Original subtitles

Every year, the bitter cold of winter

wraps its icy blanket across the Northeastern United States.

And with the arrival of snow comes a stark visual change

to the landscape that creates an eerie yet beautiful

world for adventure.

Today we are tracking through the frozen wilderness

of Prairie Oaks Metro Park.

This diverse ecosystem stretches nearly 500 acres,

and its trail systems create a maze wave for exploration

in its forests, meadows, lakes, and rivers.

Well, the wind is whipping and it is freezing cold,

and this is about to be our very first Brave Wilderness

wintertime adventure.

Mario, are you ready?

Well, I'm from Florida.

This is actually the coldest temperatures

I've ever experienced.

It's like 10 degrees right now.

Normally, we would be out looking

for reptiles, amphibians, insects, and arachnids,

but not in the snow.

And why is that?

Well, they can't survive right now,

so they're actually out hibernating and hunkering down,

as what I think I should be doing today.

Yeah, but there are lots of other creatures

that you can find in the snow and specifically

the signs of these creatures.

Now winter is a great time to go out and look for mammals,

and I actually have one of my very first field guides.

This is the Petersen First Guide to Mammals.

And I love this because it also shows you

the tracks, which is the primary thing that we're looking for.

Right.

What I'm really excited about, and I

think you're going to be excited for, is deer and antlers.

Yes.

So at this point, we might actually

find some shed antlers.

Right, because we just got through rutting season

and the bucks are beginning to drop those antlers.

I would consider an antler the Holy Grail of artifacts

out here in the wilderness.

Right.

Ready to head off into the cold?

Let's do it.

Here we go.

Check this out.

Our first tracks right here.

Pretty sure that we are looking at red fox tracks,

and the reason I'm pretty sure that they're fox tracks

is in some of them, you can see the little pads and also

the claws.

So they are too small to be coyote.

All right, Mario, actually here's a great one right here.

OK, so I'm on carnivorous dogs.

All right, yep, red fox.

Absolutely without question that is a fox.

You can see kind of the fur around the pad,

so it kind of gives it that shape.

Now we could follow these fox tracks, try to find the fox,

but they look as if they were probably from this morning

or maybe even yesterday.

But I am going to this down in the adventure guide--

All right.

Under species identification.

Our first animal of the day, red fox.

Moving on.

Those our rabbit tracks for sure.

You can definitely see the hind feet and the bigger

front feet plopping down.

And see the motion, one hop to the next hop to the next hop.

Hopped its way down and towards the river there.

The river is actually a perfect place to look for animal tracks

because the water is still flowing, which means

that there is fresh hydration there for those animals

to consume.

So I say we kind of head this direction

and wrap our way down to the edge of the river.

All right, following suit.

Wow, bird tracks in the snow.

Not something you usually think you're going to find.

You can see it looks like right here it lost his footing

and slipped a little bit, likely stepped on this thinner ice

and broke through.

Wow, bird tracks.

Cool.

Definitely a heron hunting down here by the river's edge.

Add the Great Blue Heron to the list of creatures

that are out hunting today.

I think we're going to have to go downriver a little bit

further.

The entire-- and that's how you slip

and go right into the water.

As soon as I was about to say the entire environment

is like glass, that's what happens.

And look at this.

Oh, good thing I got out of that before I got soaked.

Even at nearly two inches in thickness,

I went right through that.

Just the weight of my body took me through.

Close one, but I'm still dry, and we're still moving.

Watch your footing.

Mario, what are we looking at here?

It looks like a snake in the snow.

Yes, there's these little like serpentine tunnels, or at least

what I think is a tunnel in the snow.

Yep. - Oh, yeah.

Wow, look at that.

100%.

Oh, wow.

That is definitely a little mouse tunnel, isn't it?

Nice.

So basically the rodents are underneath the snow.

They've got these little highways

that they create to stay warm and stay hidden from predators.

Pretty cool.

You know what kind of tracks these are?

Coyote, 100% based on the size and the area that they are in.

Let me get out the field guide here so I can show you guys.

There is coyote, one of my cousins, and of course,

then that print, which is about the size of a dog.

These tracks are older.

I can tell that because there's already snow in them,

and I cannot see any distinct paw prints but without

question, too big to be a fox, so my guess would

be those are coyote tracks.

Very cool.

All right, we're going to add that to the list of animal

signs we have come across today in addition

to the red fox, the Eastern cottontail,

and the gray squirrel.

It just looks like we are on another planet right now.

It's so cool being out in the snow.

Wow.

Look at this.

Oh, you guys know what that is?

That is some busy work from a beaver.

I don't know what that beaver was thinking

gnawing down this tree.

