Original subtitles

Woo!

It's been a while since I've been at college.

Today we're at University of Arizona,

and we're going to be getting up close with some nematodes.

But first we need to find Dr. Stock in room 720.

Follow me, guys.

So just walk into the first open lab you

see is kind of the play here.

Yeah, we're definitely in the right spot.

You've got biology and worms up there on the tack board.

Ah!

There it is, room 720.

Oh, boy.

What's up, guys?

Who let this guy in?

I was gonna say, who let Mario in?

Guys, I am a trained scientist.

All right, here.

Let's see what you've been doing.

What have you been up to?

Who let you in here without any permission?

What have you been up to in here?

You weren't touching anything, were you?

Well, no, don't touch that!

Oh, sorry.

I'm conducting a few experiments of my own.

Yeah.

We're looking for Dr. Stock.

Have you seen her?

I don't know, maybe around the corner there.

Oh, Dr. Stock?

Paging, Dr. Stock.

Coyote's here.

Oh, there's

- There you are! - Yeah, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you, too.

You look very official with the lab coat and some,

I'm assuming, important papers of some sort.

Oh, just looking at the things that I need to pay for.

Ah.

The bills for lab equipment and supplies.

Kind of important, I guess.

So as I understand it, we're going to be getting

up close with nematodes today.

That's right.

And does people know what nematodes are?

Yeah, they're like a little amphibian.

They've got bumpy little warts, really cute little buggy eyes,

right?

And [vocalize] got that tongue. - Mm-mm.

Mm-mm. Mm-mm.

What? No toads?

Nematodes are roundworms.

Ooh. Ugh!

Roundworms?

Like a parasite?

Like a parasite.

I was--

I signed up for toads.

I heard toads, and I was like, I love toads.

He told me. He told me toads.

Yeah, but don't-- have no fear because the ones that you

are going to see in my lab are actually

not that gross looking.

I actually find them very cute--

Really?

- and interesting.

I'll be the judge of that.

Arm in there.

Oh, now I feel official.

How do I look, guys?

You actually look more

intelligent, believe it or not.

Yes.

I have intelligent things to say.

It's a very astute day for Coyote Peterson

because we're going to be learning

about nematodes, which are not amphibians at all,

but are actually a parasite.

I thought they were just cute little amphibians.

OK.

Let's get into this.

Yeah, let me [inaudible].

Well, what are we doing today?

Well, you are going to get that actually

bugs get sick too.

And one of the diseases that bugs--

Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,

did you say bugs get sick too?

As in insects can get sick?

Yes.

So that's my profession.

I am a bug doctor.

Well, this is pretty cool.

Now, this is one of the first episodes

we've ever filmed in a situation like this,

where we're in a lab.

We're working with microscopes.

And I see you've got all these little test

beakers and pipettes out here.

So let's kind of follow what it is that you do.

And we're going to learn something cool today.

Yeah, turn over to Dr. Stock.

Why don't you tell us about what we're looking at it here.

Well, yeah, so as I mentioned before,

I work with insect diseases with nematodes.

And the nematodes that I study are actually

very tiny little creatures.

So this flask that has water, and if you

can see what is the flakes that are shaking inside,

those are the nematodes.

Those are nematodes?

Yes, those are insect, parasitic nematodes.

I see they kind of do look like little squiggly lines.

To me, this just looks like bad tap water.

Yeah.

And-- yeah, yeah.

And you shouldn't drink it actually.

Oh I was going to say, can I taste it?

- Well-- - Bad idea?

I wouldn't recommend that.

OK.

Just in case.

If the doctor says don't drink it--

- Yeah. - don't drink it.

- just in case.

I can show you actually other kinds of nematodes.

Oh, there's different kinds of nematodes?

Yeah. Oh.

Wow.

So that-- that's a nematode.

Yeah.

And you know where it came from?

A poop?

Well, it came from a lake in Wisconsin.

And actually that's a nematode that

was parasitizing an immature stages of a dragonfly.

Wow, that came out of a dragonfly?

Mm-hmm.

Now, how did you extract it from the dragonfly?

It came out on its own.

That's crazy looking.

Can you actually even see that on your camera?

Oh, yeah.

So that's nothing for us as humans to be afraid of.

But if you are a dragonfly larva,

that's like your worst nightmare.

