Original subtitles

I'm Coyote Peterson, and today, we're on the search

for the elusive water anole.

I got one right here off this ledge.

I got it!

NATHANIEL "COYOTE"

From a bird's eye view, the rainforests of Costa Rica

seem to be nothing but endless tree tops.

Drop beneath the canopy, and you will find that the terrain is

incredibly rugged, yet intricately

laced with miles of canyons, cut into the wild by flowing water.

Wow, this environment is seriously challenging.

Everything is so slippery and all

the rocks are sharp and jagged.

It's almost like controlled falling,

you do everything you can not to hurt yourself.

All right, well, we're working our way up through this canyon

and hopefully that's where we're going to find the water anole.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE"

When it comes to the Osa Peninsula,

the landscape is absolutely epic,

and the biodiversity that thrives in this remote paradise

is an animal enthusiast's dream come true.

The Brave Wilderness team and I have embarked

upon many grand adventures, but nothing would push us

to the limit like our quest to find one of the rarest

lizards in the country.

A tiny dragon that can only be found deep

in the heart of the rainforest.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" Look

at that, that's a baby one.

Wow, I'm might trying to grab him.

Got him.

Look at that!

Well, we found one.

He's just really, really tiny.

That is a baby water anole right there.

All right, we're going to put this little guy back

on his leaf, and try to find one of his big brothers.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE"

Encountering a juvenile water anole

was a definite sign that we were headed in the right direction.

But then, the rain hit.

For nearly two hours, we hiked through a torrential downpour.

And with the main cameras packed away,

GoPros captured the journey as we navigated the dense jungle.

Our destination, a remote waterfall

that was rumored to be the one place on the Osa Peninsula

where the largest water anoles can be found.

Local guides talked about these lizards

as if they were mythical rain forest dragons, creatures

of the shadows that could spring from cliff sides

and disappear into the watery abyss in the blink of an eye.

Just to see what would be rare.

To capture one would be epic.

In the distance, the sound of falling water

echoed through the canyon.

And as we rounded the bend, before I knew it,

we had entered the dragon's lair.

I got one right here off this ledge.

Hold on. Got it?

Hold on.

I got it!

Nice catch.

Yes. Woo!

Woo! Look at that.

Beauty.

And it is a male.

Look at that dewlap, watch this.

Oh, yes.

The elusive water anole, there it is.

All right, I imagine you probably don't want

to film next to this waterfall.

Let's bring him back into the better light,

and get him up close for the cameras.

Yes, we finally got one!

Ah, look at that.

That is water anole.

You guys have no idea how much effort

it has taken to land ourselves in this canyon

and find one of these elusive lizards.

We've been hiking for hours, we've

been dealing with rainstorms, got a waterfall.

And finally, as I came across that turn,

shining with my flashlight, and said, this is the moment.

That is a male, that is the one that I have to catch.

Now, this lizard-- as an anole, you

may be thinking, oh, Coyote, we've seen so many anoles.

But trust me, you have not seen an anole like this.

This lizard is incredibly well-adapted for this water

ecosystem.

What they will do--

and fortunately for me, I was quicker than he was--

they'll wait on the edges of the canyon like that.

And as soon as a predator gets close,

they dive off of the wall, into the water,

and find a crevice to go into.

They sit there, and they wait until the danger is gone.

Then, bl-bl-bloop, they merge back up

and go about their daily business.

Wait, how do they go again?

Bl-bl-bloop.

They emerge back up and go about their daily business.

Now, [pant] hold on.

Let me catch my composure, because this was

such a tough lizard to catch.

My hand is actually shaking.

We did catch a female earlier, and they're

a bit smaller than the males.

But look what he's doing.

You see that?

He's being completely limp in my hand

because he wants me to think that he's dead.

He's not, trust me.

At any second he could go blop, just like that,

and launch off of my hand.

I can't do that for too long, because he'll

realize that I don't have a good hold on him-- whoa, come here.

And do that.

And do that.

Try to spring off.

But let's take a look at this lizards camouflage,

because they are incredibly cryptic.

And I was only able to spot him with my flashlight

because the striping and those little yellow dots

are what stood out.

He looks just like the mosses and the lichens

that are covering these rocks.

You're very good at camouflaging, buddy.

You know that?

But if you look at him from the side,

you can see that bluish stripe that runs

down the length of the body.

Incredibly beautiful.

Kind of reminds me a Dilophosaur from Jurassic Park.

Now, you guys want to see this lizard's dewlap?

It is pretty cool.

All right, get ready for this.

This is the coolest part of this lizard.

Now, because this is a male, all male anoles have a dewlap,

and they are absolutely beautiful.

And this doesn't hurt the lizard in any way whatsoever.

Whoop.

Wow.

Look at that.

Now what they use the dewlap for is to attract the ladies.

