Rats, bats, spiders and spooks: Where the wild things really are

Yes, it's here again, that time of year when we stand in line for hours in order to pay a bunch of gore-spattered strangers good money to scare the bejeezus out of us with all manner of vile, venomous creatures. Rats, bats, spiders, scuttling insects — the radio-station haunted houses are packed with the plastic and papier-mâché varieties. But where can you find the real meal deal? Where can one go to, say, meet the beetles — face-to-face?

Spiders and bugs

Obviously, your back yard is a great place to start, particularly this time of year when web-weaving spiders are out in full force. Beating the backyard bushes (strong net and magnifying glass in hand) is one way to get eye to eyes with your creepy, crawly neighbors. But if you want to get up-close and personal with some truly exotic specimens, you might consider a visit to Woodland Park Zoo's Bug World.

According to lead keeper Erin Sullivan, their display features about 20 species at any given time, including water bugs, beetles, millipedes, pillbugs, walkingsticks, scorpions, cockroaches (about 50 or so in a fake kitchen, otherwise known as an "urban cockroach display") and, of course, a few spiders. On steroids.

"We've got a golden orb weaver from Madagascar which is a pretty big spider — probably three inches across with legs — and there's no glass in front of it, so you can pretty much get face-to-face with it," says Sullivan. "And we've also got a Goliath bird-eating tarantula from South America. That one's about the size of a dinner plate."

Squeamish sorts will be happy to note there's a glass partition on the exotic bird-eater, which according to Sullivan, dines primarily on crickets and cockroaches here in the Northwest. But glass isn't necessarily the best protection when it comes to warding off a case of the heebie-jeebies.

"A lot of times, people are absolutely creeped out about bugs or spiders, but as soon as they get a little bit of information, they become completely fascinated," says Sullivan. " 'What do you mean they have eight eyes? What do you mean they digest their food on the outside of their body?' There's a very fine line between fear and fascination."

Those wanting to embrace a new multilegged friend may want to check out the Zoo's Bug Club (go to www.zoo.org for more info). Or get in touch with the Burke Museum's arachnid expert, Rod Crawford, who dispels all manner of "mythconceptions" ("no, that's not a spider bite, you've got bedbugs") on his Web site, www.washington.edu/burkemuseum/spidermyth. Truly bitten by the bug bug? Then check out the local Scarab Club, a bug society that meets monthly at the Burke.

Get creeped out

Want to get face-to-face with the usual Halloween suspects? Then check out these haunts around the region:

Woodland Park Zoo, open 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily now through March 14. Admission is $10 adult; $7 ages 3-12. North 50th Street and Fremont Avenue North, Seattle. 206-684-4800 or www.zoo.org.

Victoria Bug Zoo. Open year-round in Victoria, B.C. Big hairy tarantulas, giant walkingsticks, glow-in-the-dark scorpions, giant rhinoceros beetles and more. Admission is $4.50 ages 3-16; $7 adult. For info, call 250-384-BUGS or see www.bugzoo.bc.ca

Bill Speidel's Underground Tour. Subterranean tours of Pioneer Square operate daily, year-round. A special "Underworld Tour" will operate Monday, Halloween night, at 7:30. 21 years and older. Admission $15 (includes a cocktail). Call 206-682-4646, Ext. 118, for reservations. For more information on the regular tour, see www.undergroundtour.com.

Museum of the Mysteries. Ghost-hunting tours, seances, mysterious phenomenon and more. 623 Broadway E., Seattle. Prices, times vary. For info or to book a "Spooked in Seattle" tour, call 206-328-6499 or see www.seattlechatclub.org. Tour is offered at 9 p.m. every Saturday through November. Cost is $10 (adult); $8 (kids 12 and under). Reservations are not required. Flashlights and warm clothing recommended. Tours begin at the museum (623 Broadway E.). Tours are 1.5 hours long and cover approximately three miles (on foot).

Coming events

Ratapalooza. Nov 12, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., at the Small Faces Child Development Center, 9250 14th Ave. N.W., Seattle. Admission $5 adults, $3 children. Sponsored by RatsPacNW, a social club to promote fancy rats in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. For info and directions, see www.worldofrats.com.

Ghost Hunters Getaway. The third annual Pacific Northwest Ghost Hunters Conference is Nov. 12-13 in Port Townsend. Admission for the full event is $50, one-day pass $30. For more info, see www.aghost.us.

Obviously, there's no trick to finding rats in the wild. Leave your leftovers out for a few nights and they'll find you. But if you're looking for a little vintage atmosphere along with your vermin, you might try winding through the seedy subterranean depths of Seattle on an Underground Tour.