- Oh, that's bad news. - OK.

- Yes, yes. - All right.

Well, hey, I noticed there's some plants down here.

Are you working with some plant research?

Yes.

Yes.

Well, actually it's all connected.

So we are studying nematodes that

parasitize insects that are pests to important crops

that we eat.

Oh

It's, is that a big caterpillar?

Yeah, it's a big caterpillar.

Wow!

I'm gonna get it out for you.

Oh, yeah, it is a big caterpillar.

Yeah. That's beautiful!

Look at that!

What kind of caterpillar is that?

Well, this--

It doesn't bite, does it?

No, it's a tobacco hornworm.

So this is a pest insect, despite the fact

that it's really beautiful.

Yeah, they're very voracious.

They could feed on this plant.

If we-- if I put that caterpillar on this plant,

tomorrow morning I have no leaves.

Really?

Mm-hmm.

Got it. Yep.

That's good.

So where does everything start, right, in my research?

In a tummy?

No, in the soil.

Oh, in the soil.

Doesn't all life come from the belly of something?

Actually, I have to say that thanks to these worms

I travel around the world.

And I've been all over the world sampling--

What? For worms?

- sampling for these nematodes.

Whoa, those worms are gross looking!

Yeah, well--

What-- are those maggots?

No, actually, this is our guinea pig.

And also I use them as bait to get the nematodes

that are living in the soil.

That's nematode bait?

Yeah.

So when I go to the field and collect dirt samples,

I bring them to the lab.

Then I put them in containers like this.

I put all these waxworms, which actually are a pest problem

in beehives-- because if they get into the beehives,

they would feed on all the wax in the comb of the hive,

and it will destroy the comb.

So that's where they get the name waxworm.

Yeah, yeah.

Makes sense.

So what I do, I leave this dirt sitting in another room

that I have in my lab for a week.

And after that, the magic happens.

So what I get is all these infected caterpillars.

Those are dead? Yeah.

What happened?

that stinks!

Oh, I smell it.

It just hit me. Keep it back.

I got a zoom lens.

Yeah, well--

Oh, my gosh, that is putrid.

I almost threw up my burrito into your little nematode

waxworm pile there.

But in spite of that smell, actually, there's

no putrefaction here because actually

the nematodes that we study have inside their tummies bacteria.

And this is the bacteria that comes out from the nematodes.

So is that some valuable research

right there in that container?

Yes, because actually the nematodes what they do,

they [inaudible] the bacteria who are actually

the true insect killers.

So the bacteria is the one that kills the insects.

And then what--

And the bacteria is coming from the nematode?

- Yes. - OK.

Yes.

So the nematode is the distributor of the bacteria

that ends up in the waxworm.

Exactly.

I'm learning here.

Yeah.

And I hope you can capture this with the camera.

So you have your dead insects there.

Let me plug my nose get down there real close.

Oh, yeah, I see something.

Oh, my gosh.

That's like a deflated waxworm.

Those are the worms coming out.

Why don't we take a look under a microscope?

Because I think everybody would really like

to see these worms in action.

Oh, yeah, so we can put these under

the microscope and get an up-close

look at these little wigglers.

Yeah.

And we can go to my other lab where we have the microscopes.

We're gonna leave the dirty lab.

Yeah, the microscope.

Dr. Stock, I'm lightheaded here, all those funky smells.

Woo!

Well, I have the worms

here actually ready for you.

So what's going to happen is I'm

going to look inside these little eye sockets.

And the other camera's going to point at the screen

so you guys can see what it is that I am seeing.

Are you ready?

Yeah.

Here we go.

Mario, you got that shot?

Yep.

Get that shot on the screen there, Mario.

All right.

Ooh, boy.

That is one squiggly worm party.

Are you serious?

So this is what's going on inside of those waxworms?

Yeah, exactly.

And how many of these

are inside a waxworm at any given time?

Hundreds of thousands.

Hundreds of thousands?

Hundreds of thousands?

Hundreds of thousands.

What? Wow.

That is really cool. OK.

So what I want to do now is I'm going to crouch down here.

We're going to look at this actually on the screen

so that I can talk to you guys while we're looking at this.

Now, are we just seeing-- we're just seeing

the silhouettes of them, right?

Yeah, actually, these are the ones that are

coming out from the insects.

