All language subtitles for B.W.S01E12.Famous.Frogs.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

There he is.

COYOTE PETERSON
The darkness

of night brings with
it the awakening

of many rainforest creatures.

And on the Caribbean
side of Costa Rica,

one of the most iconic
amphibians in Central America

is out on the hunt
for its next meal.

It's
2:00 in the morning.

We have been out here for hours
looking for what is supposed

to be one of the most
common species of tree frog

here in Costa Rica.

We found all sorts
of frog species,

just not the one
they were actually

after for this episode.

And at the right time of year,

specifically during
the rainy season,

these frogs descend
from the tree tops

and can be found near
permanent or temporary bodies

of water, where they have
come to lay their eggs.

Right there.

Those are tree frogs eggs.

Look at that cluster.

How cool is that?

There are many species of
frogs in the rainforest you can

happen upon and some of them,
like the gliding leaf frog,

also have red eyes.

That.

Whoa.

Gotta move slowly is
a gliding leaf frog.

Look at you.

Pretty good size too.

This is an arboreal
species, usually

find them high up in the trees.

And they're called gliding
leaf frogs because they use

the momentum of their bodies.

They jump from higher heights
down to lower heights.

Look at that.

That's one cool looking frog.

All right, search for the
red-eyed tree frog continues.

COYOTE PETERSON
Our search

didn't take us much further
when, sure enough, we finally

came upon the amphibian we
had all hoped to finally

get in front of the cameras.

You're not going
to believe it,

there's actually one
right here on this leaf.

Where?
- Look at that.

There is the red-eyed tree frog
curled up in a little ball.

I'm gonna cut off my light.

Bring out that light
a little bit closer.

Are you sure?
100%.

Oh my gosh!

We have been looking
for hours for this frog

and sure enough, there it
is completely camouflaged.

Now, you'll notice--

I'm going to tilt
it a little bit.

Mark, you see the eyeball there?

See that reticulated pattern?

Now, the frog can
see us through that.

You see it?

Almost looks like
gold spider webbing.

But it thinks it's
completely hidden.

It's got its toes tucked under,
the coloration on the side

of its body tucked under.

And if you didn't know
what you were looking for,

it just looks like
a bump on that leaf.

All right, here we go.

You ready?

Look at that, he's just
like the saying to himself,

"Oh, you guys can't see me."

Gotcha.

Be really gentle.

There it is, the
red-eyed tree frog.

The most famous frog
species here in Costa Rica.

Gonna wake up for us?

Look at those eyes.

Hi.

How are you?

I know that everybody
out there watching

has been asking to see
this frog since we made

our first trip to Costa Rica.

Now, when we were
on the West Coast,

these frogs do
live there but they

were all high up in the trees
because it was the dry season.

Now here on the East Coast,
we have a lot of rains

that have pushed through and--

Don't.

No.

Not in my mouth.

OK.

Well, in this instance,
just kind of go with it.

I do have to be careful
because these frogs can excrete

a toxin from their skin.

Don't want to get that
in my mouth or my eyes.

Here we go.

Why don't we bring you
up here on my hand?

And let's get you up
close for the camera

and get some interesting facts.

How cool is this?

How excited are you?

We finally found one!

Yes!

OK.

Now, the common name for this
frog is the red-eyed tree frog.

However, it's technically
a red-eyed leaf frog.

And that is because it is an
arboreal species, which means

that they live high up
in the treetops, hence

the name leaf frogs.

They are always
hanging out on leaves.

Or like this, as you can see.

They're really good at jumping
and really good at climbing.

And now it's on my hat.

Is it still right there?
Yeah it is.

Let me see if i can
grab it off you.

See if you can just kind
of get it and bring it back

down here to my hand, Mark.

You got him?

There we go.

Oh, there you go, little guy.

Now, that leaping ability
is excellent when it comes

to escaping from predators.

Look at that.

Look how long those legs are.

Now how do they grip?

Those sticky pads.

And they are so incredibly
sticky, I can feel

it every time he
moves himself around

on my fingertip or my hand.

