CHILDREN LEARN AT TRAIL OF TEARS SPIDERS AREN'T SO BAD AFTER ALL

Spiders are not what you'd call man's best friend, but 12-year-old Jarrett Ford thinks they're not so bad.

"I think spiders are pretty neat," said Jarrett, of Jackson, who watched a spider presentation with members of his family Sunday at Trail of Tears State Park.

Jarrett said he isn't afraid of spiders and likes to catch them outside his house and in the woods. He was one of about 40 youngsters and their parents at the park Sunday afternoon for the spider show.

Trail of Tears is celebrating its 35th anniversary of being donated to the state. The weekend of events is also being held in recognition of the state park system's 75th anniversary.

About 200 people visited the park Saturday, and twice that number visited throughout the day on Sunday. Park officials said sunny weather on Sunday contributed to higher attendance. The scenic overlook, which had been closed for several weeks, was also opened for the weekend.

Of the more than 500 kinds of spiders in Missouri, only two are considered harmful, the black widow and the brown recluse. Both were displayed Sunday to spectators at the park.

Jerry Landewe, a seasonal naturalist at Trail of Tears, showed the youngsters a black widow spider that a friend of his had caught about a week ago. The round-bodied spider with a red, hourglass marking was crawling on a twig in a jar. Landewe said the black widow is relatively easy to find.

"My friend was camping, and when he rolled up his tent, this black widow was underneath it," Landewe told the group. "I guess he had been sleeping on it for several nights."

The brown recluse is smaller than the black widow, only about the size of a quarter, he said. The pale- brown creature is often called the violin spider because of their dark, fiddle-like markings.

Landewe said programs that teach people, especially children, more about spiders help them learn that most are actually beneficial to man and plant life. "Good" spiders shouldn't be squashed, he said.

"That's what we try to teach people," Landewe said. "There are so few spiders that are actually dangerous. Most of them can bite, but their venom is not strong; kind of like a mosquito bite."

Landewe said a good way to spot spiders in the dark is by pointing a flashlight at the base of a tree.

"If you see a lot of green spots, those are the eyes of spiders," he said.

Before Landewe brought out live spiders, a video was shown highlighting spiders found in Missouri. It said each spider eats 500 to 1,500 insects per year, and frequently ends up as the prey of other spiders.

Among the most feared and the most harmless is the American tarantula. It's their size two or more inches in length that often frightens people.

According to the video, tarantulas are also the most resolute. The average spider lives only about a year. Male American tarantulas can live up to 10 years, and females can live up to 30 years. Although tarantula bites can cause pain and swelling, they are not poisonous.

Park officials said rain contributed to a low attendance on Saturday.