Original subtitles

OK, Coyote, time to face your fears.

OK, here we go.

I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to be bitten

by the toe biter on my big toe.

One.

two,

I got it.

It's a big turtle.

Every time I leave from a kayak

and find myself submerged beneath the swampy surface,

I am absolutely terrified.

Not because I'm afraid of the giant reptilian

predator that I've likely grabbed a hold of.

No, no, snapping turtles don't scare me at all.

What scares me is the alien looking creature

that may be hiding the tingles of pond plants

that infamously known as the toe biter.

You guys know what that is, right?

That's my old arch nemesis the toe biter.

Scientifically,

they are known as the giant water bug,

a nightmarish creature that we have briefly

featured in the past and one of the animals

that I have continuously expressed an honest fear of.

Nobody in their right mind would do this.

I'd get bitten by an alligator any day

as compared to be stung by this thing.

With their alien like appearance,

grappling hook like arms, and massive rostrum that

can inflict an incredibly painful bite,

trust me when I say this is not something

you want to bump into when mucking around in the swamps.

Yet, leave it up to the Coyote Pack

to request over and over again that I show the world just

how painful that bite really is and in turn,

how to treat that bite if you are ever

so unfortunate to take one.

These water dwelling insects can be found worldwide,

and it's just my luck, they happen to be

very common in Costa Rica.

So the crew and I headed out into the darkness of night,

when they were actively hunting, to see if we could find one,

a big one that, sure enough, would certainly

give me a bite to remember.

All right, I am looking for a giant water bug, also

known as a toe biter, and I'm pretty sure I saw one right

on the other side of that log.

Right on the other side of those plants there.

What I'm going to try to do is actually go out on this log.

You see this fallen log?

That should get me right in the perfect position.

I don't want to disturb the environment,

I'm going to use this net to try to scoop it up.

Got it.

Wow, it's big.

Hold on, I'm coming right towards you.

Hold on, I'm losing my balance.

There it is.

Let's get it on the net.

Get in there, get in there, get in there.

That is a monster water bug.

Look at the size of that thing, my goodness.

Hold on, let me get it out of the net.

You guys got lights?

Lights?

Oh, look at that creature, an alien from another planet.

My hand is shaking.

That's a giant water bug, also known as the toe biter.

I'm not doing the scene in the dark, guys.

We're waiting until tomorrow morning,

and yes, I'm going to let my big toe be bitten by the toe biter.

Oh, look at that.

My goodness, it's a beast.

They can fly, they can swim, and their bite is one of the most

painful in the insect kingdom.

Not a sting, guys, it is a bite.

All right, I'm putting in the container.

You ready?

Just keep the lid on it.

Trust me, you don't want this one getting into your boot.

Warning, the bite from a giant water bug

is nonlethal.

However, it is excruciatingly painful.

Never attempt to recreate the following scene.

There it is, the little shop of horrors itself,

the giant water bug, also known as a toe biter.

Now, let me tell you guys

a little story about when Coyote Peterson was eight years old.

I was out in the swamp searching for snapping turtles, wearing

nothing other than shorts and a t-shirt,

wading through, hoping to come across a giant reptile

when all of a sudden I felt a piercing pain in my thigh.

I immediately screamed, reached my hand in my shorts,

and what do I pull out, a giant water bug.

I had never seen one of these creatures before.

I immediately started crying, not only from the pain,

but because I was absolutely terrified

at the sight of this thing.

I hobbled myself back to shore, got myself home,

told my mom What happened, and we

looked it up in a field guide.

She called the doctor, and lo and behold,

they assured me I would be OK.

It is not going to kill you.

All I needed to do was put ice on the bite

and relax for about an hour and a half,

and finally, the pain ended up going away.

And ever since that day, this is the one insect

that I've truly been afraid of.

Now, before we get to the bite, let's take

a look at this insects anatomy.

Now, this is a true bug.

It may look like a beetle or cockroach,

but it is, in fact, its own variety.

There are around 60 species of water bugs worldwide.

In the United States, there are 20.

Now, this one here, the giant water bug,

is very common here in Central and South America,

and this is about maximum size.

The largest they get is around four inches in length,

and I would say that one is about 3 1/2 inches,

an absolute monster.

Now, it's interesting, you can see it kind of skittering

around inside the container here as soon as I move it,

but you see that position that it's

putting itself in where it's sticking

its rear up through the water.

Look at that little snorkel looking device there.

That is actually how it's breathing.

They breathe from there back ends.

It breathes out its butt.

Yeah, it's like a little butt snorkel, right?

So it's keeping itself positioned like that,

and this is also the same position in which they hunt.

I'll tell you what's most intimidating

about this creature are those front arms.

