Original subtitles

The endless expanse of swampy sawgrass

fields stretch on for miles, making the South

Florida Everglades one of the most

unique habitats on our planet.

If you choose to set out on foot,

it is likely that in very little time at all,

you will become lost in this maze of chaos that is home

to one of the most feared reptilian predators,

the American alligator.

These prehistoric looking creatures

have been on our planet since the days when dinosaurs ruled

the Earth, yet they managed to survive

beyond the mass extinction of their ancient relatives.

I have worked with alligators in the past.

From catching a 10 foot 300-pound specimen

with my bare hands to intentionally placing my arm

inside of one's mouth, it's safe to say that I

have had my close encounters.

However, one style of encounter is yet to be had.

I'm going to submerge into a pool filled with alligators

and swim alongside them.

Today we are working at the Everglades Outpost, a wildlife

sanctuary that is home to a number

of intimidating alligators.

In order to capture this episode on camera,

we will be working under the guidance and expertise

of Chris Gillette.

For well over a decade, Chris has been working

with animals of all shapes and sizes,

yet he specializes in crocodilians.

He also happens to be close friends with "Brave Wilderness"

wildlife biologist Mario Aldecoa,

and together they have spent years working

to educate the public about these oftentimes

misunderstood reptiles.

OK, now for me and, of course, for you, Mark, this

is the first time we will ever swim with alligators,

but Mario and Chris have an incredible amount

of experience.

They've been swimming with alligators and crocodiles

for several years.

Now, Mario and Chris go way back together.

They've been working together since, what,

pretty much childhood, right. Yep.

Best buddies. Yep.

Best buddies in reptiles.

And you guys are just surveying the pond or swimming pool

I guess as you would call it at the moment,

and what do we know?

Is it safe to get in the water.

Safe enough.

Safe enough says Chris who swims

with alligators all the time.

I'm going to admit, guys, I'm a little nervous.

Being on land and catching an alligator,

I feel like I'm in control.

But actually getting into their realm beneath the surface

is definitely new.

So I'm going to trade in the cowboy hat

today for a dive mask and some flippers.

We're going to see if we can get some epic up close shots.

I am always the first to admit when filming an episode

makes me nervous.

And in my mind, all I could see were flashes

of the alligator feeding frenzy that we also

recently captured on camera.

So I'm sure that you can understand

why I felt that swimming in a pool of them

was borderline crazy.

Yet despite my hesitation, I fully trust Chris and Mario.

So we geared up in our wet suits, powered on our GoPros,

and prepared to enter into the realm of gators.

All right, here we go.

How you guys doing?

We're good.

Good so far, right.

Yes.

So now the play is to get some more of the alligators

into the water, right.

That's right.

So once the alligators disperse throughout the pond--

You now have to be

aware of where you're stepping.

You might be focused on an alligator that's

in front of you but accidentally back into an alligator

that's right next to you.

Just be aware of your surrounding,

slow, calm movements.

Yeah.

You don't want to be looking at Casper on the surface

and accidentally put your foot in the mouth of one

on the bottom.

You guys ready?

Let's do it.

Let's get the gators in the water.

The American alligator is widely considered

to be the most dangerous non-venomous reptile

in the United States.

And while attacks do occasionally happen on humans,

they are rarely fatal and are often

a result of mistaken identity.

Their primary and preferred prey includes

fish, other reptiles, amphibians,

birds, and small mammals.

So this is Casper.

He is very nice, very calm.

But like we were saying before, even a little bit of a splash

can get him to pop up and bite.

And then if I'm nice and calm and gentle--

We're hanging out right.

Give my leg a little bit but I can still

hold him up, hang out with him, and he's

looking for food right now.

That's not defensively trying to bite.

He's hoping to bump into something edible.

You see if I hold him up, he's actually nice calm, relaxed,

but, again, if you make a splash,

he goes right for the splash.

That's why it's so important-- see we

got this one's attention, too.

Yeah.

Gotta be nice and calm in here.

So now am I able to touch him?

Like, what would happen if I come in and sort of--

Yeah, yeah, you could totally touch him.

You just don't want to be splashing,

and when you look at the side of the face

those little black dots, the integumentary sensory organs,

that's what's super sensitive to movement, to sensation.

So if you touch those little black dots--

You better watch it, Coyote.

You got that big snout

swinging around at you. Yeah.

Yeah, he said all right.

You made contact.

Back off a little bit.

Wow.

So cool being able to just touch an alligator

in a calm setting like this.

