Original subtitles

Do you guys see that?

That's a stag beetle.

Right now, I'm on location in Costa Rica,

working on some of my animal facts.

Because, yes, I do research before I

actually get on camera.

I look over there at the balcony railing, and what do I see?

A giant stag beetle that must have flown in last night.

They're attracted to lights.

And he decided to make himself a perch right over there.

Now, I haven't been bitten and stung by that many things

on this trip.

I picked him up and look at that set of pictures.

And I said to myself, hmm, do you know

who would love to see this?

Everyone out there in the coyote park.

I'm pretty curious as to how hard

this book can actually pinch.

Now, they don't use those pinchers

to catch and kill prey.

They're actually used as defense and during mating displays

to attract the ladies as a mighty set of pinchers

right there.

Let's go for this.

Are you ready?

All right, so without further ado,

let's find out just how hard the stag beetle can pinch.

I'm going to let him go from my pinky finger.

Here we go.

Are you ready?

I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to enter the strike

zone with the stag beetle--

1, 2, 3.

Dang, that hurt.

Was it bad?

He poked a little hole on top of my finger.

And I think he popped a little puncture on the underside.

At least, he didn't pinch and hold on.

Let's try one more. Ready?

What I'm actually being chomped

by is a Mallodon beetle, which is in the same super family

as a stag beetle.

And with over 35,000 members, it's

tough to know them all apart.

I should just pop it in there.

Do you want us to hold it?

Be tight on it.

Yeah,

Because he'll-- he won't expect it.

Are you ready, Coyote?

Mm-hmm.

What are we doing now?

OK, so now I'm going to be pinched

by the stag beetle on my pinky finger of all places.

How many times you've been pinched already?

Four.

Why are we doing this the fifth time?

Because we haven't gotten the shot right.

And why is that?

Because I'm scared to get pinched again.

Tsk.

Easy that.

Ow! Ow!

Ow!

Ow!

Oh!

Ah!

Ah!

Jeez!

How's that bad?

Is that really bad?

Oh, yeah.

Ow!

He got you, man.

Man!

Good job, Mario.

Ow!

Easy that.

Ow!

Ow!

Ow!

Ow!

Well, I guess, what we have found out

is that the stag beetle--

it's got quite a pinch.

You potholes in my pinkie.

All right, buddy. I know.

That was a lot of stress.

We're going to let you go now, but

I guess we'll add the stag beetle

to the list of creatures that have chomped,

pinch, stung, or mauled Coyote.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see on the next location.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

This is a mound of fire ants.

I think we all know where this is headed.

Oh, boy.

Here we go.

Holy cow!

That's a lot of stings already.

All right, guys.

So when I was in Arizona, you saw

me put my hands into a mound of harvester ants, a species

that both bites and stings.

I lasted 60 seconds and took a lot of venom.

Ah!

Yeah, get stung already.

Ah!

They're all over my hands now.

Look at that!

Today, I'm in South Florida, and right in front of me

is a giant mound of fire ants.

I'm sure you're looking at this pile of dirt

thinking to yourselves, is that really an ant hill?

Looks like no one's home.

I promise you there are thousands

of these fiery little ants beneath the surface.

And the second that my hands disturb this dirt,

I'm going to be swarmed by these ornery little insects.

Am I excited about this?

Not really.

Am I curious as to what's going to happen?

Of course, and I know you guys are, too.

I think at this point I am ready to enter the strike

zone with the fire ant.

The red imported fire ant is native to South America,

yet they have established populations in several places

across the United States, including Florida.

What makes these insects so dangerous

is that their mounds camouflaged into the environment,

resembling nothing more than a pile of dirt.

Stumble into one, and before you even

realize what you have done, you were caught in the swarm.

Now just like the harvester ant, the fire ant can bite,

and it can also sting.

And they say that the sting of the fire ant,

it feels like putting your hands into a ring of fire.

Now before I actually go through with this,

here's a little something we all should know.

The sting of this ant species possesses an alkaloid venom

known as solenopsin, which exhibits

a potent necrotoxic reaction in anyone who is stung.

This not only causes a searing pain,

but also causes the sting zones to swell

and form unsightly white postulates

in as little as 12 hours.

In short, this is one nasty sting.

And, boy, am I about to get my fair share of them.

You build yourself up for these moments,

and then you second guess yourself.

We've done a couple of practice dry runs at it,

just as rehearsal as to where I'm going to put my hands.

When we go in there, maybe I'll do this one time.