They secrete this mucus from
the tips of their fingers,

it's almost like a
temporary glue, that allows

them to move from leaf to leaf.

Or if they leap
across a wide expanse,

they can just whap land on to
something and they will stick.

All right, let's take a real
good look at this frog's eyes

because if there is one thing
that this frog is iconic for,

it is those reddish orange eyes.

They're enormous as compared to
the size of this frog's head.

And that is because this
is a nocturnal species.

This allows the frog to be
able to see its prey when it's

out there hunting at night.

Now, this is a male.

I can tell that because
the males are significantly

smaller than the females.

And what you guys
cannot smell is

that right now it's
actually secreting

a toxin from its skin.

Now-- this frog just does
not really want to cooperate,

does it?

No.

He really wants
to crawl on my face.

OK.
Back on the leaf.

All right, let's see
if I can do this.

This amphibian is
going to be much

more comfortable if I actually
keep it on a leaf like that.

Now, there is a perfect example
of this animal's camouflage.

He's like, you can't
see me, but we can.

Let me see if I can get
him right up on the edge

of the leaf like that.

Do not jump on my face again.

Wow!

Very cool.

Now, these frogs
are insectivores,

which means that they eat bugs.

And they're opportunistic
so any mosquito, or moth,

or little flying creature
that comes across its path

when it's sitting around
a leaf is fair game.

OK, now I do know that
this is a male and the way

that I'm at least guessing
is because the males are

significantly smaller
than the females.

But both males and females
have the exact same color

patterns on their bodies.

However, for males to attract
females here in the rainforest,

what they'll do is
actually bounce up and down

on the leaves, shaking the
leaves, informing the females

that they're there and they're
available for breeding.

How cool is that?

That's an interesting little
dating tactic that you have.

Well, I
think he kind of wants

to go back up in the trees.

I think he does and we
have hung out with this frog

for quite a while now.

And I think at this juncture,
it's probably a good idea

to get it back off
into the rainforest

so he can continue hunting.

But what an expedition!

Spending hours out here at
night and finally coming

across the red-eyed leaf frog.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on
the next adventure.

All right, let's let this
guy back into the rainforest.

The red eyed leaf

frog has long been one of
my most admired amphibians.

And getting to film them in
a completely natural setting

was one frog encounter that
I will always remember.

If you love
animals, make sure to s--

- You got one?
- Yeah.

Ooh, where, where, where?
Oh, there it is.

Yes!
Right on the edge of that leaf!

Oh, it's crouching now.

You got a shot?

Got it!

COYOTE PETERSON
Nestled

below the endless
expanse of treetops,

a biologically diverse world
of animals call the Costa Rican

rainforest home.

And on this adventure,
I will be working

alongside an expert who
has dedicated his life

to preserving this wild place.

Since 2002, Brian
Kubicki has owned

and operated the Costa Rican
Amphibian Research Center.

Located on the Caribbean
Coast, this 120 acre preserve

is home to a plethora of
animals, including birds,

mammals, countless creepy
crawlies, reptiles,

and his absolute
favorite, amphibians.

OK, Brian.

So we have hiked out
here into the rainforest

and we are standing in what's
125 acres of your reserve.

And tonight, we're heading out
looking for one of the rarest

amphibians that lives here.

It's critically endangered
all around the world, correct?

Yes.

According to the [inaudible],,
it's critically endangered.

Is its official status.

The next status up is extinct.

Wow.

Now, Mark, when you hear
critically endangered,

what do you think of?

I think it's
super rare and something

we're not going to find.
- Right.

Now Brian, you're pretty
confident that we're

going to come across
these frogs tonight.

- Yes.
- OK.

And what species is it that
we're looking for tonight?

The lemur leaf frog.

Ooh, cool.

Now I have never seen this frog.

And you think there's a
pretty good chance we're

going to find one tonight?

Yeah.

We definitely have a
nice population here.

All right.
Nice.

Well, let's get our
flashlights out.

Head out there
into the rainforest

and see what we can find.