You can just see how laid back this creature's demeanor is.

Now obviously in the wild, nobody

would ever want to get into, like, a pond or a lake

with an alligator and get this close.

I've known Casper here for over 10 years.

Him and I have worked personally together.

So I understand his behavior really well,

but he's still a wild animal.

That time spent does not mean he's tame.

He's not my friend.

And, I mean, as you can see, if I

accidentally swing my arm the wrong way,

he's going to try to bite me.

Yeah.

Just like any other wild alligator would.

Let me get some cool shots right

under his mouth like that.

That's cool.

Now, Chris, do you think if you do that slapping motion,

we can get them to sort of bite towards the camera?

Oh, absolutely.

All right, let's see if we can get that to happen.

- You ready? - Yep.

Alligators rely on their ability

to feel vibrations in the water and also

their keen sense of hearing to detect that a possible food

source is nearby.

So as we move through the water, it

was important to glide quietly so as to not

mimic their typical prey.

In clear water, alligators can see rather well,

allowing them to distinguish that we were humans

and not prey.

So as a result, their behavior was rather skittish.

All right, so we're going to try something

pretty interesting here.

Chris, you said you can actually call in one

of these alligators, right. Yeah.

So I've done some name training with them

and having them associate their name with getting fed.

And so there's a smaller one-- you met Caspar.

He's the big guy. - Yeah.

There's a smaller one named

Saw I'm going to call over. OK.

We named this one Saw because the face

kind of looks like a saw blade.

The teeth kind of stick out.

So that's fitting.

OK, here we go guys we're going to actually bring an alligator

right up to the cameras.

Saw.

Whenever you're ready.

Saw.

Here she comes.

Look at that.

Right through us.

Speeding straight toward us.

It's a good girl.

Watch out, Mario.

It's coming straight for you.

Wow, look at that, Chris.

That is cool.

So is that her expecting to be fed?

Yes.

And then coming into the situation,

obviously you didn't feed her, so she said,

oh, nothing for me.

Yeah.

I'm going to move on.

She's still curious.

You see, she's still coming back into the shot,

diving beneath the surface.

Now do they ever get agitated if you

called them in to eat something and there's

nothing there to be had?

I don't like to do that.

Umm, watch your back, Mark.

You're going to get bit.

He was coming over to give you a little nibble there.

Hey, well, that's why I have a team, right?

That's when the attack comes not from the front

but from the sides.

It's never the one you're looking at.

Yeah.

By this point, I had certainly grown comfortable

being in a pool of gators.

And while we certainly had to stay on guard,

we all took the opportunity to get some epic underwater shots.

The grace of a gator is truly something

to admire as in the water these massive reptiles

almost appear to be weightless.

With their short stout legs pressed close

against their scaly bodies, they propel themselves forward

with strong muscular tails.

From beneath the surface, it's easy to see how these apex

predators are capable of silently moving in

on any unsuspecting prey item.

All right, guys, well, that was pretty epic.

We spent the afternoon swimming with the American alligator,

and the good news is none of us were eaten.

That's right.

It was actually pretty safe.

Fun.

Well, Chris, thank you so much for leading this expedition.

Absolutely.

Mario, amazing work as always.

Mark, you get some good shots? Sure did.

That was amazing.

Yeah, this episode's going to definitely turn

into something pretty cool.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

All right, guys, time to dry off.

Getting the chance to enter and fully submerge

in a body of water that was teeming with alligators

is not exactly the kind of reptilian encounter

you would ever imagine possible.

Yet under watchful eyes and with expert guidance,

this episode helped us prove that alligators are

not bloodthirsty man killers.

For generations, humans have feared these massive reptiles,

but the good news is that crocodilian experts like Chris

and Mario are constantly working to educate the public

about these animals so that they are viewed with respect

and understanding as opposed to fear.

The American alligator is truly king of the Everglades.

And unless you are working with an expert,

never approach and certainly never enter a body of water

with one of these formidable predators.

The safest encounter you can have

is to simply admire them from a safe distance.

Tonight we are deep in the heart of an agricultural fruit grove

located in Southern Florida, which is an ideal ecosystem

for invasive lizards.

Thus far we have found and safely captured a very

impressive failed chameleon.

And while we would love to release it back into the wild,

this lizard is a reptilian invader.

So it will be donated to a wildlife sanctuary

where it will serve as an educational example

of an animal that does not belong in this ecosystem.

In addition to chameleons, this fruit grove

is also known for having an established breeding

population of toque geckos.