There's no way it was going to drag it out into the lake,

but look at that.

The tree has been completely stripped of its bark

and you can see all of the tooth marks.

It looks like they just scissored

right through the bark, and were gnawing off parts of this.

But this is where you can see it took down that tree.

Look at how big that part of the tree is.

For a beaver, that's pretty impressive.

Check this out.

Look at all those bite marks.

Cool find.

Good spot, Mario.

All right, let's keep moving.

Woo.

That's some cold wind.

But check out this tree over here.

Trees are always a good spot to look

for things because deer will rub their antlers up against there.

You got birds that will perch.

All right, spread out.

You go over that way, Mario.

Here's a feather. Feather.

Feather. Feather.

Look at this.

Check that out.

Right there.

Look at that.

Wow, perfectly camouflaged in.

Let me set GoPro up here. Hold that.

Hold that. - Oh, man.

Set the GoPro up like this to get it, a secondary shot.

That's a nice find.

You know what kind of feather that is?

Some type of bird of prey.

Yeah, that's right.

That is the primary wing feather of a great horned owl.

Now great horned owl are actually pretty tough to tell

from red tail hawks.

It's really this distinct banding that does not cap off

at the top as totally black that gives it away

as being a great horned owl.

Now, great horned owls are really unique because they

are silent predators.

Right.

Why is that, Mario?

Well, actually if you were to look in a microscope at the end

of these filaments, you're going to see these little barbs that

channel the wind through and prevent any sound from being

created as they flap.

Sure.

So as a nocturnal predator, the great horned owl

would be out in this meadow likely hunting

for something like mice or even rabbits moving around at night.

And then being able to be silent,

they can swoop in and get their meal.

You look at a tree like this that's kind of isolated

amongst the rest of the forest, and it's the perfect spot

for a predator like that to stake out

and eventually catch something.

Pretty cool.

Yeah.

Now in most instances, I do collect and keep

some of these things, but considering

we are in one of our local Metro Parks today,

we are going to place the feather right back where we

found it and continue on toward the tree line

and see what else we can find. - Nice.

Great find. - Yeah.

So just on the other side of these trees here is the river.

This is a perfect place to look for mink.

I've actually seen mink here in this park

before along this section of the river.

Have you ever even seen a wild mink before?

I have but in much different conditions.

Warmer conditions, that's for sure.

Yeah, they are a pretty widespread mustelidae,

and if you guys didn't know, they

are related to badgers and wolverines,

of course, weasels and skunks.

We got to work with a mink in captivity

once at Steve Kroschel's Wildlife Sanctuary.

They're very bitey, so if you guys are wondering,

Coyote, if you see a mink, are you going to catch it?

Not a chance.

Why would we not try to catch a mink?

Well, they're probably gonna bite you.

Yeah, and very aggressive.

And what's interesting about mustelidaes

is they can actually move their bodies around

within their skin, and that means you grab it,

it's just going to spin and bite you.

But as we get up here, let's walk quietly.

Hopefully we'll find some tracks.

If we're lucky, we might even spot one.

Perfect time of day to see mink. - Nice.

Let's go.

Definitely want to always look for mink

on fallen tree branches.

Mink will always take the path of least resistance,

and that's where I always find mink tracks is usually,

as they would just be scurrying along the top of a fallen tree.

So keep your eyes peeled for that, Mario.

Let me know if you see any disturbances

in the snow on top of logs, and we'll be getting close.

There's tracks--

What?

What's that?

There's track out of the water.

Out of the water?

Yeah.

That could be a mink.

Would they curate kind of like a little serpentine motion?

Yes. Yes.

Yes. Yes.

This could be a mink trail here. - Yeah.

This 100% could be a mink.

You see this very distinct drag right here?

That's a tail.

So you can see the body impression where

it came down just like this.

Dude, good spotting.

100% it is likely that that is a mink.

You see this?

Bound, bound, bound.

I think this is--

I think this is our mink.

OK, let's keep going this way.

We're on a trail.

Let's go, guys.

Doesn't smell like it though.

Doesn't smell like a mink.

It would stink like a skunk.

Definitely a mink.

Oh, look, look on the other side.

That's more distinct.

Look at that.

Definitely pee.

It doesn't smell like anything.

You just smelled that pee.

Well, yeah, I wanted to see if it had any sort of musk smell

to it.

If it did, you could say, well, it's fair to say

that would be a mink.

What do you see over there?

More ice.

No tracks?

More ice.

No tracks.

Not looking good.

That was a good effort though.

Yeah, I think we could definitely say

they were mink tracks, right?

Yeah, without question.

And the thing about members of the weasel family

is they're extremely clever.

I'm guessing it came down the ice

and either went into the water or continued on the ice.

