Original subtitles

Mark, come here!

What is it?

Hurry up, hurry up!

What do you got?

Oh my gosh.

Wow.

I can't believe that I just caught this creature.

Hold on just a second.

I'll peel back my hand. Look at that.

Do you know what that is?

Today the crew and I are exploring a lush valley cut

into the center of the Costa Rican

amphibian research reserve.

This biological safe haven spans over 100 acres

and is home to many species of birds, reptiles, amphibians,

and countless creepy crawlies.

Wow.

Look at those ants.

I don't know what species that is, let's

find out if they bite or sting.

Ooh.

Yep, they bite.

Look at that.

Embarking upon an adventure into the rainforest always

fills me with a sense of excitement.

The terrain is incredibly challenging, especially

when breaking trail into the unknown,

and whether it's slippery rock strewn riverbeds,

or the disorienting maze of endless trees,

the adventure is always epic.

When it comes to finding animals,

doing so in a rainstorm is incredibly challenging.

However, sometimes it's the flooding of the forest floor

they can actually bring out the rarest of creatures.

Mark!

Come here!

What is it?

Hurry up, hurry up!

What do you got?

You are not gonna believe this.

Oh my gosh.

Come on. Wow.

I can't believe that I just caught this creature.

Hold on just a second.

I'll peel back my hand. Look at that.

Do you know what that is?

Whoa looks like a giant earthworm.

He's actually an amphibian and it is called a Caecilian.

Let me get out of the leaves here.

Oh, I can't believe that we just caught this,

and I bet you the reason that I even

saw it was because there's so much water moving through here.

See if I can just lay it out on my hands.

Wow.

That is one of the most bizarre animals you will ever

come across in the rainforest.

Wow. It is slippery.

Looks fast.

Look at that, it just tied itself into a knot,

and actually this end is the head.

Look at that.

I can't keep it in my fingers.

It is like a slippery water balloon.

Is it slimy?

It is incredibly slimy.

Put your fingers out there and feel it.

It feels just like an earthworm.

It does. It does.

It looks like a mix between a snake and a giant worm.

Even the little rings in this animal's body

make it look as if it has segments like an earthworm,

but in fact that is just the pattern of its skin.

You could search for years out here in the rainforest

and never come across one of these.

You literally have to dig in the leaf litter

or deep down into the Earth to find them.

This is one of the most incredible fossorial creatures

that we could have possibly come across, and it is so--

I'm sorry to stop.

The camera is getting doused.

I'm afraid we're gonna lose the camera.

Dude, we have to film this animal.

I know. - OK, I got an idea.

Mario, hand me that plastic container.

We always have a container with us

in case we need to put an amphibian in it.

I think what we do, let's actually take the caecilian

to a more controlled environment,

get some macro shots, get you guys an episode.

The odds of us ever coming across one of these again,

probably slim to none.

So we'll bring it back here to release it, but let's

get ourselves where we're not getting soaked by the rain

because, yeah, you're going to destroy your camera,

aren't you?

Yeah, just saw a raincloud go over.

OK, let's let's cut the camera and let's

continue the scene in a controlled location

Oh this is so cool, though.

Mario time to pack them up, man.

Let's go.

And we are back.

I'm going to take off my pack for this one right now.

We are at a little jungle research station.

This is great, going to keep the cameras

and myself out of the rain for the scene,

and in that container is the caecilian.

There it is.

Oh, slippery little noodle right there.

Wow.

The skull is very very rigid, and that

is what allows these creatures to dig underground.

They are fossorial and the body is filled

with all these tense tendons and the way

that they travel underground is almost like a hydraulic piston.

It will drive its head into the soil using all the power

from its body, and then once it's made some progress,

it will then slink its body forward, almost like a worm.

Wow.

It is so strong.

It's taking actually quite a bit of strength just

to hold it in position like that.

They do have eyes.

The eyes are very, very small.

Let me see if I can see them.

But they have eyes, they have nostrils,

and they have these little tiny tentacles right up front.

Actually, I can see that in the light there.

Those are chemical receptors that

help this amphibian sense what it

is after when it comes to prey.

They feed on little earthworms or termites.

Now, there are around 200 species of caecilians

worldwide, and of those species, around 75%

give birth to live young.

This is really interesting, and a fact I'm sure most of you

didn't know.

The females actually stay with the youngsters to protect them,

and as she is protecting them, she develops an extra layer

of skin on the outside of her body,

and the youngsters feed on it to nourish themselves.