These noisy reptiles are famous for their loud bark, which

sounds like doh-k, doh-k, hence the name

that these lizards have been given.

And that right there is a perfect little crevice--

check this out-- for a gecko.

And nothing in there now and guarantees up here

hunting in the tree somewhere.

All right, well, we are going to continue the search

and hopefully find one.

Like most gecko species, the toque never

wanders far from its hiding spot,

which is often a deep crevice or hole in a tree.

This refuge, combined with a notable burst of speed,

provides these nocturnal creatures

with a quick escape route in the event

that a larger predator approaches.

What I'm doing is actually searching for eye shine.

These geckos' eyes will reflect back in my flashlight.

What I want to do is just keep the light close up

to my nose like this, and I'm looking for those eyeballs

to spark out in the darkness.

Spotting eye shine definitely gave me

the advantage of targeting a lizard from the distance.

However, sneaking up quickly and quietly

without the lizard noticing and in turn

bolting into its escape hatch was a much different scenario.

Follow my flashlight please.

This right here, there was a gecko up in the little crevice

of that tree.

I cannot see it now. It ducked back.

Let we go up and see if I catch it.

They are quick.

I thought he went down the side of the tree.

It's like as soon as they hear the footsteps coming,

they are off.

All right, well, that was just a small one.

We're definitely looking for something bigger,

but getting any gecko up close for the cameras is a value.

All right, let's keep searching.

Here we go, right there.

You get it?

Nope.

Oh, there's a hole right here.

He just went down into the hole in that tree.

Several missed attempts brought with them a heightened

sense of frustration.

Yet I refused to give up, and my persistence finally led us

to the moment I had been waiting for, a gecko that I could see

but who couldn't see me.

Eye shine right there at side of the tree.

Where?

Gecko just further on the side.

See that B-shaped tree? Yeah.

Come on, come on, come on.

There's his tail. Mario, you see it?

Yeah. I got nothing.

OK, I'm just going to go for it.

Yeah.

Got it! Got it?

Yeah.

Got him, got him, got him.

Check this out. He's trying to bite me already.

Hang on, hang on. - Come on into the shot.

Take a look at that. Nice.

There it is.

That is a toque gecko.

All right, let me slowly peel this guy

up and off of the tree.

That is about as good a grab as I can possibly make.

Let me just kind of peel his little toes off there.

Man. - All right, buddy.

Man, that's a big gecko.

That is a good gecko.

Oh, he is just clinging onto the tree.

Got you.

There we go, and he is all chomping trying

to get my fingers in his mouth.

All right, let me crouch down right here.

There you have it.

Look at you.

Good looking.

Oh, my hand is shaking right now.

We have had many misses tonight, and

unlike frogs, these geckos do not

stay still in flashlight shine.

They quickly zoom around the side of the tree.

Wow, a perfect specimen.

Look at the coloration.

Grayish blue, light blue, and all of that copper speckling.

Ooh, he's gonna make-- oh!

Ooh, I hear you.

You hear that bark?

That's what we've been hearing calling all night,

and that's actually a defensive warning

that if you get your finger close,

I'm going to give you one very painful chomp.

And go ahead, Mario, and zoom in down the gullet.

That is an impressive mouth.

Look at the interior coloration, black

with a little bit of bright red.

Almost aposematic in design and, of course,

we know geckos are not venomous.

They are not poisonous, but this species

specifically has very sharp teeth and can give you one

very painful bite.

Let me go ahead and turn its body like this

and you can get a good look-- oh!

Woo! Whoa.

Whoa, boy. He's going at me.

He's going at me.

All right, trying to get a bite going there.

No, buddy.

You can hear that little bark.

They are incredibly aggressive.

Ooh, ooh, that's too close to my finger.

That came out of nowhere.

Yeah, strong, right.

They will explode into action like that.

Now the males are larger than the females,

and they're also incredibly aggressive, very territorial.

And there's a good chance that this tree right here is

this little Godzilla's domain.

I'm gonna try to, like, show you the side of its body

without taking a bite.

All right, you gonna stay calm?

I'm hoping like the turnip tail gecko

that it will just go into a state of yeet.

Sometimes they will play dead then you loosen your grip

and then they try to get away, but in this instance,

the toque is all about the fight once it realizes

that flight is not an option.

You can see my hands shaking a little bit there.

Let me try to get a completely stable.

Deep breath.

Do not want to be bitten yet by the toque gecko.

Whoa, what do you mean yet?

