This is a dedicated mother who tackles massive spiders to provide food for her young.

In the ground under the tawny grasses, male California tarantulas are emerging from ... danger or a suitor, the female will tap back a reply. She’ll emerge from her bedchamber to inspect her ...

Among them was Nathan Villareal, a tarantula breeder from Santa Monica, California ... the mature males wander in search of a female's burrow, which she typically marks with silk webbing.