I'm going to try to keep my hands in there for 60 seconds.

My heart is racing right now.

Hopefully, my body reacts OK to the venom.

I don't want to go into anaphylactic shock or anything.

I did OK with the harvester ant, so I think I'm going to be OK.

All right, here we go. Are you ready?

All right, go and get in position.

I'll be there in second.

All right, man.

Never under any circumstances

try to replicate what you were about to witness in this video.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

And I'm about to enter the strike zone with the fire ant.

You guys ready?

You shot good?

Yup.

One, two, three.

Holy cow!

Ow! Ow!

Ow! Oh!

Ah!

Ah!

Holy cow!

That's a lot of stings already.

Ah!

OK, I'm going to have to take my hands up

pretty quickly, guys Ah!

Ah!

Ah!

Ah!

You're the man.

Ah!

Ah!

So much worse than the harvester ants.

You got it.

30 seconds.

I can't.

I can't. I got to stop.

I got to stop. I got to stop.

You all right?

How are you?

How much are you feeling?

A lot of pain.

They're still on me.

Oh!

My hands are on fire right now.

Ah!

It is worse than the harvester ant.

There's no question about it.

What's on your mind right now?

My hands-- feel like they're swelling right now.

I feel like I'm still getting stung.

Be one with the pain.

Be one with the pain.

Look at my veins.

They're all swollen up.

When a mound of fire ants

is disturbed, thousands of them instantly swarm the invader.

The attack comes from all sides.

And as the ants bite and hold down with their mandibles,

they use a stinger in their abdomen to inject the venom.

Man, that burns!

I was hoping to last 60 seconds.

However, my pain tolerance finally gave out

as my brain was screaming, get your hands

out of that ant mound.

All right, so it's been about five minutes since I

had my hands in the ant mound.

As you can see, they're starting to swell up.

There's a bunch of little white lumps all over them.

It's actually not too bad at this point.

It hurts less than it does itch.

I really want to itch my hands right now.

And I know that I shouldn't.

Because if I do, it's only going to make it worse.

Now, if you want to know the answer of which is worse,

the harvester ant or the fire ant,

I think, the pain was worse with the harvester ant.

But, obviously, the swarm was more

impressive with the fire ant.

This is much more closely the harvester ants.

The moment those ants were covering my hands,

I was immediately getting stung over and over and over again.

And it did feel like putting my hands into a ring of fire.

Holy cow!

Ah!

I think no matter, what at the end of the day, the lesson

that we're all taking away from this

is that if you're out in nature you're exploring,

always do your best to avoid any and all ant mounds.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

COYOTE PETERSON In total,

I sustained over 300 stings.

And for over a week, I suffered through incredible discomfort,

which included flashes of pain and continuous itching.

It took over 30 days for the postulates

to completely diminish, and they left behind a trail of scars

that today serve as a constant reminder of why you never

want to tangle with fire ants.

Nearly all ants attacks happen on humans by accident.

Pay attention to where you step or sit,

and you, hopefully, will not end up looking like me.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Those are leafcutter ants, and they bite really, really hard.

Here we go again.

Guys, he's popping holes into my finger.

Ow!

COYOTE PETERSON Costa Rica

is an outdoor adventurer's playground.

And if you venture to the southwestern edge,

you will find yourself exploring the dense rainforest of the Osa

Peninsula, a truly primitive paradise that

is home to one of the most impressive creatures I've

ever encountered.

What you're looking at here, this barren runway that cuts

right through the heart of the rainforest,

it may look like a game trail.

But believe it or not, this was made by leafcutter ants.

And as soon as the sun gets a little higher in the sky

and the forest warms up, this is going

to be swarming with those industrious little insects.

COYOTE PETERSON Leafcutter

ants are famous for being one of the most complex societies

in the animal kingdom, building nests that are over 100

feet across and which can contain

over eight million individuals.

What do these millions of ants do all day you wonder?

Well, as their name suggests, they cut leaves, .

Wow, look at that!

At one point, this was a complete leaf,

and you can see where the ants intricately cut out

little sections to take back to the nest.

All right, well, let's keep following the trails

and see if we can find some of these ants.

The trails can run for miles

through the rainforest.

And if you follow the ants who are carrying the leaves,

eventually, you'll be led back to the nest--

not a place you would ever want to find yourself

unless, of course, you were me, and you

were looking to challenge one of the angry soldiers.

OK so we have now located the nest.

Wander back into there, and I will literally be under attack.