I got a little bit of history with the toque gecko

that we'll get into in a second but first--

Is that what that bandage is on your finger?

Is that the history?

No, no, no, no, that's a snapping turtle bite.

The toque gecko bite is not as bad as a snapping turtle,

but it is incredibly painful.

The toque gecko is a voracious predator,

and they will eat pretty much anything they can come across--

other lizards, insects, even baby mammals.

Small mice, baby birds all make fair game for this predator.

Now let's look at one of the hallmark

traits of this gecko, its feet.

These toes are all covered in these little sticky pads.

Now at the tips of the toes, they do have claws,

and it's a combination of the claws and the sticky pads

that allow them to climb over virtually any surface.

Whether it's up the side of a tree or even across glass,

this gecko can stick to anything.

Now the toque gecko has long been

one of my favorite lizard species,

and when I was a kid, when I was 10 years old,

I wanted one of these as a pet more than anything.

And at the time, my mom didn't know anything

about toque geckos, and she said if you

get straight A's on your report card,

I'll let you get one as a pet.

So what did I do?

I studied and studied and studied,

got straight A's on my report card,

and the day my mom took me to the pet store

to get one of these lizards, the guy that

owned the pet store said not only do these lizards give

an incredibly painful bite and hold on but they

also eat a lot of baby mice.

And my mom said no way.

We are not getting a lizard that we're going

to have to feed baby mice to.

So lo and behold, Coyote left the pet store that day

with no pet lizard.

But now looking back on it in hindsight,

I could definitely see that a lizard like this

probably did not make the best pet.

I'm sure a lot of you guys out there

watching this episode thinking to yourselves

this is such a cool lizard.

I want one of these lizards.

Honestly, guys, the toque gecko, unless you have

the means and the experience to take care of it,

not a good pet.

That bite is powerful, and they are voracious predators.

You have to feed them constantly.

I know I keep focusing on this whole,

oh, the bite is really bad.

They bite and hold on.

It's just a gecko.

Is it really that bad?

I don't know guys I've never been bitten by a toque gecko.

I've been bitten by many lizard species,

but I'm pretty curious.

How bad is the bite of the toque gecko,

and if I was still 10 years old and in fourth grade,

is this something that would have latched onto my finger

and not let go?

I know what you guys are all thinking.

Coyote, are we going to enter the bite

zone with the toque gecko.

I think we better try it out.

You guys ready?

Are you seriously gonna do this?

I'm going to do it.

I'm just very curious at this point.

This is an intentional bite to see how painful is the bite

and are they truly the bulldog of the gecko kingdom

or is this a lizard going to bite and then let go.

So if you guys are ready, it's time to enter the bite

zone with the toque gecko.

OK, do you want me to spoil the ending for you?

It's going to be bad.

Yeah, well, here's what's going to happen.

The lizard's either gonna bite and let go,

or it's going to bite and hold on.

The contingency plan is I'm going to set it down

on this log, let go of the lizard's body,

and see if it will then let go of my finger.

If not, I'm just going to have a reptile

locked onto one of my appendages for the rest of the scene.

All right, you guys ready?

You sure about this?

Yep. OK.

Mario, you have a good shot? Mmm hmm.

All right. Yeah--

It's all you.

This is what we call curiosity chomped the coyote.

I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to enter the bite

zone with the toque gecko.

Ready?

1, 2, 3.

Oww!

Ooh!

Ha, ha!

A bite and let go.

Go ahead and zoom in on my finger there, Mario.

And that is the result of a toque gecko bite.

I knew this was going to happen.

Why did you need to do that?

Curiosity, guys.

I had to know is the bite of the toque gecko really that bad.

Did 10-year-old Coyote deserve to have a gecko?

He got straight A's on his report card.

Honestly, guys, I have to say thanks to my mom

for not letting me get one of these lizards when I was

a little kid because I can just imagine how bad it would have

been if this creature had latched on to my finger

and it didn't let go.

So if you guys want suggestions as to what lizard makes

a good pet, the leopard gecko and the bearded dragon

are both excellent choices.

When it comes to toque geckos, let's just go ahead

and leave these guys in the wild.

Now unfortunately for this one--

I know, buddy-- we can't let you back into your tree

because you are an invader here in South Florida,

but the good news is that this lizard is going to be donated

to an educational research facility

where he's then going to become an ambassador for his species.

But this certainly was an epic evening

finding invasive lizards and getting this awesome toque

gecko up close for the cameras.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Ooh, yeah, that's a bloody bite.