Lovely little creatures

I read that tarantulas are seldom seen wandering the streets except in fall when the males venture out in search of mates. But that doesn't jibe with my observations, which is that they venture out in spring and early summer about a day after a heavy rain. Did the rain fill up their burrows, forcing them to search for new ones?

This spring, with its infrequent but soaking rains, has driven more tarantulas to the streets than I've ever seen.  And other people have noticed, too.

On a different note, is my garden doomed to depletion because it lacks animal species to crop the vegetation and fertilize the soil?  And eat the parasites--I've heard chickens are especially good at all three of these. But I don't want to keep chickens. We tried guineas a while back, but the owls picked them off one by one.

I guess I'll have to make do with stolen cow manure and lots of grasshoppers.