Let's do it.

All right.

Brian has spent countless hours

in the field, which
in turn have resulted

in numerous
important discoveries

and rediscoveries
of amphibian species

that have not been
seen in decades.

And while he loves
all amphibians,

he has a particular
interest in frogs.

So on this dark, rainy
night, we are heading out

to search for one of
the rarest species

to call this preserve its
home, the lemur leaf frog.

OK.

Real quiet for a second.

Everybody quiet.

That, is that a frog call?

Yep.

That there's our
little dink frog.

Dink frog?

So it's a small little frog
that lives in the vegetation,

especially in the low lying
vegetation in the forest.

OK.

Now, do you ever like
call out to the frogs?

Make a frog call yourself
and see if something

will respond like birds do?

There are certain
species of frogs

that definitely will respond.

So they have a certain
level of jealousy, I guess.

And they hear another
frog so they want to use

their voice to overlap his.

So there are certain
species that definitely

you can initiate
their calling by kind

of making a similar noise.

Definitely, yeah.

Is the lemur frog
one of those frogs?

- Unfortunately it's not.
- No.

But we be listening to
see if we hear call?

Yeah, they have a
very distinct call.

Like, it's a really pretty
call like a belly whistle,

but a very distinct call.

So we'll be able to hear them
and go in on them for sure,

yeah.
- Cool.

If we hear any, we'll
stop and get real quiet

and see if we can
pick it up on camera.

- Yeah, of course.
- OK, let's keep moving.

All right, let's do it.

Now Brian, I don't
know if I would

recognize the call of this
frog if I just heard it.

But I feel like I'd be
pretty good at spotting it.

What should I be looking for?

What we're going to be looking
for is actually the eye shine.

OK.

So what I want you to
do, Coyote, is with the--

you see how I am
with my flashlight?

I've got it right
in front of my eyes,

like right at the
tip of my nose.

So look at that.

And you'll look for
little white lights,

which are the
frog's eyes as they

reflect the light back at us.

Oh.
That's interesting.

I mean normally I'm
walking with my flashlight

down like this and just kind
of projecting it around.

But I notice, you're right.

If you put it like
right up to your nose

the beam is straight
in front of your eyes.

And
you see reflection.

Yup.
All right.

Well, lets keep moving.
You let me know if you hear one.

OK.
Yup.

It's starting to rain.

Watch your camera, OK?

Yeah.

If it opens up, put
the camera in the bag.

This is a good spot.

Could be nothing.

Coyote, I got one here.

You got one?

You see it?

Ooh, where, where, where?

I don't see it.

your flashlight in front

of your nose like I told you.
Oh!

There it is.
Yes!

Right on the edge of that leaf!
Yup.

Can I go
down there and grab it?

Yup.

Now he's got this
little trail right here.

Probably the best
way to go down is

the little small trail there.
OK.

All right, Mark, you
wanna come with me?

Let's do it.

All right.

I'll be
right behind you.

Watch your footing.

Hold on.

Check for snakes, get
excited, and then you end

up stepping on a fer-de-lance.

Gonna be real gentle with this.

Oh, look at that little--

oh, oh it's crouching now.

You got a shot?

Yep.

Got it.
Awesome.

Yes!
All right.

All right, I'm going
to bring it back up.

Let's-- this is not a
good spot to do a scene.

Brian, we're going to
come back up to you

and get this little frog
in front of the camera.

All right, I got a real
gentle hold on his back leg.

I'm going to crouch down here.

You guys ready?

This frog is so cool looking.
All right.

Ready?

One, two, there he is.

Look at that face.

He looks like ET.

It's all eyes.

This
might be one of the coolest

looking frogs I've ever seen.

From the backside,
it just kind of

looked like a normal tree frog.

But as soon as I saw
its face I was like,

no wonder this is so unique.

It's very iconic with
those large, bulging eyes

and it's like all eyes, yeah.

Wow.

And the eyes are gray.

That species,
when they're active,

they'll typically have that
kind of darker iris coloration.

