ELGIN, Okla. (AP) — Tarantulas have taken refuge in Elgin Middle School.

Yes, those often large, hairy-legged spiders that are straight out of the nightmare of any self-respecting arachnophobe are now calling the school "home."

Fear not, however, as these spiders have instead drawn the fascination of much of the school over the last two academic years since the first one, affectionately named "Mary Todd" after the former first lady, first arrived in the classroom.

"I had a parent whose adult son moved out and left behind his tarantula and she asked if I wanted it," Melissa Evon, a seventh grad...