It's very high in nutrients and fat.

How gross is that?

Eating skin off your mom, right?

Ew.

This is so bizarre looking.

They do get quite a bit bigger than this,

and there are some species that can grow up to almost four feet

in length, and then, of course, there are some that are smaller

that are only a few inches.

This one is just a little less than a foot long.

Look at that, I can just slink through my hands.

Now they do secrete a mucus from the sides of their body, which

helps them navigate underground, but it also is slightly toxic,

so I am going to have to wash my hands

after handling this amphibian.

Look at that.

Look how I can just slink through my fingers.

There is some research that's been done on them,

hence how I know the facts that I know,

but because they're subterranean,

it's very rare to ever come across them,

so it's tough for research teams to find them.

You could spend months digging in the jungle

and you literally have to be in the right place

at the right time to come across one.

Are all caecilians this color, are they

all dark like that?

Oh, no.

I mean with nearly 200 species worldwide, some of them

are very brightly colored blues and yellows.

I would guess probably aposematic in coloration,

because like I said, they are slightly toxic, but this one,

just kind of purplish.

It would blend really well into this rainforest leaf litter.

You look around us and everything is very

similar to this coloration.

I was excited because I've never seen one before

and I knew that everybody out there watching

would love to see this unique amphibian.

How cool is this?

Yeah. Wow.

All right, well let's get it back into the rainforest

and see what else we can find.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Going to take my pack.

I've come across some bizarre creatures,

but to have gotten a caecilian- an animal that almost never

comes to the forest surface- up close

for the cameras was a moment the crew and I will never forget.

We released the animal right where we found it and managed

to capture on camera some of its natural and very rarely seen

behaviors just before it disappeared beneath the leaves

and back under the ground.

The Brave Wilderness channel features plenty

of dangerous animals, from snapping turtles and grizzly

bears to water moccasins and tiger sharks,

so trust me when I say that featuring

a non-dangerous species is a welcome breath of fresh air.

Today we are back on location in Japan,

and while I know you were all waiting and heated anticipation

for this- here we go- before we even found the giant hornet,

he stumbled upon another one of Japan's giants

that is far less painful to interact with.

Toad! Toad!

Toad! Where?

Right there, right there!

Look, look, look.

Wow.

Do you know what that is?

That's a big toad.

It is a big toad.

That's the Japanese Common Toad, a native species.

We're usually used to seeing toads-

He's getting away.

Come here.

Oh, buddy.

Look at you.

Oh, hear that little chirping?

Oh, Wow.

Holy mackerel, that is a cool looking toad.

OK, I think we definitely need to film a segment

with this one.

Here, let's step back just a little bit, onto the trail,

and get it in a controlled situation.

Wow.

How about that?

That is the Japanese Toad, one of the coolest-looking

amphibians that you will find here in this country,

and it's a pretty good size, too.

Now when we're talking toads, the females oftentimes

grow larger than the males.

To be honest with you guys, I can't

tell if this is a male or a female,

because they can get bigger than this.

And look at the coloration, so distinct.

Look at that bright gold that runs

all over the body, the black speckles,

and I love this dark line that runs just behind the ear

and down to the belly.

Speaking of the belly, check this out.

Come here, little toad.

Look at the speckling on the belly.

Oh, wow.

Look at that pattern.

Pretty cool looking, right?

Oh, look at that pudgy little belly.

Now these toads are opportunistic feeders,

and they will eat pretty much any little small arthropod

or crustacean that they come across in the forest,

and these toads are always out on the move,

and you can see this toad is just going to climb here.

I'm going to let it climb from hand to hand.

That's going to be easier.

It wants to move.

You see how they climb.

Oftentimes, as compared to hopping,

hopping is usually used by toads to escape from a predator

quickly.

In this instance, the Toad is just feeling "All right,

I'm going to climb from spot to spot,

up the mountain of Coyote's hands."

Now they have incredible eyesight, both during the day

and at night, and in a very heavily canopied forest

like this, this toad is going to be hunting at any opportunity

that it gets.

When it comes to predators, most things

avoid toads because, as we know, they are poisonous,

and that poison comes from the parotid glands.

This one's got some pretty prominent glands

just above the ears there.

You can actually see the little pores.

Now, if this toad was feeling extremely stressed,

or let's say it was an actual predator that was trying to eat

it and I bit down on the toad, it

would secrete that poison, which of course, is toxic and has

a very, very nasty taste.