But in the daytime, when they're
sleeping, if you wake them up

they have these bright
silver, white eyes.

And also their
skin on their back

is bright, fluorescent green.

Look
at the yellow sides.

And actually with that
light, I can see right

through the side of his belly.

Now, Brian, why are
these frogs so rare?

I mean, what's caused them to
become critically endangered?

In
all honesty, we're

not 100% sure what happened.

Obviously it's felt that
there's a type of fungus

and other diseases might
have led to the decline

but in reality
we're not 100% sure.

To me, this is tiny.

I'm trying to be gentle
as I possibly can.

And the front feet are
just so crazy looking.

No webbing on the
front or the back toes,

but they do seem to have
little tiny sticky pads.

Does that help them
crawl from leaf to leaf?

Yup.
Exactly.

OK.

I noticed that this frog has
incredibly long slender legs.

And I see-- look it, it's
like walking across my hand.

I got a gentle hold
on this one leg here

but there we're actually
able to see-- look at that,

it completely keeps its
body up off the ground.

Why are those legs so long?

Now this
frog is typically walking

on real thin, weak leaves.

Don't have a lot of structure
to hold up a lot of weight.

So they have to distribute
their weight on those leaves

as they're walking
along like that.

Now, he's just too quick.

There he goes.

OK, I gotta bring
him back over here.

So if they're up there
walking across the leaves,

are they hunting?

And if so, what are
they hunting for?

They'd
be hunting for just

any small invertebrates
they can fit in their mouth.

They're also up there
obviously breeding.

A few of the males would be near
their breeding sites calling

and advertising to females.

All right.

OK.

So opportunistic feeders,
opportunistic breeders.

That sounds pretty accurate.

And you said that
this is a male.

This is a male.

And is
there a way to differentiate

between the males and females?

The females
will be a little larger,

and the males have a little bit
what's called a nuptial pad,

a little bit of a pad strip.

You kinda see the base of
this in that little kind

of dark patch there.
- OK.

That's typical in the
males because they'll grab

the females by the armpits.

Right.

And also known as
axillary amplexus.

OK.

But
the biggest thing

is just definitely the size.

The females are
quite a bit bigger,

a little bit more robust.
OK.

Same color though.

Same color.

Now it was
almost brown in coloration

when I caught it it's like
we've gotten in front of lights

and it's changed color
like a chameleon.

Yes that's what's known
as metachrosis, the ability

to change colors.

This species and a lot of
other frog species and even

some salamanders
have the ability

to change their colors
according to activity,

maybe the backgrounds
they're on.

So it's actually a fairly common
trait in different amphibians.

That's really cool.

So Brian, these frogs
were here historically

then they disappeared
and your conservation

project has brought them back
in and now they're flourishing.

How excited are you about this?

I mean, what a great success.
Yeah.

I mean, it has been
a great success.

And it's pretty much a
pioneering project so we didn't

really know what to expect.

So it's been really exciting to
actually see the great success

we've had over a
little over a decade

now we've been working
with the species.

And now we're seeing
it actually recolonise

in neighboring patches of forest
we didn't see them before.

So it's been very successful.

If you had to guess,
how many of these frogs

do you think are out there now?

Definitely the
reserve definitely

is probably within the
hundreds of individuals, yeah.

Wow.

That is so cool.

What a successful
conservation effort

that you've accomplished
here on the reserve.

I mean, so cool.

I mean, when we
started the night

Brian said with 100% confidence
that we were going to come

across one of these frogs.

I'm not going to lie, I
was a little skeptical.

Critically endangered and we're
definitely going to find one.

I mean, we've gone
out doing episodes

of "Breaking Trail"
finding-- looking for slugs

and we've had more trouble.

And sure enough, in just
under an hour's time,

we managed to come across
the lemur leap frog.

And this is so cool.

Well, Brian, I know for myself
and The Brave Wilderness team,

this is one adventure
that's definitely going

to go down in the record books.

The first time I've
ever caught and held

an endangered amphibian species.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on
the next adventure.

All right, it's
starting to rain.