So this gentleman will puff up his chest, extend out

his dewlap, and then he'll bob up and down

and say, ladies, how good-looking am I?

And that he is, one handsome little fellow.

Aside from being incredibly handsome-- here you go, buddy--

he's also a really great hunter.

What they're out here looking for, pretty much any little

invertebrate they can come across.

But they specialize in catching water nymphs.

And, of course, because they're adapted for water,

they go down in there, look for their food, grab a meal,

bring it up onto the sides of the canyons, and have a feast.

So he has a pretty limited diet in an environment like this,

but as you can see, this lizard looks incredibly healthy.

That's about average size for a male.

The males are a slight bit bigger than the females.

Yeah I see you, I know.

You're an excellent hunter.

And he's a little discouraged right now, because he was

caught by a potential predator.

Now, these lizards are really well-adapted to this canyon

waterfall ecosystem, and their skin is actually

really hydrophobic, which means that water will bead up on it

and run right off.

Let me grab a handful of water and show

you what that looks like. Hold on a second.

Check this out.

We'll drip some water down on him.

Look at that.

You see how the water just beads up and runs right off?

So he's staying dry, because we're soaked?

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" He's

much dryer than I am right now.

I'm soaked, having to go under that waterfall

to catch this lizard.

But right now, this guy just wants

to get back up onto the rock so he can continue hunting.

What an awesome adventure to get down here into the canyon

and catch the elusive water anole.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE"

Every time we deploy into the wild, mother nature

tests us with some seemingly impossible challenges.

And there are certainly times where the team

and I have wanted to give up.

To throw in the towel and say, you know what, this episode

just isn't going to happen.

But this is Breaking Trail.

So when the going gets tough, the Brave Wilderness team

gets going.

And mother nature always rewards hard work

with something spectacular.

To this day, I still can't believe that we actually

caught a rainforest dragon.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Right now, we're hiking in the southern swamps

of Texas, which is home to two different water snake species.

One is venomous, and one is not.

If your life depended on it, would you

be able to tell the difference?

Stick around, because we're about to show you.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE"

As the sun cut through the tops of the cypress trees,

I carefully made my way into the swamp.

Every step counts when you are in the back country

of south Texas.

And as my boots slowly splashed through the dark water,

my focus was completely in-tune with the environment.

I knew that it was only a matter of time

before I would find the one reptile that most

people are terrified of.

Coyote, what are you looking for?

Snakes, and nothing yet.

You know, most people are out there and they're hiking

and they stumble upon snakes when they don't expect to.

Me, I'm always looking for them.

But if you do come across one in the wild,

I think it's really important to identify the species.

A lot of times, you have a non-venomous snake that

will look like a venomous one.

Unfortunately, these non-venomous snakes are then

vilified as being venomous, and a lot of times,

they end up being killed.

Now, my goal today is to catch one non-venomous snake and one

venomous snake so we can show you the distinct differences

between the two.

It's a long search out here in swamps.

I'm not giving up.

We are going to find some snakes.

Got a snake.

Yes.

Yes.

Check it out.

OK, little bitey, little bitey.

Ah, ah, ah.

Ah, he's got my finger!

Ouch.

Good news for me, though, is that this one is non-venomous.

Bring him up into the light.

Check that out.

That is a broad-banded water snake.

Whew, OK.

That is half of the equation right there.

Watch your Go-Pro.

He's trying to bite you.

Well, that's the safe one.

Now we got to find the moccasin.

Phew, awesome.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" PETERSON: Definitely got my thumb.

A bite from this one, and I'm going to be just fine.

But the other snake we're looking for,

the water moccasin, if that attacked my thumb,

we wouldn't be getting shots.

We'd be on our way to the hospital.

Look at that.

Let me get him up closer to the camera, there.

Whoa.

He's bitey.

Beautiful snake.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" OK, cool.

Well, let's keep searching for moccasins.

What you do not want to do is just accidentally

step on a venomous snake.

This is definitely moccasin territory.

There's a moccasin right there.

OK, come up slow. Where?

Right up against the side of that tree.

Oh, I see it.

Wow, look at how big it is.

OK, now this is the real deal.

Stay back.

OK.

Stay a couple steps back.

Now, they usually move pretty slow.

I'm going to try to hook it and bring it up here on your path.

You ready? Yeah.

Careful.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" Come here.

It started moving.

Careful.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" Grab that tail.

Grab that tail.

OK, there we go.

Do not want to take a bite from this snake.

That one will send you to the hospital.

OK, bringing it up on the path here.

Wow, OK.

Ooh, rattling the tail a little bit.

That is his defensive sign. OK.

Ah ah ah.

Ts, ts, ts, ts.

It should just stop for us.

Come here, come here.

There we go.

All right, what we need to do now

is just get the snake under control

so that we can get it up close with the cameras.

Let me move it back a little bit here.

