find subjects worth stopping for. The tarantula’s approach was the part of these encounters that surprised me most.