I have rolled up my pant legs as you can see.

Great look, by the way.

Yeah.

No, this is a-- this is my classic jungle look.

All right, I'm going to go get myself an angry soldier.

You guys ready?

I may have to do this quick.

All right, here we go. Good?

Yup.

COYOTE PETERSON Entering

the zone surrounding a nest of leafcutter ants

is incredibly dangerous.

And in a matter of seconds, we were swarmed.

Are you ready?

All right, a huge one.

We are under attack right now.

Careful.

Don't have it get on you. Oh, man.

It just did.

They're right out of its hole-- right out of its hole.

All right, I'm going to grab one.

Right here, look at this.

It's jumping out of this hole.

Oh gosh, there's a huge one right there.

Look at the size of that.

Holy cow! Ow!

Little one bite me.

Oh, I got them crawling up my leg.

OK, let me get out. Out!

Out! Out!

Abort! Abort!

Come on, guys, let's go.

At the back.

At the back.

Hang on.

Oh, jeez. Oh, men.

Ow! Oh!

Oh, my gosh.

They're huge and they're all over me.

Good? Yeah, dude.

They're swarming.

Yeah, ah!

Jeez, they come at you so fast. Hold it.

Hold it.

You got a few at the back of your leg.

Ah!

COYOTE PETERSON Yup!

Even Mark took some bites to make this episode.

Whoa!

That is a big soldier ant right there.

Now, this species of ant only bites.

It does not sting, which is good news for me.

So my hands aren't going to end up like they

did after the fire ants.

Now size to body weight ratio--

this is one of the strongest animals on the planet.

And I'm told that these mandibles are so powerful,

they can cut through skin.

I know you guys are curious as to just how

powerful those mandibles are.

So what I'm going to do today is get chopped by leafcutter ant.

If threatened a soldier will

attack any invader no matter how big

or small with incredible force.

Using shear-like mandibles they will

bite and tear the victim apart, showing absolutely no mercy.

I don't really mind being bitten by things.

It's stings that are usually worse.

But I'm looking at those mandibles, and I'm thinking,

the guy's probably going to break skin.

For my own safety and the safety

of the crew, we've chosen to perform this experiment

with a single ant.

This scene is incredibly graphic.

Never attempt what you were about to witness

under any circumstances.

Get ready.

There will be blood.

All right, I'm Coyote Peterson.

And I'm about to enter the strike

zone with the leafcutter ant.

Here we go.

Ready?

Wait, wait, wait.

One, two, three.

Ah!

Ah!

Yep, definitely breaking through the skin there.

Oh, it's like little razor blades.

I have an incredibly high pain tolerance.

So my goal was to last 60 seconds

under the onslaught of bites.

Oh, do you see that?

Yeah, he's popping holes into my finger.

Ow!

This ants are intelligent.

So by moving from spot to spot, the ant was testing

the weakness of my flesh.

Ah!

Oh, yeah, that hurts.

He's got me good right there.

COYOTE PETERSON His mandibles

cut through me, like a hot knife slicing warm butter.

And boy, did it hurt.

Ah!

Oh, man.

That hurts. Ah!

Ah!

Yep, definitely just cut through the skin.

Turn away if you're squeamish.

This part is pretty crazy.

Those little mandibles are razor sharp.

Oh, it is really tough to just keep my hands still.

You can see the blood is now starting to pour out.

I could feel each layer of skin

cutting as the ant began to bury its head into my finger.

[screams] Look!

He's burying his head into my finger.

COYOTE PETERSON The second

seemed to draw like mints as beads of sweat

poured down my face.

Finally, the ant decided

I wasn't going to give in.

And as it removed its mandibles from the hole in my finger,

the challenge was decidedly over.

I lasted over 60 seconds in the jaws of a leafcutter.

OK, I got to take him off.

Oh.

Oh!

Gross!

And my blood is already starting to coagulate.

But look at that.

Holy cow!

That is one powerful little insect.

My finger is throbbing right now.

And in my quest to find the most powerful ant bite and sting,

I would have to say that the leafcutter

ant, without question, is capable of slicing

through human skin.

And on the ant power scale, I'm going to rank

this little insect as an eight.

I can't even imagine how bad the bullet ant is going to be.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Oh, that hurt!

COYOTE PETERSON Like all ants,

the leaf cutter only attacks if threatened.

And I'm sure you were thinking, Coyote,

are you taking these challenges too far?

Look at your finger.

It looks like a horror film.