This Toad is feeling very calm right now.

I just love the bumpiness to the toad's skin.

What's really unique about this species specifically,

is that during the breeding season,

the male skin will actually get smooth,

so it would look more like a frog.

Look at those four limbs.

Oh, buddy.

It's like a Popeye Toad.

It is, and it's starting to puff up now.

It's saying "All right, just let me back up into the forest."

But before we do, look at these legs.

Strong muscular legs.

You can see those rear feet there have a little bit

of webbing, and unlike frogs, toads

are primarily terrestrial, which means they're moving

through the forest, over logs, over rocks,

and they're excellent climbers.

A toad like this, when it needs to hide,

or if it wants to sleep, it will burrow

down, probably up under a rock, like where we saw it.

That could be this toad's territory.

Had perfect opportunity with some water flowing

through there, lots of plants, lots of soft mud,

a perfect place to search for food,

and of course, to hide or sleep.

So, are these toads common, Coyote?

Yes.

In fact, they're oftentimes called

the Common Japanese Toad.

Of course, us being able to find one was just right place

right time, but from what I know,

yes, this is a fairly common species.

Despite the fact that its golden coloration- let me turn it

like that, take a good look at the color of that toad-

it still manages to hide incredibly well

amongst all the fallen pine needles

and the light and the shadows.

Now one thing that I often notice with toads

is they have a tendency to pee on you, and of course

that is a defense mechanism to get something to let go of it.

But so far, this Toad has not peed at all.

It's been talking to you, though.

Yeah, it's a little talkative.

Oh.

And as soon as I say that, as soon as I say that,

the toad just opens up.

That's a lot of toad pee.

I'm not worried about this animal becoming dehydrated,

because if you can hear, there is river in the background,

and this environment is incredibly saturated.

At this juncture, the toad is pretty much

saying, "OK, I've had enough time in front of the cameras.

Please place me back into the forest, which is

exactly what we're going to do.

But how cool was this, coming across bufo japonicus,

one of the coolest amphibians in all of Japan.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Definitely going to need to wash my hands.

All across the planet, toads seem to hop across our paths,

and I seem to never lose my excitement

for these fascinating terrestrial amphibians.

The Japanese Giant Toad is without question

the most brilliantly decorated species

we have ever encountered.

These adorable yet potentially toxic

animals are, for the most part, completely safe to interact

with.

Despite their warty appearance, they cannot give you warts.

However, if you do catch and admire a toad,

no matter what the species, always

wash your hands after you have released it back into the wild.

What's going on guys?

OK, so in the saga of the blue frog which I know many of you

have seen that episode, I am back on Middle Bass Island.

I'm completely unprepared, no camera team, no nothing,

but I came out.

Just for the heck of it decided to see

if I could find the blue frog.

I did not find the one that you guys saw on the previous trip,

but I found this frog, which also

looks like it may be some sort of genetic abnormality.

It has crazy blue coloration and lighter green speckling.

What we're going to do is hold on to the frog until daylight,

so we can get a better look at it.

This is awesome.

In the summer of 2020, I came upon a sight

I never expected to see.

Dude, that is a blue frog.

Look at that frog.

Right there.

Oh my gosh, we've got to catch the frog, guys.

I can't believe what I'm looking at.

This is insane.

For three days, Mario and I pursued this frog

day and night.

We attempted to catch and share this beautiful blue beauty

with the coyote pack.

Yet this super spring loaded creature outsmarted,

outmaneuvered, and outplayed me like no frog

I had ever been witness to.

Coyote Peterson was truly defeated by a blue frog.

I can't believe that just happened.

I returned to the scene of my defeat

several times in the following weeks,

but the blue frog was nowhere to be found.

The Phantom of Middle Bass had disappeared,

and the legend was born.

Then, on a random trip back to the island

without any expectation of seeing this legendary frog,

and with no proper camera team, a new blue was spotted,

and I totally redeem myself.

OK, guys, so here's what's happened.

Last night, I was out investigating

the same swamp where I had seen a bullfrog

once before, a blue bullfrog.

You may remember an episode from a few weeks

ago called "Blue Frog, must see it to believe it."

Well, I didn't anticipate seeing that frog again, considering

I had scouted one other time.

I was back last night, and lo and behold,

I found a different blue frog.

No, this is not the same blue frog

that evaded capture last time.

