Original subtitles

There's an old saying,

if at first you don't succeed, try, try, and try again.

When it comes to featuring the elusive timber rattlesnake,

this saying seems to be our team motto.

Oh my gosh.

The terrain that we traverse looking for rattlesnakes

is a challenge unlike anything we've really ever done before.

And this is our third venture out looking for timbers,

and it never gets any easier.

Sun is really beaten down on us, and you see all

this distance down behind me.

These mountain sides are what we essentially

scale looking for these perfect clusters of rocks

where are the snakes will be out and sunning.

It takes a toll on your body, that's for sure.

Time to catch up to Tim and Mario.

This hike is definitely testing our will to find these snakes.

Today we have gained special permissions

to explore what is known as a right of way that was built

several years ago during the insertion

of a natural gas pipeline.

Upon initial installment, this type of construction

would have had an adverse impact on the local wildlife.

Yet beyond construction, it has become an ideal habitat

for many species.

Insanely steep, brush covered, and strewn with a jumble

of various rock sizes, this is now

the perfect safe haven for our sought after target,

the timber rattlesnake.

Wow.

I mean, we're always talking about how beautiful West

Virginia is, but when you make it to the top of a bluff

like this, check out the view.

That is something.

My goodness.

Wild and wonderful West Virginia right there.

Endless miles of possible snake territory.

But are we going to find one?

That's the real question.

Once again we have teamed up with wildlife expert Tim Brust.

You likely recognize Tim from a variety of episodes

on the "Brave Wilderness" channel,

but it's truly the timber rattlesnake that we

can define as his specialty.

Currently Tim has been conserving

these snakes by mitigating human snake interactions.

Simply put, he explores the areas

that are about to go under construction,

finds, and safely moves these reptiles

from the path of bulldozers.

During this process, he also educates field crews

about these misunderstood animals, which

helps to keep the snakes alive and the human safe from having

an unwanted venomous encounter.

We are going down at a pretty considerable angle right now

in our search for timber rattlesnakes.

Now a lot of this environment has this crumbled flat rock,

right, all of this, this almost like sheet rock.

So we're lifting up these giant pieces of rock

and looking beneath them for snakes.

You hear that?

It is completely hollow underneath this rock,

and it's very big, which means there's

no chance of flipping it.

But I came down and I scouted this after walking over it

and look at this.

That right there is an absolute perfect spot for a timber

rattlesnake to be hiding.

Now you would never want to stick your hand up

and underneath a rock like that to sift through the leaves.

A bite from a timber rattlesnake could definitely kill you.

It's just a matter of covering ground and searching,

searching, searching.

The more ground we cover, the better the chances we have

of finding a snake.

The western hemisphere is home to 32 different rattlesnake

species, and in my opinion, the timber rattler

is one of the most iconic.

We have been trying for years to share the species with you,

but today things are about to change.

So Tim and Mario or ahead of me.

They just called out.

They found a timber rattlesnake.

Making my way as fast I can down this rocky slope.

I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming.

OK, this is it.

We've got a timber rattlesnake.

Yes!

Oh my gosh, that snake is beautiful.

OK, it sounds like we've got two snakes.

So what we're doing is just bagging

the snake for the moment to see if we can get the bigger one.

Yeah, really big snake, really big snake.

All right, what do you need me to do, Tim?

Whoa, holy mackerel, that is huge snake.

We can't--

we can't--

Here, hold the tongs here.

You got it?

Yep.

Watch out.

Here's the head here.

Let's be really careful there's

no other snakes in the area.

So what's happening right now is we've got a very

big snake underneath this rock.

It's a very dangerous situation.

You can see how steep it is right here, so we've

got to be very careful.

There are also other snakes within the rocks,

so we're going to slowly peel back pieces of these rocks

and see if we can safely get the snake.

Check it out.

There are sheds of snake skin all over the place.

We have found a spot.

It's been quite the hike to get to this spot,

but we have finally got a timber rattlesnake, several of them

actually.

Oh my God.

It's a big snake.

Oh my God.

Hold him, hold him, hold him.

Wow.

That is a huge rattlesnake.

OK, do we have another bag with us?

Yep.

OK.

In total, we were able to secure three snakes, one of which

appeared to be a gravid female.

This is incredibly exciting for the future of this population.

Beautiful.

And to ensure she does not get

stressed, we immediately release her back into the rocks.

Don't want to get any closer than that.

How about that, Mario?

We finally got our timber.

We got multiple timbers.

Oh my gosh.

That is a good sized snake.

All right, so what we're going to do

is actually put the snake in a snake bag at the moment.