To be honest, I had no idea a single ant

could do this much damage.

So the moral of the story is, if you are ever in Costa Rica,

pay attention to your surroundings.

Yeah, he's popping holes into my finger.

Because the last place

you want to find yourself is in a swarm of angry soldiers.

I'm Cayote Peterson.

And I'm about to enter the strike zone with the fire ant.

You guys ready?

You shot good?

Yup.

One, two, three.

Holy cow!

Ow! Ow!

Ow!

Oh!

Ah!

Ah!

Holy cow!

That's a lot of things already.

Ah!

OK, I may have to get a hands up pretty quickly, guys.

Ah!

Ah!

Ah!

Ah!

You're the man.

Ah!

Ah!

So much worse than the harvester ants.

You got it.

30 seconds.

Ow!

I can't. I can't.

I got to stop. I got to stop.

I got to stop.

You all right?

How are you?

How much are you feeling?

A lot of pain. Ah!

Ah!

They're still on me.

7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20,

21, 22, 23, 24, 25-- oh, hey.

What's up?

26, 27, 28, 29.

Too many to count?

It's too many to count.

I'm at about 30 just on my hand here.

I'm guessing I probably took somewhere in the vicinity

of 100 to 150 ant sticks.

Can you see that?

Yeah, your skin is like all tight.

My skin is tight, swollen,

and it itches, and burns right now.

OK, so if you are ever out in the wild,

let's say you're out there for a picnic,

put your picnic blanket right down on a mound of fire ants--

worst thing that could possibly happen,

and you don't have a first aid key with you.

There's a little simple remedy that you can use.

It's kind of gross, but it's also kind of interesting.

You can actually pee on fire ants stings

to neutralize the sting.

Like what?

Yeah, you can actually pee.

The ammonia in the pee will actually neutralize the stings

and reduce some of the swelling.

OK, hold, hold. Wait.

We can't.

I mean, how are we going to have shots for this?

Well, I'm not going to just pee on my hands for you guys

right here.

I actually brought with me an entire bottle of Coyote pee.

No, you didn't. - Yes, I did.

That is my pee.

That is colored water, guys.

No, that is not colored water.

You want to smell it?

Mario!

What's up?

I need you to smell this.

He says, he's got a bottle of pee and I don't believe him.

What you mean? That's--

No, I'm not going to Mario smell it.

I'll smell it though.

Yeah, that's my pee--

100%.

Oh, you know, I really don't believe you.

Just smell it.

You guys can smell it.

Hold up!

Yeah, gross, right?

I know, totally gross.

It is disgusting.

It is a bottle of Coyote pee.

But believe it or not, the ammonia that is in your pee

will actually help to reduce the swelling

and neutralize the venom.

So what I'm going to do right now--

This is so disgusting.

- as gross as it seems, is I'm going to dump my own urine all

over my arms and on my hands to try

to reduce the swelling and the burning

from these fire ant stings.

You ready? No.

Here we go.

Hold on.

I'm going to back up because--

I'm not going to splash you.

Come on.

All right, you ready?

Yeah, go for it.

Oh, yeah.

That's pee.

And I left this bottle of pee sitting in the sun all day.

And I know this seems incredibly gross, right?

And it is.

It is super gross.

I am literally rubbing pee into my hands and into my arms.

But this is going to help keep down the swelling

from all of the stings.

Not pull my leg.

That wasn't just a bottle of colored water.

Nope, that is pee.

That is pee 100%

That is pee.

That is pee 100% And I left this bottle of pee

sitting in the sun all day.

Look at that.

My hands have actually totally cooled down.

And I think that the urine-- it's-- it's brought out

the bumps in a little more definition,

but I think that the swelling is actually

going down at this point, and it's only

been a couple of seconds.

I can tell you this much.

My arms are not burning at the moment.

They still itch, but I definitely

feel like the urine--

it's doing the trick.

That's pretty cool. It's pretty gross.

Now, I know-- it is.

I agree.

That was completely gross--

probably one of the grossest things

you guys have ever seen me do.

But, hopefully, this serves as a great example

of what to do if you ever find yourself

in this worst case scenario.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you next week.

Now, while the urine did act

as a temporary relief to my anguish,

unfortunately, it did not completely stop

the effects of the ant venom.

In total, we counted over 300 stings.

And within 12 hours of the fire ants swarm, my hands

it's swollen to nearly double in size

and were covered in unsightly white particulates.

Moral of the story, do whatever you can to avoid fire ants.