And we call them infective juveniles.

OK.

So these are opportunistic predators looking for a host

that they can then infect.

They'll grow inside.

And then how do they reproduce?

Do they reproduce inside of the waxworms?

So yes, they will reproduce in the waxworm or any other insect

that they think is suitable for them.

But actually the nematodes go into the insect blood.

And that sends a signal to the nematodes

to start opening their mouth or anuses,

and the bacteria start coming down.

And so the bacteria are either defecated or regurgitated.

And the bacteria throw toxins that kill the insect,

and the insect dies.

Now, when the insect dies, it's actually the most important

part because now there's all that food

supply for the nematodes to start growing and multiplying.

Wow.

Well, that's pretty cool.

I wish I had a microscope like this.

So what else can we take a look at?

Do you have any other worm species or parasites?

Yeah, I can show you some human parasites

that I use for my class.

Ooh!

Human parasites!

Let's check that out. All right.

You lead the way.

All right.

Back in the dirty lab, and, OK, somebody already

placed them on the table.

I'm guessing those are the human parasites.

Whatever gave it away?

Yeah, well, I wasn't actually even looking at that.

I was just looking at that.

This is what I always imagined would crawl out of my mouth

if I had a tapeworm and I put the bowl of milk

in front of me.

Are those tapeworms?

No, actually, these are nematodes.

Those are also nematodes?

Yes.

Giant super-sized ones.

Yeah, actually it's called Ascaris lumbricoides.

Oh, that's complex for something that's just straight

up can be labeled disgusting, in my opinion.

But you love these things, don't you?

Oh, I do. I love--

This is fascinating.

I love parasites!

How would you know as a human if you had

one of these inside of your--

You probably would have many of them in your stomach.

No, no, no, Dr. Stock, there's no way that

I have any of these inside me.

Yeah, and you would look almost,

like, pregnant, with a big swollen belly.

I work on my physique a little bit.

Yeah.

Do you think that I might have some of those inside of me,

though? - Oh, no, I don't think so.

No. Woo!

In the clear.

So Dr. Stock, there is a rhyme and reason behind all

of the science and all the work you're

doing with these incredibly fascinating nematodes.

Can you sum that up for us real quick?

Yeah.

So actually, as I mentioned in the very beginning,

we are trying to develop alternatives

to pest management.

So how does a nematode, then, help you

control the pest population?

Well, nematodes actually are important insect parasites.

If they are mass produced and formulated,

they can be used to our advantage.

OK.

So basically then the nematodes can help control populations

of pest insects, like these caterpillars that are just

decimating crops, and in a sense,

becoming the pest control of the future.

Exactly.

And actually, even further, they are safe to the environment

and to us. - That is so cool.

Well, this is definitely one of the most

complex and scientific episodes I think we have ever filmed.

I learned so much today about nematodes.

Dr. Stock, thank you so much for having us into the lab.

My pleasure.

It's been wonderful.

That was crazy.

I'm-- Hold on.

What?

We're not done yet.

What do you mean we're not done?

I was gonna give an outro.

You didn't have your snack.

And you know, we titled this video "Eating a Parasite."

Oh, gosh, I was kind of hoping you

guys would forget about that one.

I don't think you can leave this lab--

No, no, but I can say-- wait, wait, a minute,

you can leave.

I have a present for you.

What's the present?

The waxworm.

Oh, which is a parasite, so.

Well, a parasite host.

Hey, if it's between eating

one of these or a waxworm--

I don't know, man--

I think I go for the waxworm.

Give me the waxworm.

All right.

I would say so.

Actually every-- every lab member, to become a lab member

needs to have one waxworm.

So to earn my white coat, I must eat--

- one of these waxworms.

Whoa.

A great source of protein.

And I'm just going

to dump this whole thing of waxworms in my mouth

and chew it up?

Oh, no, I can pick one for you.

Oh, just one?

That's--

Just one lot snacky.

That's all I ask, only one caterpillar.

Oh, you had to pick the big squisher.

You can become the official lab member.

Oh, man.

So instead of chopsticks, with this forceps.

Now, how do I know

there's no nematodes in there?

I can guarantee that.

I'm trusting you here.

Wait, I don't know, guys.

I might puke on this.

You know it happens.

Ugh.

Will this help?

Oh.