It is definitely a big snake, but we

can't film right here we have to take it to a slightly

more controlled setting.

So we're going to safely bag it, move it, and then bring it

back down here for the release.

When you're bagging a snake, you always

want to secure it at the back side

of the bag with the snake hook.

Snakeskin.

That means this is a healthy population of rattlesnakes that

hang out in this area here.

We've hit the rattlesnake mother lode.

That's for sure.

With the two other snakes contained,

we begin the arduous climb back up the steep sides of the right

away.

This is a very slow and very delicate process.

Mario, are you doing OK?

Actually I tell you what, it's really hard on the forearm.

You got to keep the snake well away from your body

so it doesn't swing on you.

Snakes can bite easily through the bags,

and most people are envenomated when they're

transporting snakes like this.

So you have to be very careful.

There's the snakes.

That's where we came from.

And that is where we're still going.

A lot of effort but totally worth it.

Wow.

There it is, the timber rattlesnake.

This is our third attempt at finding

one of these reptiles in the wild,

and my goodness is this one handsome.

Now the name timber rattlesnake comes from the fact

that you find these snakes in forested areas,

and they are cryptic.

Unless you know exactly what it is that you're looking for,

your odds of seeing one are rather pretty slim.

Unless you stumble upon it and it

gives you that warning of its rattle,

you may walk right past it.

Now as compared to the other rattlesnake species here

in the United States, I'd actually consider

this species rather docile.

Their defense is always going to be to rely on their camouflage

first.

If you get too close, this is exactly what you're going

to hear, that rattle going into full action,

basically a security system that says you're too close.

Get any closer and you may take a bite.

You can see how close I am to the snake right

now, just about a foot and a half from it.

I don't want to make any sudden movements

and provoke it to striking, but it definitely

senses that I'm here.

And the rattlesnake is the pinnacle of snake evolution.

What I want you guys to really take a look at

are the heat sensing pits right in front of the eye

and right below the nostril that allow

these snakes to pick up the heat signatures of their prey.

Basically all they need to do is lay

in wait as an ambush predator for something to come close.

Their tongue will flick out, they will sense the chemicals,

the smell of that prey item, and then

with those heat sensing pits, they

can hone in almost like a heat seeking missile

and then strike out with those hinged fangs.

Remember that fangs are like hypodermic needles,

and the second day inject that venom,

that prey item has pretty much no chance of surviving.

Now if it's something like a small rabbit or a rat,

a chipmunk, a squirrel and it runs off

the snake will actually follow the scent of that prey item

until it succumbs to the venom and then it's

capable of swallowing down its meal.

And those fangs work individually of one another,

and they will almost use those, like, grappling

hooks to drag their prey backwards into their mouths.

Now the things are modified teeth,

but all snakes have multiple rows

of teeth within their mouth that are

constantly being replaced throughout the course

of the snake's life.

So as the fangs draw the prey in,

the other teeth work it back down the throat

and they swallow their prey whole.

Now as compared to other rattlesnake species

in the United States, I would say the timber rattlesnake

is more ambush than it is nomadic.

They will always lay in wait waiting

for their prey to come to them.

Any small mammals or small amphibians

that they come across within the forested environment

make perfect prey.

And a snake of this size, which measures I would guess

just a little over three feet in length

is considered a full grown adult.

You may be saying to yourselves, Coyote,

you guys are so good at being able to come across animals.

How come it's taken you so many attempts

to find the timber rattlesnake?

This species specifically has been

persecuted beyond what other rattlesnakes have even faced.

A lot of times people will come across the den, which

is known as a hibernaculum.

Once they see this, a huge collection

of snakes, what they will do is sometimes

dump concrete or gasoline and burn these snakes

or bury them alive, so you can wipe

out an entire population of snakes

by doing something like that.

So seeing one of these snakes actually several of them

like this in the wild in a very difficult to reach spot

is a very positive thing.

It means that the population is thriving.

Nothing makes us more excited than to see

a thriving population of timber rattlesnakes.

This is just such a cool reptile.

Now the next most important thing

that we need to do is actually collect

the biometrics of this snake and to do

that, what we're going to do is gently get it

into a snake tube.

This will put the least amount of stress on the snake

and will be the safest scenario for both myself,

Tim, and the crew to be able to handle the snake.

What I also want to do is get a more up close look

at that rattle because when it comes to rattlesnakes,

nothing is more impressive than that defense system.

All right, snake is on the move.

All right, Tim, so what would you

like me to do to help with this part of the procedure?

Now these guys, you want to gently direct

their head into the tube.

