Original subtitles

We managed to come across one

of the most elusive reptiles in all of Japan,

the Japanese ground snake.

This fossorial animal is almost never seen by humans,

and we uncovered it by gently flipping

a decomposing log in one of the country's most ancient forests.

Ooh, snake, snake, snake right here.

Sweet.

Wow, it almost looks like a rubber bone.

Look at that.

We're exploring in the Tottori prefecture,

a remote stretch of wilderness in southwestern Japan.

Our goal is to share with you some of the animals that call

this forest home while also admiring

the breathtaking beauty of its timeless landscape.

After releasing the ground snake back into his shadowy refuge,

we soon after stumbled upon a creature

that could be considered a candidate for a science

fiction narrative.

All right, this log is actually flippable.

See how long a lot of these are?

Oh, yeah.

I thought they'd be easier to move.

They're not.

All right, this one is busted in half.

Let's see what we got.

Ooh, a Sicilian!

A Sicilian!

Look, look, look!

Right there, Mario, Sicilian.

Oh, yeah.

Hang on a second.

Look, look, look, look.

Right there.

It looks like one,

but there's actually none native to Japan.

So that's got to be something else.

That's not a Sicilian?

No.

Here, let's bring it back down here on this log.

That's-- dude, that's got to be a Sicilian.

Check this out.

So there are no Sicilians in Japan,

but my immediate instinct was a Sicilian.

It looks exactly like one.

Now my hands are not real moist, so what I actually want to do

I'm going to set it down there and get some water on my hands.

It's got to be some kind of a worm.

Oh, yeah.

We just run a little bit of water onto it.

Oh, I like that.

OK, here we go.

Let me just sort of analyze it first.

I don't think there are any, like, venomous or poisonous

worm species at least not to my knowledge but look at the head.

Yeah, it's definitely a worm now that I'm

seeing it out on this log and it's moving about.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's got a proboscis.

Look at that.

It's got a little mouth part that comes out.

It is extremely rigid, very muscular feeling.

I guess we should find out if it bites or not.

Let's see.

Oh, it's tasting me.

Definitely no biting mouth parts like the blood worm.

This is crazy.

The most bizarre looking worm I ever thought

we would have come across.

Look at the top of it.

It's blue and iridescent.

Can you see that if I just slightly angle it in the light?

I mean, if you held the Sicilian

we found in Costa Rica next to that, it'd be tough to tell.

Well, the reason that I thought it was is

look at the belly.

The underside is very light in coloration,

and the top is dark, very indicative

of something that is fossorial.

Keeps it camouflaged from up above but from underneath,

it doesn't need to be dark in color.

Now unlike the earthworms that we see in the United States,

there's no distinct middle section

to this worm, which is another reason that I

thought it was a Sicilian.

Look how far it's capable of stretching out.

Look at the length of that worm.

Whoa.

You can actually see inside its belly.

You can see whatever it's been eating is inside there.

There's a chance this is a predatory worm.

A good chance, yeah.

I mean, with that proboscis up front,

I assume they could be eating small little microorganisms,

mites and small ants.

It's actually really cool when I place it down on the moss

and you can see it, the contrastiness against that

green.

As we know, worms have no proper skeleton.

It's just, like, one big muscular slinky.

And look at that.

When I place it down in the moss,

it curiously moves from spot to spot,

and it's using its mouth to investigate all of this moss,

I imagine sensing for chemicals to help it find

direction because from what I can see,

it does not have any eyeballs.

That is definitely the front end,

and this is definitely the back end.

Wow, look how long it stretched out now.

Crazy.

I bet this thing is close to a foot in length

when fully extended.

Well, Japan is certainly full of all kinds

of interesting surprises, and this dense forest ecosystem

is so rich with wildlife and a lot of animals

that must stay out of the sun.

We've got the sun directly overhead right now,

and even with it cascading through some

of those top branches, everything in here

stays completely shaded.

Everything is moist.

Look at this environment.

All the pine needles are completely saturated.

The ground is sopping wet.

You have all of this moss.

It's the perfect place for an alien looking

creature like this to live.

All right, I'm gonna pick it back up here.

Let's get one more close look.

Come here, buddy.

And I noticed there's not a whole lot

of slime coming off this worm.

No.

I mean, I've definitely been getting my hands wet with water

just to make sure that I don't suck any

of the hydration from it skin, but it

is not slimy like the earthworms that we have in the States.

Go ahead, Mark.

Put your hand out there and just feel that worm.

Whoa. How about that.

Doesn't feel like the earthworms at home does it?