"We see a lot of rats on the late tours," says Steve Crosier, general manager of the tours. "Around 6 or 7 o'clock, the restaurants put their garbage out in the alley and it's feeding time."

Crosier says their new late-night Underworld Tours (which highlight the "sin and flimflam" of old Seattle) offer the best opportunity to see rats. Although these particular tours don't operate during winter months, Crosier plans one on Halloween night.

"On the Underworld Tour, you go from seeing just an occasional rat to seeing five or six of them," says Crosier. "They're all around and some of them aren't even that little. We had a big rat last week that turned around and charged my group. Even I freaked out."

While rats may be plentiful year-round, bats — despite their association with Halloween — are much harder to come by during the winter.

"By the first week of October, they've either gone off to hibernate or they've flown south for the winter," says Margaret Gaspari, scientific adviser for Bats Northwest, a local nonprofit devoted to protecting Northwest bat populations through education and research.

According to the Web site (www.batsnorthwest.org), there are 15 bat species native to Washington, none of which are of the Count Dracula variety. The only place you'll see vampires (outside of that little caped kid standing on your doorstep Monday night) is Woodland Park Zoo's Nocturnal House, home to 15 Mexican vampire bats, who according to their keeper, dine on blood delivered from a local slaughterhouse.

Contrary to popular belief, there are no fruit bats in the state either, just different varieties of insect eaters, most of which are hiding out by now.

Considering all the misconceptions flying around out there, who could blame the poor little suckers?

"Most people think that bats are rodents, which they're not, or that they're pests, which they're not," says Gaspari. "We had a roost of one of our rarest bats here in Washington and found that people had gone in with tennis rackets and killed them."

A bonehead move if there ever was one, since without these relentless little insect eaters we'd be up to our eyeballs in bugs.

"Bats are really a necessary part of the ecosystem," says Gaspari. "A mother bat can eat up to her own body weight in insects a night so it ends up being millions of tons of insects that they eat throughout the summer. But because of those old tales of vampires and what have you, there's a lot of bad bat press."

In an effort to dispel all the misinformation, Bats Northwest offers bat walks at Green Lake during the summer, lectures on the benefits of bats at local events like the Northwest Flower and Garden show, and actively encourages people to sign up as volunteer "bat ambassadors."

"The only reason we're afraid of bats is because we don't know anything about them," says Kathleen Bander, president of Bats Northwest. "But once you get to know them up close and personal there's no turning back. They're adorable."

And what about the less corporeal creatures — the ghosts and goblins of greater Seattle? Where can they be found?

On tour, according to Ross Allison, president and founder of AGHOST (Amateur Ghost Hunters of Seattle and Tacoma). This month, the organization began offering a series of "Spooked in Seattle" ghost-hunting tours hosted through the Museum of the Mysteries.

Options include a walking tour of Capitol Hill, featuring Volunteer Park, Lake View Cemetery and the Harvard Exit Theatre (one of Washington's most-documented haunted locations, according to Allison), and tours of the waterfront and Pike Place Market.

Are there other haunted hot spots in the city? Absolutely.

"We've had lots of activity at the University Heights Center," says Allison, of the 100-year-old school which now functions as a community center. "We've gotten some amazing EVPs — electronic voice phenomena — where the voices of spirits are communicating with you."

Cemeteries, of course, are the bread and butter of the ghost-hunting world, but Allison doesn't recommend amateurs strike out on their own, at least not without seeking permission first.

"It's actually possible to get permission to do an investigation if they know you're serious," he says. "But a lot of people are thrill seekers and just want to get scared."

Case in point — the dozens of drunken yahoos who go looking for the legendary "13 Steps to Hell" at the Maltby Cemetery every Halloween.

"There are all kinds of legends about this little cemetery, but we've checked it out and there are no steps," says Allison. "All you'll find is a cemetery surrounded by woods with all these beer bottles all over the place. I guess the more you drink — the more ghosts you see."

Allison recommends grave and ghost enthusiasts instead investigate Seattle's Lake View Cemetery on Capitol Hill or the Evergreen-Washelli Cemetery along Aurora Avenue. Both feature plenty of old gravestones and eerie atmosphere.

But don't forget to come prepared. Along with getting official permission, Seattle's premiere ghost hunter suggests taking a camera (either digital or a 35mm with 400 speed or higher film), a recording device (either digital or a standard recorder with an external microphone), and perhaps one more piece of equipment.

"If you're expecting any kind of demonic energy, a crucifix is fine," he says. "But I've always told people the scariest thing about ghost hunting is your own imagination. We tend to scare ourselves more than the ghosts try to scare you."

Diane Mapes is a Seattle-based freelance writer.