We just lost the tracks. - Yeah.

That's OK.

At least we got a glimpse.

Yeah.

All right, guys, well, the sun is starting to get low

in the sky, temperature is dropping,

so I think it is time to head back to vehicle

and call it a day.

Yeah, getting a little too cold.

OK, well, keep your eyes peeled.

Still good stuff to find.

Look at that.

Those are deer tracks right there for sure.

Lots of deer tracks.

Yeah, I'm following some tracks right now.

Oh, an antler.

An antler.

Here, Mario.

Yes.

Yes.

I got an antler, shed.

Not a big one, but that is an antler.

Look at this.

Wow.

Wow, good spot, man.

I mean, how did you even notice that?

That is exactly what we were hoping to come across.

White tailed deer shed.

Check it out.

A little covered in snow.

Yeah.

Not a big one, probably a second or third year buck,

I would guess.

Here, hold that for a second.

Nice.

What I'm going to do is I have some warm tea in my bag.

Let's get all the ice and snow off it.

This tea inside.

- That's steaming. - Yes.

Yes.

This is cool.

Hold on.

There we go.

Get all that ice off.

Wow.

OK, there we go.

Wow, gnawed on by something, some sort of rodent,

maybe a squirrel.

This is a great example of the fact that animals

out here in the winter, you know,

they have to fend for survival.

They have to find whatever they can to eat,

and believe it or not, an antler, a shed antler

does still provide maybe some nutrients.

You see where something was kind of gnawing at it,

and it's kind of porous there, so it is vascular.

Right.

And you can potentially get some nutrients from this if you

were kind of chewing on it.

Now, deer shed their antlers after the rut,

usually between December and March.

You're more likely to find them this time of year, February

into March.

And you don't find them all the time

because animals just mow through them when it comes to gnawing.

Look at this.

Look at how much of that antler is already gone.

Wow, this is so cool.

Now again, guys, because we are in the Metro Parks,

we're not going to take this.

Normally, I should probably take an antler home with me,

but obviously, some animal has been enjoying this.

There's animal tracks all over the place, so--

Everywhere.

I wouldn't be surprised if some little rodent

comes in and out from these logs and enjoys this as a snack.

But certainly, I would say the coolest find of the day.

Nice.

It was definitely worth being a little cold and uncomfortable,

but we did see some cool stuff and this was the top.

Absolutely.

Well, we came across fox tracks, coyote tracks,

obviously deer tracks, some rabbit tracks, tracked a mink,

but didn't see it, and then finally came across the Holy

Grail of artifacts here in Central Ohio,

a white tailed deer shed.

So cool.

I'm Coyote Petersen.

I'm Mario Aldecoa.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next location.

Well, I'm going to just plop it right back there into the snow.

I think it's time to call it a day.

- Tea break? - Yes.

Yeah, a tea break.

Man, that was awesome.

Tuinskloof Game Reserve is a breathtaking expanse

of South African wilderness, an adventure lover's playground

that is laced with a network of intricate yet rugged dirt

roads.

The reserve stretches across 13 hectares

and is nestled amongst the rocky mountainsides

of the Eastern Cape.

Today we are heading out on a true Indiana

Jones themed mission.

According to LB Williams, founder of the Reserve

Protection Agency, there are a series

of ancient cave paintings hidden deep

within the belly of Tuinskloof.

Of course, LB has seen these paintings

before as he has personally scoured

every inch of this wild place.

However, he has challenged us to see

if we can find what he calls a true needle in the haystack

of history on our own.

All right, Coyote, we're about to set off on the adventure.

What are we doing?

Well, just before us there's a road that looks off road

despite the fact it's been bulldozed,

but wait until you see how far we get into the backcountry

of South Africa.

And what we're searching for is a series of lost caves.

By lost caves what I mean are caves that have not been

explored in hundreds of years.

Supposedly, there are some ancient cave paintings

in there.

We're going to try to find them to get them on camera.

I have a feeling that this is going to be one epic adventure.

Let's go.

South Africa is an ancient land

and it is believed that humans have inhabited this area

for over 100,000 years.

The paintings we seek are certainly not that ancient,

but they are believed to be several hundred years old,

which definitely makes them worth the search.

Nothing like getting lost in the backcountry of Africa,

wouldn't you say, Coyote?

Oh, yeah.

We're going to find these lost caves eventually.

This is why they're lost.

They're hidden from pretty much everyone

so it's going to take a little bit of searching,

but I'm confident that LB's going to get us there.

We traveled up and over the steep mountainsides,

down into the valleys, and across several flowing stream

systems before we finally got to a place where the road ran out.

Woo.

That was a bumpy ride.