Whoa.

Very strong, too.

Very muscular.

It almost feels like it has a bit of a skeleton.

Right, right.

It does, but as we know worms do not have proper skeletons.

They also don't have exoskeletons.

They're essentially just lengths of internal muscle.

And when I laid it down on the log earlier,

you could see how it was able to just slink

from spot to spot, that segmentation

moving just like a slinky.

Well, I would definitely say that exploring

these deep dark forests here in Japan

have certainly paid off with a number of very

cool and bizarre species.

I'm Coyote Petersen.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see on the next adventure.

On the exterior of our planet, we often

see animals that we recognize from the pages

of books, images on television, or even in person

at our local parks.

A whole society of creatures are living

and thriving beneath our feet.

They're bizarre, alien like, and often considered

living nightmares, but the truth is that these animals which

appear to be from another planet are more likely to be quiet,

skittish, and completely harmless

despite their outward appearance.

The true oddities of the natural world

always seem to captivate us, and it

brings the "Brave Wilderness" team great excitement

to share them with all of you.

She's becoming secured to me.

Oh, I thought she was about to bite.

The reason that I'm doing this is

to prove that these scorpions aren't

just out there to sting you.

What is this!

There it is.

Aaah!

Oh, gross!

There's no question that the Coyote Pack loves

to learn about creepy creatures, and over the years,

we have gotten an entirely new generation

excited about animals by getting up close and sometimes

dangerously personal.

Ooh, he's trying to bite me.

It's fair to say that we have some popular videos,

but the ones that can truly be considered

viral sensations center around the onslaught of insect

stings I have taken.

The world famous insect sting pain index,

which was brilliantly created by entomologist Justin Schmidt,

became the roadmap to producing these videos.

So now for the first time ever, we

have decided to compile together everyone's

favorite moments and my most painful in an episode titled

"Just the Sting."

Hidden within the darkness of the Costa Rican rainforest,

a legend exists beneath the ancient canopy.

Indigenous people refer to it as bala, which means bullet.

It is rumored that just a single sting from this animal

is so excruciating that it feels as if one

has been shot with a gun.

Ooh, it's stuck in my arm.

It's stuck in my arm.

It's stuck-- stuck on my arm.

Look at that.

OK, it's off. It's off.

It's off.

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!

Oh my gosh!

The stinger was stuck into my forearm right into the vein.

There is the sting insertion point right there.

Oh my gosh.

It is like--

- it's hot.

Oh, I can feel the venom already right in my forearm.

Oh my gosh!

Aaah, it's spreading more.

I'm going to go ahead and get stripe

tail out of the container here.

Got you.

Look at this.

Just chomping onto the forceps with those pedipalps.

Are you ready?

1, 2, 3.

Oww!

Hold on.

He's right there.

Let me get him.

Oh, yeah, he got me.

Aah, did you see that?

Yeah.

Tell us what is happening.

Burns.

Yep.

Yeah, right there.

You see right there on the side of my finger?

Do you see that?

Just barely that little red spot.

Wow, that, like, shot me backwards.

Did you should see that?

Yeah.

That was-- that was a sharp little wing.

Basically just going to put my hands

down right here in front of their burrow and let them

hop on.

Aah!

Yep, getting stung already.

Oh, that burns.

The venom is laced with an alkaloid poison, which

when released sends an alarm pheromone that

causes other ants in the area to attack.

Aah!

They're all over my hands now.

Look at that.

This was very obvious as after the first sting was inflicted,

it seemed as if the entire colony

was called to the front lines.

There's one on my neck.

Mari, get one off my neck.

My arms, my hands, the back of my head

are absolutely on fire right now.

Wow, the harvester ant is one formidable little foe.

I can tell you that much.

The velvet ant, which is actually a species of ground

wasp and not an ant at all, claims a famous nickname,

the cow killer.

However, there are no reported cases of cows or humans

for that matter ever dying from a velvet ant sting.

And go.

Oww!

Hold on.

OK.

Give me a second.

Oh my gosh.

You all right?

Oh, yeah.

What are you feeling?

What does it feel like?

Give it-- give me a second.

Oh my gosh, guys, this is super bad.

Oh my God.

I got a try to control my heart rate.

You could feel-- go all the way under the skin, all the way in.

I could feel it inserted into my arm.

Just based on the knowledge that these are extremely aggressive,

I have a feeling that the sting is going

to be unbelievably painful, but I am mentally

prepared to take the sting.

And I know that this is the moment that everybody's

been waiting for.

Whoa, look at that stinger.

Wow, it's turning red already.