I got it.

So he goes in, just set the tube at an angle

if you can downward.

OK.

Sometimes it takes 30 seconds.

Sometimes it takes 20 minutes.

Grab, grab, grab, grab, grab, grab, grab now.

Quick, quick, quick.

Now push him in.

Push him up.

There you go.

Two on the tube, two on the snake.

Woo.

That was not easy.

Wow, that is a powerful snake.

My goodness.

With the snakes safely tubed, Tim and I

are able to quickly collect the biometrics, which include

the snake's total length, scale count

below the cloaca to determine the reptile's sex, and finally

a rattle button count.

This doesn't tell us anything specifically scientific.

It's just cool to compare rattle sizes.

That rattle is one of the most unique aspects of this snake,

and the rattle itself is actually

made out of modified scales.

You can actually see the way that it's

growing out of the tip of the rattlesnake's tail itself.

Now inside its tail are a bunch of very specialized muscles

that allow the tail to vibrate at a very

high rate, which causes the rattle to actually rattle.

So I can rattle it myself like that,

or I let go of those muscles, the rattlesnake

will rattle it on its own.

Now the rattle is made out of something known as keratin,

the same material that the scale's are made out of

and the same thing that your hair and your fingernails

are made of.

People always want to know, well, what's inside

the rattle of a rattlesnake.

Truth be told, nothing at all.

They're actually interlocking segments that are hollow.

They're known as buttons.

And when they vibrate against each, other that is where

you get the rattling sound.

Now you cannot tell the age of a rattlesnake

by the number of buttons.

People often think that like the rings

of a tree, if you count those buttons,

you can tell how old the snake is.

That is not true because throughout the course

of the snake's life, it can lose segments of its rattle

but a new button comes into place every single time

this snake sheds its skin.

Now this snake here has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,

12, 13 buttons on that rattle.

Honestly this is the largest rattle

I've ever seen on any of the rattlesnakes

we have featured on the "Brave Wilderness" channel.

Truly a unique aspect of this snake's evolution

that makes it so incredibly distinct as

compared to any other snake around the world.

Well, how cool was this, spending an unbelievable amount

of time searching for and finally

finding the timber rattlesnake.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

For anyone that has ever spent time

exploring in the southwest, I'm willing to bet

there's a good chance that you have seen a lizard.

However, there's a big difference between seeing

and catching a lizard.

When it comes to Arizona's Sonoran Desert,

one of my favorite species is the desert iguana,

which is actually pretty easy to track

down as long as you follow the right signs in the environment.

One key to having an animal encounter is being able to be

patient, which is oftentimes easier

said than done, especially when dealing

with the heat of the desert.

Oh, it is scorching hot.

It is about 105 degrees.

We've been out here since about 6:00 this morning.

We're approaching noon right now,

which is OK because the desert iguana does better in high heat

than most other lizard species.

We are in a field of creosote bushes and mesquite trees--

The sun beating down, its beams of light

slowly cooking us as we rounded spine

covered plants and stared into empty creosote bushes.

I mean, there are literally thousands

of these creosote bushes out here,

and you can see how sparse they are.

I mean, you can pretty much walk up like this,

look in, no lizard, keep moving.

Time seemed to be dragging on forever

until finally I spotted our target.

There's one right there.

Well, it's a lizard.

I can't tell if it's a desert iguana,

but there's definitely a lizard right

there basking in that tree.

Oh, this is it.

OK, I don't know if I'm going to be able to catch it.

This the first we've seen.

He's pretty low.

He's probably got a burrow right under there.

OK.

Follow me. Let me see if we can get him.

This is just-- we're going to have one shot at this.

It is.

It's a desert iguana.

You see he's just up on that branch.

He's holding on.

He's got his foot wrapped around that branch.

OK, I'm pretty much just going to have

to make a jump into that creosote bush

and try to grab him.

Are you ready?

1, 2, 3.

He got right down that burrow.

Dang it.

Well, we know where he is.

Did you see how fast they are?

Unbelievably fast.

All right, first thing we need to do

is block up any other possible exits for this burrow.

And then what I'm going to use his a bottle of water

dump that down the hole, and hopefully

I'll get him flushed back out.

All right, we ready?

Not the smartest thing to do with your last bottle of water

in the desert, but when you want to catch a desert iguana,

sometimes you don't have many options.

During monsoon season, burrows flood on a daily basis.

So what I'm doing is replicating a completely natural

occurrence.

This burrow might be really deep.

Shoot.

We're going to need more water.

We're going to need more water.