Yeah, that'll-- that'll do it.

That's 2,000 milliliters.

It's probably what I got in me right now.

All right.

I'm going to hand this little one back to you.

I can give you this.

Oh, Dr. Stock can feed you.

Yeah, yeah, I can help.

baby bird.

Just to-- just to make sure.

Can you make a little squawking

sound like you're hungry?

OK.

Peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep.

Oh!

Ugh!

What's it taste like?

Oh, like a bad bean.

[laughs] A bad bean?

Bleh!

Bleh!

Oh.

I'm not holding it.

I'll give you some help.

There you you go.

I swallowed it.

Did it?

I swallowed it.

You did.

I swallowed it, and I didn't puke.

Oh, my gosh!

You guys want to try?

You want to join the club?

Come on, man.

This might-- this might give me the pukes.

I don't think so.

We have the bucket.

If it didn't make me puke, it's not gonna make you puke.

This is called when the tables have turned.

Yeah. Well, look at me.

I'm doing just fine.

I ate the big one, too-- big squisher.

Yeah, and he's all energized.

Yeah, actually, I feel really good about myself.

Hold your bucket.

This is the first time I've never

puked from eating something.

I've puked from eating fruit! I'm impressed.

These are worms!

That's definitely the grossest

I've ever seen you eat.

That's pretty impressive.

That one's not big enough.

Get them that big one in the corner.

Ooh, yeah!

What did I do to this guy?

That one is big enough?

That's chunky Charlie.

Yeah. All right.

Now, make those bird noises, Mark.

Yeah, come on, Mark.

Tweet, tweet.

Make those bird noises.

Come on, little baby bird.

Meep. Louder.

Like a robin. I can't hear you.

No, no, no, no, no, chew it.

I had to swallow it real quick.

Did you even chew it?

It made my eyes water. I-- it popped.

It went

The popping is the worst part.

And you expect there to be a real pungent taste,

but there isn't.

It actually tastes like a bean.

OK.

Give me my lab coat.

That's the first time I've ever eaten a bug.

Oh, man, that was--

I wish I could say

that no bugs were injured in the making of this video, but--

I earned this one.

Right now it is breakfast time.

Oh, no, there's nothing to eat in my ear.

And what we're going to do this morning

is go out and search for Mr. Bean's favorite breakfast.

Can you guys guess what this tamandua eats?

If not, stick around because we're about to show you.

Mr. Bean, you ready to go find our breakfast?

I think he's ready. Come on.

Let's go.

They say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

And for the animals at Kids Saving the Rainforest,

that is the absolute truth.

This wildlife sanctuary is a temporary home

to many animal species, from sloths and monkeys

to parrots and fawns.

And on this sunny morning, I will

be taking one of the resident tamanduas

out on a stroll to see if we can find

something delicious to eat.

This is a real easy morning for him.

Normally, he would be crawling around out here on the ground

and searching in the trees.

But this morning he has a bit of a chariot, a coyote chariot.

Let me put you up on top of my head.

There you go.

That's a good spot for you-- for you to hang out.

All right.

Now let's head down the trail and see

if we can find some breakfast.

Let's see, do you eat leaves?

Pick one of these.

This looks delicious, actually.

Look at the color of that.

How about that?

Does that-- does that look like something

you might want to eat?

No?

No leaves.

That's right.

Tamanduas do not eat leaves.

That looks delicious.

Do you want to try that?

Oh, sniffing it.

Sniffing it.

Nope, that's my nose.

Oh, no, you know what? You know what?

Can I eat it? I'll eat it.

Yeah, show him how it's done.

Can you hear that?

His tummy is rumbling.

I think we better get him towards exactly

what it is that he does love to eat,

which are termites and ants.

And you know what I see right over here

on the corner of this tree out of the corner of my eye?

A termite mound.

Come on.

Let's check this out.

Look at this.

Mr. Bean, what is that?

Looks like a giant mound of chocolate.

You think there's anything in there they might want to eat?

We put him up in the tree.

And sure enough, now he is searching for the termites

on his own, which is exactly what

we want to see with this animal that's being rehabilitated.

Oh, look at that tongue.

Whoa!

My gosh, that tongue is long.

Now, don't you go too high.

Careful up there.

I might have to climb up the tree with him.

Let's go back this way. Come here.