Talk to me.

What are you feeling?

Oh, man.

Oh, man.

Yep, nope, it's bad.

Oh, man, it's getting a lot worse--

What does it feel like?

Really quickly.

So far not as bad as the bullet ant though.

Oh.

No, no, don't-- hold on.

It's a sharpshooting pain.

No turning back now, buddy.

That's a lot of bees.

My leg is shaking.

Oww, stung on the lip.

We got it.

We got this.

Getting stung a lot.

I've gotten stung about six times.

You definitely have a full neck of bees.

I can feel them all.

Are you still getting stung.

No, not right now.

So what does Coyote Peter--

Oww, it stung the lip again.

No.

All right, I think I need to get them off.

Are you OK, or you want them off?

It's a lot of pain.

Go ahead and just jump real hard and just knock 'em off.

Whoa.

They're all in my face.

My eyes!

You all right?

There it is, the Japanese giant hornet.

And I would say the giant is an understatement.

From its head to its thorax down its legs

which end in grappling hooked feet

and then, of course, that enormous pulsating abdomen,

everything about this creature screams

run in the other direction.

Yet here we are on the doorstep of the executioner wasp.

What we're going to find out today

is just how painful the sting of this hornet really is.

Oh, the stinger's stuck in my arm.

How bad is it?

Oh, man, wave at dizziness really quick.

Searing pain.

When the stinger went into my arm, I had this like wave.

Like, a wave came over me, and I got super dizzy.

Almost didn't feel what was happening.

And then the pain just was, like,

immediate, immediately searing.

Holy cow.

Oww, oww, oww!

OK, I'm going to have take my hands out pretty quickly, guys.

You can do it, man.

I can't. I can't.

I got to stop. I got to stop.

I got to stop.

Oh, they're still on me.

Aah, my hands are on fire right now.

It is worse than the harvester ant.

There's no question about it.

In total, I sustained over 300 stings, and for over a week,

I suffered through incredible discomfort,

which included flashes of pain and continuous itching.

It took over 30 days for the postulates

to completely diminish, and they left behind a trail of scars

that today serve as a constant reminder of why you never

want to tangle with fire ants.

That is the largest species of wasp in the United

States, ladies and gentlemen.

Now you look at this insect and you

say to yourself tarantula hawk.

Well, it's not a tarantula and it's not a hawk,

but like a hawk, they hunt for tarantulas.

This hawk is so quick, she will spin her abdomen up

underneath the belly of the tarantula,

insert that quarter inch stinger,

and the venom will instantly put that tarantula

into a state of paralysis.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where

the true horror story begins.

You all right?

Yep--

Oh my gosh!

You OK?

Tell me how you're really feeling.

I can't move my arm!

That is the most intense pain I've ever felt.

Don't think I can talk.

You OK, man?

I'm getting nervous.

Can you feel anything like--

do we need to worry?

No.

I just can't move my arm.

It is-- it's like my arm is in a state of paralysis right now.

The eastern mountainous slopes of Costa Rica

seem to be a world swarming with stinging insects,

and if bullet ants and warrior wasps were not enough,

the remote untamed wilds of this rainforest ecosystem

had one more painful sting up their sleeve.

With an intimidating specimen safely contained

within the viewing capsule, we return to our jungle base camp

and began scouring the internet for an identification to our

find.

All right, guys, so we have looked

up vespid wasps of Latin America,

and I found a great site.

And I have found out what this is.

What is it?

It is not a new species.

It is actually called the executioner wasp.

What?

Talk about a horrific name, right?

He seems completely calmed down at this point.

It is just waiting to inflict a sting.

Oh,

Yep, I'm ready.

I'm Coyote Petersen, and I'm about to enter the sting

zone with the executioner wasp.

Here we go.

1, 2, 3.

Oh my gosh!

Oh, that's really bad really quick.

Right there.

You can see the venom coming right out of my arm

right there.

You see that?

Oh my gosh!

It's getting worse.

Stop burning!

Now in this instance, I do not know if the pain is going

to last for more than an hour, more than five hours, more

than 36 hours but I can tell you right now that the pain has

lasted longer than the tarantula hawk and at this moment

it is worse than the bullet ant.

So in this immediate presentation,

I am declaring the executioner wasp as being the king of sting

as it currently stands.

All right, guys.

I'm just going to go and give you

an outro because I'm starting to have trouble

composing my words here.

Yeah, we're concerned, man.

You're not out of the woods yet are you?

No.

I'm Coyote Petersen.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see on the next adventure.

Man, that's intense.