Mantula in the news: Three-car crash

Courtesy Photo
This photograph, taken by one of the drivers in a three-car collision on State Route 89A on Friday, shows what appears to be a tarantula riding atop a quail, and holding a $100 bill. Drivers involved in the collision reported the quail came onto the roadway, causing the crash.  (News article from the Sedona Daily Reader)
Stranger than fictionTarantula riding a quail causes 89A crash Friday
By KIP MOONEYSedona Daily Reader
COTTONWOOD, Ariz. – In Sedona, tarantulas might fall from the sky. In Cottonwood, however, they use the crosswalk. And they ride quails.
The scene of a three-car crash on State Route 89A in Cottonwood on Friday had all the earmarks of a weather-related collision—at least at first.
According to Cottonwood Police Department officials, the crash occurred at approximately 11 a.m. July 25 when a driver hit the brakes to avoid hitting a quail that allegedly darted onto the roadway. A second vehicle going the opposite direction reported the same sighting, police said. Both vehicles slid on the wet roadway and subsequently collided. A third vehicle collided with the first vehicle seconds later. The crash closed the roadway in both directions for approximately 45 minutes. No injuries were reported as a result of the crash, police said.
Witnesses, who occupied the vehicles in the collision, reported to police the quail carried what appeared to be a large tarantula on its back as it dashed across the wet city highway. And that’s not all. The tarantula allegedly carried what appeared to be a $100 bill with its legs.
While this description might seem too far fetched to be anything more than a tall tale caused by a concussion or other form of head trauma, more than one witness backed up the story, police said.
And one driver managed to grab a photo of the odd sight before the quail and its rich passenger disappeared from sight. Police confirmed the image as authentic late Friday afternoon.
Cottonwood Police Department Public Information Office Steve Mar speculated on the odd situation, suggesting the quail and the tarantula were possibly two pets that managed to escape their owner. How the tarantula came in possession of a large bill, however, he couldn’t say.
“It’s one of those ‘truth is stranger than fiction’ scenarios. There’s really no way to describe it other than that,” Mar said. “Whatever the case, it will go down as one the weirdest things I’ve ever been involved in. I’m just happy no one, not even the animals, appeared to be injured.”
Police said no charges are expected in the incident.
Friday’s odd sighting counts as the second tarantula sighting in the Verde Valley in as many days. On Thursday, the Sedona Eye, a drone operated by Flight Services, L.L.C. and owner Diana Sturgis, recorded what appeared to be a tarantula falling from the sky in the area of Coffee Pot Rock. That tarantula is not thought to be connected to Friday’s crash.
Mantula will return.