Ha, my nerves are going.

Just looking into the water there-- and that's how

well these things camouflage--

I just saw it out of the corner of my eye.

Just an obscure shape up against that

cypress, and that's what these snakes will do.

You don't often see them just slithering about like you

would have water snake.

They'll often be just like this, curled up in a ball somewhere.

Trying to stay camouflaged, trying to stay away

from any potential predators.

Then again, if you were going to try to eat this snake,

you better be quick.

Because if you're tagged by those fangs,

you are going to be in a world of trouble.

Now, this is a water moccasin but they are

famously known as cottonmouths.

And watch this, I'll get the snake to open its mouth

and you'll see that white throat.

Look at that.

That is a defensive-- oh, you see?

And look, you got the tail going out, too.

You see that?

Mimicking a rattlesnake, saying I am venomous.

Yes, we know that you are venomous.

I can actually see the fangs tucked back.

Woo, I am [panting] dripping bullets of sweat right now.

Let me back up a touch.

OK.

Well, perfect.

We have the two snake species that

are indigenous to this habitat.

A water moccasin and a broad-banded water snake.

One venomous, and one that is not.

Stick around, and we'll show you which is which.

Wow.

Check this out.

Completely calm now, considering the fact,

just a few minutes ago, this snake

was doing everything it could to bite me and get away.

This is the broad-banded water snake.

And look at this incredibly calm demeanor.

And I noticed the same thing with Lake Erie water snakes

and northern water snakes.

At first, It's all about fight or flight.

If they can't get away and you catch them,

they immediately try to bite you.

Now the good news for me, like I said before,

is that this is a non-venomous species.

So how big do the snakes get?

I mean, do these snakes get as big as a Northern water snake?

Yeah, they do.

I would say this is about average size

for one of these snakes.

It is, I'd say, about two and a half feet in length.

But they can grow to be about three and a half or four feet

at a maximum size.

Females are larger than the males,

and I do believe it's a male, looking at its cloaca.

Yeah, you're a handsome fellow, aren't you?

Now, these snakes are often misidentified.

People see them near the water, and they automatically

think it's a water moccasin.

This is a very common species all across

the southeastern United States.

And the reason people mistake it for a water moccasin

is mostly the fact that, A, it's right by the water,

and B, the coloration.

I'm going to turn the snake just a little bit.

You see all that dark brown that runs the length of the body?

And then that faded banding looks just

like a younger water moccasin.

But then, of course, if you flip the snake over and

look at its belly--

Look at all that copper checkering.

You will not find that on a water moccasin.

And not that you'd ever necessarily see

the belly of the snake, but I just think that that's

really, really cool-looking.

This is actually the first time I have caught

this species of snake, and it is just

so incredibly calm right now.

I cannot believe how comfortable this snake has gotten with us,

and we've only been handling it for a few minutes.

But it did musk on me.

There you go.

See that white stuff on my hand right there?

Ew.

Eugh, yeah.

It stinks.

That is another defense mechanism.

Poop on a potential predator, if it's trying to eat me.

All right, but I'm not going to eat you.

Don't worry, we could just hang out and be friends.

Wow, this snake is so cool.

Well, I think at this juncture, we should

bring out the water moccasin.

I'm going to hand this snake off to Mario.

He's going to bring in the moccasin.

This can be a little bit more dangerous.

Hopefully we'll get that snake to just calm down

on the ground, and we'll get the cameras up close for it

so we can show you the distinct field markings of that snake.

All right, you ready?

Yep

All right, now we're going to bring in the water moccasin.

Just keep your wits about you, because this is going

to be slightly more dangerous.

OK, let me bring him over here.

Come here, come here, come here.

Slightly is an understatement.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" Yeah.

I got it, I got it, I got it. Sling it in.

Calm down.

Hold on, I'm going to get her to stop.

Tsh, tsh.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" There we go.

So, Coyote, the water snake you just held had

anti-coagulant in its saliva.

This snake has venom.

What would this snake do to you?

This snake would--

depending how your body reacted, it could potentially kill you.

There are not many reported deaths

from water moccasin bites.

However, that venom is incredibly toxic,

and it will break down red blood cells.

You could lose a finger, you could lose your hand.

Let's just put it this way.

If I'm tagged by the snake, we are leaving the scene

and we are heading to the hospital.

So I need to be extra careful right now.

Mark, we've got you a couple feet past the snake.

We've got Mario just off camera here,

making sure if the snake makes a move,

he can keep it away from you, Mark.

But other than that, if we just stay calm and collected,

just like this in front of the snake, we should be just fine.

You see, the snake's not trying to flee.

It's just keeping itself low to the ground, its body spread.

Look how wide and girthy that snake is.

Now these snakes, like the banded water snakes,

are aquatic.

However, they do not dive down underwater to hunt.