Let's get this frog
back onto its leaf.

So we've got Birch here.

He's one of the dogs
that has been hanging

out with us here at the cabin.

Been playing around with him.

He's a fun dog.

Get.

A toad!

There's a toad!

Do you have it?

I got it!
I got it!

Mario,
go your camera!

Hold on a second,

I'm going to put
him in my pocket.

Ah, [inaudible] slide all
the way down this hill.

Hold on, I'm coming up.

Adding my phone in
my hand Oh, yes!

Look at this.

Hold on a second.

Wait for it.

Look at that little guy.

That's a Western toad!

Look at that toad.

You may be looking
at this amphibian

saying to yourself,
Coyote why are

you so excited about a toad?

Which you may not know
is that the Western toad

is the only species of toad
found in the state of Alaska.

There are no reptiles here
and there are only six species

of amphibians, three
salamanders, two frogs,

and this little bumpy toad.

Now, I do know that
this is a male.

And the way I can
identify it as such

is look at these four feet.

You see those little pads
on the bottom of the feet?

Those are called
nuptial pads and they

use those to help
themselves navigate

through the environment.

The females do not
have those pads.

Females are larger
than the males.

And let's look at
this toad's back.

You see that ridge line?

All these bumps that
run along the back?

On a female, those are
much more pronounced

and reddish in coloration.

You are one handsome little
fella, you know that?

Now, these toads are out
here feeding on pretty much

anything they can come across.

Worms, bugs, slugs, you name
it, this toad will eat it.

And this is a
completely safe species

to capture the only thing
I've got going on for me

right now that's a
defense from this toad is

it's peeing all over my hands.

Little soap and water
will wash that up

and I will be just fine.

You look at this toad and
you think to yourself,

boy he doesn't have any claws,
he doesn't have any big teeth,

how does he defend himself?

Well as we know,
most toad species

do have toxins in
their skin that

comes from the parotid gland.

The parotid glands on
this toad are very small.

You can see them just
behind the eyeball there.

And he's not doing it now,
but when I first caught him

he puffed up his body to
make himself look bigger

and he was going,
beep, beep, beep.

And they vibrate their bodies.

And that apparently will
scare off a predator.

I mean, I imagine if I came in
and grabbed ahold of this toad,

it would shake its body
and make those noises.

I'd be like, ooh, I'm not
going to mess with that guy.

Oh.
There it was.

You gonna chirp again?

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

Hear that?

Yeah, you knew that that's
what we were talking about,

didn't you?

Now, they are slightly
toxic to the animals

here in this environment.

But there are some predators
out there for this amphibian.

Ravens will eat them.

Eagles and badgers
have actually been

known to consume these toads.

So Coyote,
how are these toads

different from the
toads back in Ohio?

Well, I'll tell you
something about the toads

that live up here in Alaska.

They're extremely tough.

These animals have to deal with
extremely cold temperatures

during the winter.

And what they'll do is
burrow down deep in the mud

and some species of
amphibians, like the wood frog,

can actually freeze, and then
they thaw out in the spring.

Now, I'm not sure whether
or not these toads freeze,

but I can just tell
that the skin is

much more durable and rugged
than some of the toad species

that I find in Ohio.

This is one tough
little creature

if it can survive freezing
temperatures up here in Alaska.

You also notice that the
coloration of this toad

is very light,
almost cream-colored.

And that distinct
white stripe that runs

along the length of the back.

The toads that I
found in Ohio are

usually dark brown
in coloration,

sometimes even black.

Now, the skin is
a little smoother

and it's also slightly
sticky, that's because they

absorb a lot of their moisture
from their environments.

The toads I find in Ohio are
much drier than this one here.

That is one good looking toad.

Now, I was told by Mario,
our wildlife biologist,

that you probably
don't have a very

good chance of finding any
catchable creatures here

in Alaska.

But sure enough, I found
the one toad species

that can be found in the state.

How cool was that?

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on
the next location.

Come on, buddy.

Let's get you back
into the forest.

He did it.

He got the only toad in Alaska.