Let me turn it just a little bit like that.

Now, like all insects, they have six legs,

and these front two are modified with those hooks on the front.

They use those to latch onto and grapple in their food.

Am I seeing the snorkel go in and out?

Yeah, the snorkel does, it goes in and out.

You can see it's kind of thrust its abdomen

up into the air there.

That's allowing it to breathe so it can just float,

like a dead leaf, just like that all day long, waiting for,

let's say, any tadpoles need to come to the surface

to breed, frogs and come to the surface.

A fish could just swim by, and if it swims right up

towards that face, what they will do

is reach out with those forearms,

and they have two hooks right on the end.

They'll grapple on and pull it towards their face.

Right on the face there, is what's called a rostrum, which

is like a little hooked beak.

Now, it is inside of a sheath.

So as soon as they catch something,

it comes out of that sheath, and it injects

an incredibly potent saliva.

Now, the enzymes in that saliva will

actually paralyze the victim, and it is stuck in place.

So imagine that your tadpole, and then as that saliva works

its way into the system, it actually breaks

apart the victim's insides.

And then they drink it up just like a milkshake.

How horrific is that?

That what it's going to do to your to?

Well, it's not going to do that to my toe

because I'm not going to let it hold on that long,

but what it is going to do is latch on and then

whap me with that rostrum.

And just a little bit of that saliva getting into my system

is going to be unbelievably painful.

This will probably be worse than any of the insect

stings I've taken.

Remember, guys this is not a sting,

this is a bite, very different.

So is it venom?

It's not technically venom,

but it works like venom in that the enzymes and peptides

in the saliva are modified and break

down the insides of the victim.

And you may be asking yourself well, something like this,

does it have any predators?

Well, certainly, a bird could eat it,

a large snapping turtle could eat it,

but they are incredibly camouflaged.

Let me turn it like this.

Take a look at its back there, it looks just like a leaf.

Here, I will just pick this leaf up off the ground,

hold that next to the container.

Now, if you were mucking around in a little pond

like we have here behind us, where we caught it,

and you just saw it sitting there, just like that,

completely still floating, you would have no idea that that

was an insect and not a leaf.

Pretty incredible, huh?

Another name for this insect is the electric light bug.

That's because, in places, especially like Florida, where

you have this large halogen lamps,

they will be drawn in by the hundreds.

And oftentimes, people just think

that they're flying roaches.

If you go near one and you pick it up,

you stand a chance of being bitten.

So if you see a bunch of bugs fluttering around a light

and they're about the size of a leaf,

just admire them from a safe distance,

guys, because it's a bite that you're never going to forget.

So to be clear, not just in the water,

these things fly.

Yes, not just terrorists beneath the surface

but also terrorists in the air.

Yeah, didn't we find one in the parking lot

once in Florida? We did.

Yeah, it was actually inside of my boot, believe it or not.

Yeah, I think I actually took a photo of it

and posted it on Instagram.

Yeah, now, what's interesting is that this is a male.

You know how I know that?

The males carry eggs on their backs,

and I can see that this one has a few eggs

still hanging on to it.

This is one of those rare species

that you have the male taking care of the young,

making sure that they are protected

until they can form into larva and then swim off on their own.

They're quite strong, right?

They're like little Popeye arms.

They are super strong.

Actually, you want me to take it out of the little container

here so you guys get some better shots.

I'm going to gently reach right down in there and pick it up.

You ready?

Delicate little maneuver here.

I'm gonna sit it down the table

and pick it up right from its back.

You see how they scurry like that?

It's unbelievably powerful.

Let me turn it like that for you.

Look at the underside.

Actually, you know what, let me grab

that leaf again because now we can see it

better it's out of the water.

Oh, it's so strong.

So look at the underside as compared to a leaf.

Underside of the leaf, underside of the water bug,

almost identical, right?

Really hard to spot in the water.

Yeah.

Look at the eyes.

Let me tilt it forward a little bit.

They actually have really good eyesight.

Those eyes reflect red if you shine

a flashlight into the water.

That's how you can identify one of these insects.

It's trying to get me, its so angry right now.

You can see on the back here, it has

a joint that allows it to move its head forward and backward.

That's how they can drive that rostrum into their prey.

You know, they do say there's a fine line

between bravery and stupidity.

Where does this fall?

This falls into the complete realm of insanity,

I would say.

I still remember the day that I was bitten by one.

I mean, it's incredibly painful.

I mean, you guys are going to see me in unbelievable agony

here relatively soon.

I've climbed the insect sting pain index,

and when it comes to facing my fears of the two creepiest

crawlies in the bug world, bugs as a generalization,

the giant water bug and the giant desert centipede

are the two things that just absolutely make my skin crawl.