This is another example of a frog that has

gone through a color mutation.

It's not so much why is this frog blue,

it's how did this frog become blue?

It is blue because it has a color mutation

known as axanthism.

Think of it like this.

If you're mixing colors together,

blue and yellow make green.

The base layer of bullfrogs is actually blue,

but this frog lacks a yellow pigmentation in its skin.

If the base is blue, and the second layer is yellow,

when those mix together, that is why we

perceive frogs as being green.

This frog has a lack of that yellow pigmentation,

which is what makes it appear to be sapphire.

Now, color abnormality like this can

be rather frequent in nature, and it happens quite often

in different amphibian species, not only of frogs

but also in salamanders.

Although scientists predict that finding a blue bullfrog

is about one in 30,000 frogs.

I definitely consider this quite the anomaly,

and a pretty incredible find.

The reason I'm guessing that there is genetic mutation

happening here on Middle Bass island

is because this is a very isolated

population of bullfrogs.

There are very few predators other than herons and snapping

turtles in this environment, which is allowing these frogs

to just continuously reproduce.

There are hundreds of thousands, if not millions of bullfrogs

living in this marsh, so after a while,

it's not unlikely that there's going

to be some sort of mutation that happens where you have

a color variation like this.

I think we all remember the sapphire crayfish,

and I think it would be rather fitting to call

this the sapphire bullfrog, but just so we're clear,

this is not a new species.

It is a true bullfrog, it just has a color mutation.

The more this frog is out in the sun

warming itself up to the day, the brighter that blue color

is going to get.

When this amphibian is cold, or it's hunkered down,

they have the ability to shift the chromatophores

in their skin, which of course, can

help keep them more camouflage.

The problem a blue frog like this faces is that

it cannot camouflage properly.

I'm actually really pleased to see that the frog has grown

to this size to begin with.

A lot of animals that do not have the proper coloration

for their environment end up being easily predated

upon by other predators.

The way that I caught this frog, which actually happened off

camera, is I did shine it with a flashlight,

but it wasn't in the water.

It was actually up on land.

I used a long extendable net, got

the net over top of the frog.

I was able to quickly pounce on top of it

and get it scooped up.

What I want to do now is give you guys

an up close comparison between the blue bullfrog

and a normal green bullfrog.

These are the exact same species, about the same size,

but you'll notice how different looking the blue mutation

is from the green one.

Let's start with the eyes.

The eyes of the green bullfrog are bright amber in coloration

surrounding that black pupil, but

the blue bullfrog's eyes are almost

completely black and brown.

That, again, has to do with the lack of yellow pigmentation

in this frog's body.

When it comes to camouflage, there's no question about it,

the green frog is going to blend in much better

within a swamp or marsh environment, with lily pads

and duckweed.

The blue bullfrog, especially when you turn it sideways

like this, you can see is so much more likely to stand out

amongst a green environment.

My theory on that, as to why I was unable to catch

the blue bullfrog last time, is that they're

more agile and more in tune with any movements

within the environment.

The second they feel the water shifting

or a difference between light and shadows,

they immediately think, "Oh no.

I'm no longer hidden.

Something's getting close.

It may eat me.

I better spring off into action and find myself

a better hiding spot."

I wonder if they're talking.

Saying to themselves, "What are we doing right now?

Are we being filmed?

Were we abducted by aliens?

Are we about to be famous on YouTube?"

Without question, this blue bullfrog

is probably going to be the most famous

frog we have ever filmed.

Well, it's taken me several trips back to Middle Bass

Island, but I was finally able to find and successfully catch

the one and only blue bullfrog.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

All right, time to get these two hoppers back

off into the swamp.

A quick search of the internet will

reveal that several blue frogs have shown up in 2020,

including specimens sighted in Texas, Indiana, Louisiana,

Iowa, and of course, Ohio.

Some say these frogs are one in a million,

which is probably pretty accurate, considering

the number of tadpoles that hatch out and grow

into frogs every season.

Yet while it is rarely witnessed due to the elusive nature

of most amphibians, axanthism is relatively

widespread in salamander and frog populations

that have a limited gene pool, like frogs

isolated to an island.

For me, the summer of 2020 will always carry with it

the memory of the blue frog.

And if you ever get the chance to visit Middle Bass Island

and find yourself walking along the marsh, who knows,

maybe you too will be lucky enough to catch a glimpse

of the sapphire bullfrog.