Yep, and that is as far as the road is going to take us.

Now over your shoulder here, Mark, is a massive cliff face,

and I was told that if we follow this line into the canyon,

eventually we will find dark stains up on the rocks.

We find those stains, it means that we are

close to the cave paintings.

So let's head that direction and see what we can find.

The underbrush was incredibly dense

and moving through it with packs and camera gear

was nearly impossible.

Eventually we made our way down to a stream system, which

we could follow more easily than fighting

the tangles of branches.

Look at this.

Look at those dark marks on the rocks.

Where?

Oh, yeah.

Is that what we're looking for?

Possibly.

Come across the stream bed.

Look at that.

Look, look, look.

You see them?

Yeah.

We're going to have to bust out the main camera

to get shots of that.

I don't know if you'd see that on the GoPro from there.

They're distinct dark marks right there on the rocks.

Definitely stand out more than anything else

we've seen so far.

Let's get a little bit more in.

I'll get a better view.

OK, yeah, keep coming up this hillside.

Wow.

Dude, look at this.

Whoa.

There's cave paintings.

Is that them?

This has got to be them.

Look at this.

You've got like little human like figures here,

there, and there.

Look at this one.

That one's definitely a male.

How can you tell?

Notice the male part.

And then over here, you've got what looks like a tepee.

Here's some sort of shape there.

What do you got down there, Mario?

You know, this is probably where they would gather

and like make a fire and cook their food and stuff,

and then hang out.

Then for fun, they probably would kind of draw.

Right.

And by they, we're talking about indigenous peoples,

and these cave drawings--

I guess we keep calling them cave drawing,

but it's more of an overhang than it

is a cave, hundreds, maybe even thousands of years old.

We are literally sitting at the foot of history right now.

Yeah, it's pretty crazy. This is crazy.

Let's look around at the walls and see what

other etchings we can find.

Are all the red spots paintings technically?

I mean, like if you come over here,

you can see like there's like a shape in there.

Oh, yeah, that definitely is a shape.

Look at that right there.

See, that's not natural.

That's like--

Looks like that would have been the head of a human.

Here's an arm that comes down, and it's body.

It's interesting how it's at an angle like that.

So you can definitely

see like this whole area, the redness on the rock

is distinct of this area.

If you look like over here, for example, there is no red.

It's only this area, so it kind of

makes you wonder were these parts at some time

part of a larger painting?

And it's just sort of dissolved

and disintegrated away?

Just even look right here.

You could see there's a clear line.

See that?

There's a clear line there.

I wonder if that was like a horse or an elephant.

Maybe that was an elephant. Maybe.

Oh, it does.

Looks like either a tail or perhaps a trunk and maybe a leg

like that right there.

This is super cool.

And you may be wondering to yourselves,

well, Coyote, how would somebody draw on a rock wall

and have it last for this long?

And my guess would be that-- here,

point your camera down here--

all of this red rock was likely broken apart

and then they would use something like sap or animal

fat to draw on the walls, and it's

just lasted for all that time.

It has completely stained the rock.

And that one is like two people

right next to each other.

And you know, this is the first time

this art has ever been filmed.

First people ever.

These are the first cameras to ever film,

and what we're going to do now is photograph

these to document them.

What I'm going to do is use my hand for scale.

Mark, why don't you get out the high quality camera?

Give this camera to Mario, and we'll

get some photographs of them and take

them back to the research team. Sound good?

Yep, let's do it.

All right.

All right, time to get out the DSLR

so we can take some great photographs

of this indigenous artwork and share them with our friends

back in town.

What's really cool is this is actually

really important for the culture in this region

to document these rare artifacts.

Definitely will help add to the cultural history

of this region of South Africa.

Pretty cool, huh?

I think that's an elephant.

Yeah, I think it is too.

You can clearly see that there's a leg

and then there's either a trunk or a tail.

Can't really tell what happened back here.

I mean, there's so many years, could be hundreds if not

thousands of years of erosion that's been hammering

the artwork that's here.

So we're really actually fortunate to be

able to see what we can.

We can see some that have disappeared almost

completely at this point.

This looks like a little man that's running down a hillside.

Did you get this one?

This clearly looks like an arm with a hand

and legs and holding something.

Maybe a fish?

They're clearly man-made, but there

is a little interpretation required

to identify what these are.

Be interesting to see once we take the photographs back

if someone back in town can help us more clearly identify

not only what we're looking at, but the time

period which they were made.

Right.

Got it.

All right, you ready for the long trek back?

I sure am.

It took us two hours to get here.

That means it's going to take at least two hours to get back.

But this certainly was epic, coming

across indigenous paintings out here in the backcountry

of South Africa.