Oh, look at that prehensile tail in action right there.

You see that?

He can curl his tail around a tree branch

and stay completely in one spot and hold up his body.

All right.

Let's go this way.

There you go.

Go down that way towards the termite mound.

These mammals are actually pretty

picky when it comes to the type of insects they will consume.

I guess we picked the wrong termite nest

because Mr. Bean had no interest in having

these tiny bugs for breakfast.

So it was on to the next spot.

OK.

So we cut a piece of this dead tree

off that actually has a different kind

of termite in it.

And Mr. Bean is having a feast.

Look at that.

There you go.

Oh, OK.

Are there any ants in there?

And watch how he uses those massive front claws to break

apart these pieces of wood.

Now, the wood is decomposing.

But he will peel off the bark and dig in there, exposing

the termites, and then use that long sticky tongue

to lap them up.

Now, once they break open a termite nest,

then the termites spill out everywhere.

And they can use that tongue to go blab, blab, blab,

blabablop, and lap them all up.

Wait, what's that sound again?

Blab, blab, blab, blap blabalop.

I can't do that.

Look how long my tongue is.

Pretty long.

I can actually touch my nose with my tongue.

Check this out.

You see that?

Most people can't.

Oh, you can actually do that.

I can.

I can pick my nose with my tongue.

Watch.

Watch.

Mm-hmm.

[laughing] What?

I have a very long tongue, not quite as long as the tongue

of a tamandua, though.

This creature, when fully grown, the tongue

can be as long as 16 inches.

That is over a foot.

Can you imagine having a foot-long tongue?

That would be pretty wild.

Where are you going?

I thought we were going to eat these termites.

Come here, little buddy.

Come here.

Now, he does have termites crawling all over his fur.

And look at this.

Check out the coat of this creature.

Go ahead reach your hand out there and tell me

what Mr. Bean feels like.

Whoa.

Really coarse, right?

Really coarse, like Brillo.

He is. He's like a Brillo pad.

Now, this really dense fur protects him

against termites and ants, both the bite and the sting.

The ants can crawl all over him, and he will not be injured.

I wonder if he could even go up against a bullet ant.

You know I went up against a bullet ant.

That'd be a pretty big meal for you.

Oh, wow. Looks like--

Oh, there's the tongue. Look at the tongue!

Oh, he stuck his tongue all the way out.

That was crazy!

I saw that.

Can you do that again?

Stick your tongue out again.

That looked like more than six inches.

Yeah, that was-- that was a lot longer than

I thought it was going to be.

That was probably about seven inches.

How big will Mr. Bean grow to?

Oh, they can be about 35 pounds in weight.

Whoa. really?

And-- yeah, you know, a lot of the length

in the body is the tail.

This tail will end up being about 2 and 1/2 to 3 feet

in length And then, of course, this big massive body.

And they turn very goldish in coloration.

You can see that he's actually starting

to get some dark fur here.

And that is called being vested.

That's what they say.

It's like a vest that is growing on the back of the animal.

So all this white fur will turn gold.

And this fur that's dark right now will become black.

Is that it?

Are you all done?

Breakfast is over.

I think Mr. Bean has had his fill of termites and ants.

But how much fun was this, spending our morning having

breakfast with a baby tamandua?

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see on the next adventure.

Wait a minute.

What's that?

You think I should try some termites?

I don't know, guys.

Should I try the termites? I don't know.

I heard they're pretty good actually.

I am pretty hungry.

OK.

I'll try it.

Mr. Bean, you've convinced me.

Let's go see if I can eat some termites.

Let's see.

You go first.

There we go.

Oh, yeah, all right. I see.

I saw. All right.

Mr. Bean, I'm going for it.

Are you ready?

You're really going to do this?

Mr. Bean, you're not even watching.

OK. Here I go ready.

1, 2--

Keep going. - Mm!

You need to get a mouthful.

Eh!

Oh, let me see. Let me see.

Let me see.

Ooh, you really did it!

Mr Bean! Hold on.

Hold still.

They're all over your beard.

Mr. Bean, I did it!

I did it!

What's it taste like?

Ugh.

Crunchy.

Mm.

Rotten.

Walnuts.

Oh.

Oh, my gosh, he actually did it.

Oh!

Ugh, I think I need to wash my mouth out.