So in a way, this is not only

going to be educational and enlightening for all of us

walking, but for yourself, this is

a way to move past any of those fears

left over from your childhood.

Yeah, this is for me a true moment of insane

bravery, insane bravery.

Oh boy.

Yeah.

Oh, my poor toe.

Give it one more look.

Oh man, this is craziness, absolute craziness.

OK.

Oh, man, I don't know how I can go through with this.

Just you could just, like,

accidentally drop it, and it could

scurry back off into the water.

Yeah, maybe I throw it up in the air, and it flies away.

GoPro rolling, water bug out of the container

without being bitten.

Whoa, it is so strong.

The grip?

Good grip, good grip.

Time to face your fears.

Are we ready?

We are ready.

OK, here we go.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

I'm about to be bitten by the toe biter on my big toe.

Here we go, one two, three.

Get it back in the container.

It's just as bad as I remember.

Oh, that is worse than a sting.

Goodness.

Dude, you are bleeding.

I hope you guys got that shot.

We got it.

Think you got it, too, man.

Your big toe is messed up.

This, guys, is worse than a sting.

Let me put my foot up here on the table.

Oh, sorry guys, I knocked the whole thing of water over,

it almost got away.

I got it, it's OK.

OK, look at my toe.

The rostrum went deep enough in, right at to tip

there, to draw blood, and I also was just squeezing it as much

as I could, trying to get the saliva out.

And there wasn't a lot of saliva that went in, but man,

did it just scream in pain immediately.

Oh, my foot is throbbing.

Oh, this is like, this is like dropping a brick on your toe.

I can't move my toe.

Wow.

Oh, gosh, that really hurts.

That's really bad.

It still hurt?

Oh, man, it walloped me.

I could feel that rostrum go, whoosh, into my toe

deep enough to draw blood.

Wow.

A lot thicker in gauge than like the stinger

of a bullet ant or a wasp.

Man.

Oh, hold on, let me walk around for a second.

Oh, man, my toe is throbbing.

Man, it still hurts, but not as much of the initial impact.

Do you think you got a full bite?

Yeah, I mean, it went it deep enough to pierce skin.

OK.

Sorry guys, I'm trying to stay composed here.

Oh, my foot is throbbing.

Man, my foot is starting to itch.

Now, that is definitely one way to face your fears,

and the giant water bug has terrified my dreams

since I was a little kid.

I spent a lot of time out in the swamps catching snapping

turtles, and every time I jump in, I wonder,

is this the next time I'm going to be bitten by the toe biter?

Man, just as bad as I just remember.

I'm Sweating bullets right now, my foot is throbbing.

I think we're going to need a perform

a little first date on my toe, I got

to make sure this cleaned out.

Obviously, I got mud and stuff all over myself at this point,

but if you guys come across a giant water bug in the wild,

don't try to pick it up.

The bite is bad.

If you're bitten on your toe, maybe the bite

is worse than anywhere else, I don't know.

It is extremely painful.

It is really bad.

It is worse than any sting, I think, that I've taken.

It's a different kind of pain?

It's a different kind of pain, yeah.

It's like, man, I don't think a lot

of the saliva got into my toe, but it is throbbing right now.

It just feels like I want to take a rubber band

and cut off the circulation to my toe so I stop feeling it.

OK, I'm gonna try to give you an outro here.

All right, guys, well, part one issue facing my fears,

being bitten by the giant water bug, also known as the toe

biter, has officially happened.

Next up, I'm going to be bitten by the giant desert centipede,

which is rumored to have the most painful bite

in the creepy crawler kingdom.

I don't know how I'm going to possibly go through with what

that is, but stay tuned, guys.

There is one bite left to come.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild, we'll see on the next adventure.

Oh, man, that is, this is really bad.

I got a first aid kit.

Since childhood, I

have feared the giant water bug and its infamous bite,

and I know you were wondering was it

truly as bad as I remembered?

Yes.

Yes, it was, and there's absolutely

no chance I will ever be intentionally

bitten by one of these alien looking insects ever again.

When it comes to bites and stings,

it's important to note that there is a very

big difference between the two.

And oftentimes, it is the bites, especially the venomous ones,

that hurt the worst.

In the case of the giant water bug,

not only is the puncture from the rostrum powerful enough

to draw blood, but the digestive enzymes

that also enter the wound, literally

feel as if they're melting your cells.

If you're an avid wetlands explorer

and want to avoid being bitten by a giant water bug,

simply remember this advice.

Always wear long durable pants when waiting in the water,

and whatever you do, make sure that a good pair of boots

protects your feet.

This way your toes will never experience the painful bite

of a toe biter.