Things don't always go according to plan,

and when it comes to catching lizards,

this is often the case.

Now it's fair to say that these reptiles are

considerably faster than I am.

However, I'd argue that they definitely are

not smarter than this Coyote.

Dang it.

Well, we know where he is.

It was time to call in plan B, the man-made monsoon.

Now in the desert when huge monsoon rains pour down,

all these burrows flood, which drives the animals

up out of the ground.

We're going to pour gallons of water into this burrow,

hopefully get the desert iguana to shoot out of there,

and I'll be able to catch it.

It's going to be tough, but we're not going to give up yet.

We sent our wildlife biologist Mario huffing across the desert

and back to our vehicle where he would retrieve our emergency

five-gallon reserve of water.

I got to sit here underneath this creosote bush

and watch the hole in case the lizard comes out.

This is literally a stakeout now.

Anything could be living in that hole,

so it makes me a little nervous just laying here.

But that's my move.

I guess I could sit here and practice 'cause

we're gonna get one shot.

If we get these gallons of water here

and that lizard does pop back up out of the burrow,

if I don't get it on the first try,

we're not going to have another shot at it.

45 minutes later and Mario returned with the water.

All right, we're back.

Bring it on in, Mario.

Mario has huffed across the desert

and has brought back with him--

what is that, five gallons of water?

Five gallons.

If that doesn't get this iguana out of that burrow,

you guys will have seen your first official

miss on breaking trail.

See, everybody's always asking, Coyote,

do you always catch the animals?

This is truly one of those instances

where I think we're going to release this episode even if I

don't catch it just because of how much

work we've gone through to try to get it.

OK, you guys, ready?

I'm going to tip it and just kind

of start to funnel it in there. Ready?

Yep. - 1, 2, 3.

The method I'm using to draw the iguana up from this burrow

simulates a completely natural occurrence in the desert

during monsoon season.

So this is in no way hurting the animal or the environment.

It's a lot of water.

Come on.

Something's moving.

Something's definitely coming up.

I could hear it.

Got him!

Oh.

Did you guys see that!

Could you see his leg sticking up!

Oh, man, your hand's dirty.

Oh my gosh.

My hand is shaking.

I didn't know when I should actually reach for him,

and we actually got him.

Can you guys believe that that just happened?

Oh my gosh.

That may be the most impressive catch I have

ever pulled off in my life.

Did you think you were

actually going to catch him? I did not.

I thought it was pretty hopeless.

As we sent Mario back to get that giant jug of water

literally sitting here for, what, a good 45 minutes staring

at the burrow, nothing coming out,

I figured it was connected to one of these other holes,

and he was long gone.

But sometimes if you wait it out,

you can catch the desert iguana.

Now this is a lizard species that

is very active during the day.

As you can see, incredibly quick as it

jumped out of that creosote bush and darted into a burrow.

And they're pretty docile.

If you can manage to catch one of these lizards--

as you can see, it's not trying to bite me.

It's really just hanging out at this point.

All right, bring your camera in a little bit closer there.

Look at the eyes of that lizard.

Now this is primarily a diurnal species,

which means that they're out during the day.

That's why they're so in tune to everything that's moving

around in their environments.

The cryptic color pattern on this lizard

allows it to perfectly blend into these sandy environments,

and their bellies are incredibly smooth,

which allows them to quickly scurry

across hot sand surfaces.

Now the desert iguana is related to the green iguana, which

is native to Central and South America,

but here in the Southwest, this is the only iguana

that you're going to bump into.

Let's talk about this lizard's tail for a second.

Look at how long that is.

About twice the length of the body.

Now they use these tails to help them balance in the trees

when they're trying to eat the flowers of the creosote bush,

but also when they're on the ground and they're running,

they can almost lift their body just slightly up off the sand

and the tail works like a rudder as it helps them navigate

across the desert terrain.

Now one of the coolest and grossest facts

about this lizard is that they don't only

eat those delicious little creosote bush flowers.

They also eat the fecal pellets of other desert iguanas.

Do you guys know what a fecal pellet is?

That's a poop.

You eat other desert iguana's poop.

The reason that they eat these fecal pellets

is to balance out the amount of cellulose that is in their gut.

So gross.

Let me smile your breath.

Doesn't smell like he's been eating any turds this morning.

Smells like you been eating some creosote bush flowers.

Kind of gross but also kind of neat at the same time.

Well, it certainly wasn't easy, but a little bit of patience

and five gallons of water, and we managed to catch ourselves

one awesome desert iguana.

Time to get this little guy back into the wild

and see what else we can find out here in the Sonoran Desert.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.