You will see them occasionally moving from pocket of water

to pocket of water, but they usually

are hunting on the embankment.

These snakes do not have rattles, like rattlesnakes,

and they rely on their camouflage to keep them hidden.

A lot of times, people will be walking down the trail.

You accidentally step on the snake,

and that's how you were bitten.

This snake has no interest in chasing or hurting humans.

If you just admire this animal from a safe distance,

you're going to be just fine.

OK, so the most important part of this episode

is that we want to show you a comparison of this snake

next to the broad-banded water snake.

Now, to do that, I'm going to have to get the water moccasin

under control, which means I'm going to use

my snake hook to gently pin it's head,

and then pick the snake up.

Mario is going to bring in the broad-banded water snake.

We're going to put them side by side and show you

the distinct field marks so that you can properly

identify these snakes if you ever

come across them in the wild.

Let me get in for the shot.

I am gently going to get position of her head,

just like this.

There we go.

I want my fingers just behind the head like that.

This is the most dangerous thing you

could do with a venomous snake. - Yeah.

Never ever, ever do what you see me doing here.

I get full control of the body.

There we go.

Yeah, all right, you'll notice my hand is shaking.

Now never ever, ever try to pick up a venomous

snake like you just saw me do.

And the only reason that I headed this snake

is so that we can get both of these right next to each other.

I've got a gentle yet firm grip on the back of her head,

just behind the venom glands, and full control of the body.

You won't see me moving too much more for this scene.

I just got to kind of collect my nerves, stay calm.

Mario, go ahead and bring in the broad-banded water snake.

There we go.

Cool, look at that.

Little nervous?

Little bit.

Kind of have a dangerous snake here in my hand.

She's calmed down a bit.

You see your tongue flicking out now, so that's good.

She's not trying to expose her fangs.

Now, the water moccasin, because it is a pit viper

and it has these two massive venom glands,

has a very triangular-shaped head.

You pan over to the broad-banded water snake,

and its head is actually very narrow.

However, when these broad-banded water snakes are threatened,

they will flatten their heads and puff them up,

forming them into a triangle.

Which, oftentimes, causes people to misidentify

them for water moccasins.

It's good news for the snake if it drives off a predator,

but it's bad news if that predator is a human.

And then, unfortunately, that snake

usually ends up being killed.

Um, sorry, a little nervous.

Let's look on the heads as well, at the snake's eyes.

So I'm going to just slightly turn--

I'll move.

You just stay there.

You'll notice that the water moccasin has

a vertical pupil, while the banded water

snake has a circular pupil.

I don't imagine anybody out there watching

is ever going to get face-to-face with either

of these snake species.

But if you happen upon one and you see a vertical pupil,

you know it's a moccasin, and you know that it's venomous.

Now the last difference on the face of these snakes

is the fact that the water moccasin is a pit viper.

Now right up front there you'll see a nostril,

and just behind that you see another hole

in between the nostril and the eye.

That is the heat-sensing pit, which allows these snakes

to detect not only their prey, but potential predators

in the environment.

Now, when you look at the broad-banded water snake,

you'll notice that it does not have

pits, just eyes and nostrils.

When you look at these two snakes overhead,

you can see how similar they are in coloration.

Now the broad-banded water snake has more distinct banding,

but if you were to just see these snakes at a quick glance,

they are pretty similar-looking.

But you'll notice that the water moccasin has

a much girthier, flattened body as compared

to the banded water snake.

Look at that difference, right there.

But their scales look similar.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE" PETERSON: They do, don't they?

And both species have rough, killed scales

which allows them to quickly be able to move

through this rugged environment.

Should we see the bellies?

I know that's another big difference.

Wow, look at that.

Now, you're never likely to see the belly of these two

snakes next to each other.

But, as you can see, the banded water snake

is beautiful and checkered, and the water moccasin is just kind

of plain and cream-colored.

Not that that makes the snake any less special.

I smell something, Coyote.

You do.

I smell that same thing.

Both of these snakes right now are musking, which

is a final defense tactic in the event

that something tries to eat them.

That musk is coming out of their bottom ends.

And if you're a predator and you get that in your mouth,

it tastes really bad.

So, as you can tell, these snakes

have many different defenses against potential predators.

For everyone out there watching, we

want you to know that these two snakes

are very difficult to distinguish from one another.

And if you see a snake out there in the wild,

definitely treat it as if it's venomous.

If it's a moccasin and you take a bite,

you're going to be in a lot of trouble.

So it's best to just always admire

these animals from a safe distance I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

All right, are you ready to let them go?

Let's do it.

Back into the wild with these snakes.

NATHANIEL "COYOTE"

Working with snakes is one of the most

dangerous aspects of this job.

And the reason I do it is so that we

can learn about these incredible animals

and hopefully walk away with a newfound respect for even

the ones that we are afraid of.