Original subtitles

I'm Mark Vins.

And I'm about to take a sting from the most

aggressive ant on the planet.

This nest here in front of me is home

to the Australian bulldog ant that can both bite and sting.

And I'm about to find out just how much damage it can do.

I'm going to attempt to use this little stick

to try to get a bulldog ant for our sting test.

All right, we got a forceps, small container,

now we just need the bulldog ant itself.

I'm going to lightly disturb the entryway.

Oh, here we go, got them already.

That makes me nervous.

The ants are starting to swarm.

You see how big they are?

This is like a volcano of ants.

Oh, gosh, he's got me.

They're getting on me.

All right, I'm going to get our ant fast.

Here we go.

I got it.

Yes.

Oh, man, there we go.

We've got one.

That is a really good size bulldog ant.

They're starting to swarm a little too

much to hang out here.

Let's go reposition away from the nest

so we can get a closer look at one of the scariest ants

in the world.

Australians fear these massive ants because they attack

in swarms and without warning.

If you accidentally disturb them,

you can be covered in just a matter of seconds.

Bulldog ants can be found all over Australia

and often build nests in people's yards and local parks,

which is exactly where we discovered these ants.

This particular species is one of the largest growing to over 1

inch in length.

And, of course, for this sting test,

we wanted the big dogs so we can compare how they

rank against the legendary bullet ants

of South and Central America.

Now it's time to find out which is worse.

All right, guys, it's officially go time with the bulldog ant.

Look at the size of this insect.

Size wise, I would definitely say it gives the bullet

ant a run for its money.

But appearance, this ant is second to none

when it comes to intimidation factor.

But before I test the might of this insect,

let's get it out of the container

and take an even closer look at those jaws and its stinger.

All right, here we go.

Well, it's already jumping out.

I want to be very careful right now.

And they are so aggressive.

Look at that, it's already biting on the forceps.

I'm just going to try my best to get a good grip.

And I'm getting nervous.

Gosh, hang on.

All right, I got to get it on the ground.

Here we go.

Unlike other ants, they don't really

react to scents and pheromones.

They react to sight.

So any time I try to grab it with the forceps,

it sees that I'm coming.

There we go.

OK, perfect hold.

There it is.

No animal has been requested for a sting test

more than the bulldog ant in the history of "Brave Wilderness,"

and now I can see why.

Wow, I have never seen a more terrifying-looking ant

in my entire life.

Let's start at the top.

Look at the size of those mandibles.

They are like serrated shears attached

to these bulbous eyes almost like

a vise grip just ready to snap and pinch on to anything

it can touch.

Look at the eyes of the ant.

You can really see how much it reacts by using its sight.

Look how it turns its head to the different ways

that I position my finger around it.

And then, of course, before we get to the stinger,

I just have to say, look at the size of those legs.

Because they are visually stimulated,

they use their extremely long legs

to extend quickly and flick themselves

onto any would-be predators, earning

them the name jumping jacks.

And then, of course, we could see the stinger flying

already from the abdomen.

Like other stinging insects, only the females can sting.

This is actually a century or a soldier ant tasked with guarding

the front of the nest.

And you saw with just the slightest disruption,

a fleet of soldiers came flying out

of the nest ready for attack.

And they got all over my boots.

I nearly took a sting right away,

but we saved the sting for this moment in the video.

The sting of this ant is said to be one of the most painful

experiences that you can get from any animal

here on the continent of Australia,

some even argue in the world.

The biggest difference between bullet and bulldog ant stings

are the toxins they use.

Bullet ants use a poneratoxin, which is slow building

and can last for days, while bulldog ants use formic acid

that causes instant pain.

And when these ants swarm and cover people by the dozens,

they have the ability to take down a fully grown adult.

Holy cow, she's looking at me.

Oh my gosh, look at that stinger go.

I have a feeling this is going to hurt.

I'm Mark Vins.

And I'm about to enter the sting zone with one of the most

terrifying ants on the planet, the Australian bulldog

ant on three.

1, 2, 3.

Ah! Yeah.

Ah.

God, you see the stinger going in?

Yeah, that's a good sting.

Yeah.

Oh, it's really got a stinger in me.

Ah, it's got its stingers in.

Ah!

All right, put it back in the jar.

Oh, that hurts.

All right.

Oh my gosh.

Whoa!

Whoa!

Whoa!

My goodness.

Yeah, that burns.

That is a super, super intense sting.

Oh my gosh.

OK, hang on.

Let me compose myself.

That was like instant fire underneath my skin

so much more like potent than the bullet ant.

But I can tell you this, the bite was really nothing.

It didn't really get a good grip on with those jaws,

but it's certainly got its stinger stuck in my arm.

And it-- a little dry mouth.

Hang on.

My adrenaline's kicking in.

Yeah, I'm all right, I think.

All right.

Geez, it's all so hot out all of a sudden.

All right.

I think I'm good to continue on.

All right.

You bulldog.

All right.

You see that stinger site?

It got a little bit of a acute swelling,

maybe some residual bumps, and it definitely burns.

I would say the initial onset of the sting,

it was like a lightning bolt way more intense than a bullet ant.

But I can tell you, it's already starting to subside a bit.

But wow, that is a rip shot of pain.

Man!

I'm really getting dry mouth, guys.

The--

It is. I've got my epipen.

Don't worry.

Yeah.

I don't need it yet, but I gotta monitor my--

to make sure my tongue's not swelling up or anything.

But holy cow, that sting is like a hammer.

It's like somebody literally just took a hammer

and went wham--

instantaneous pain, not even a small delay.

As soon as the Stinger touched my skin, boom, it was on.

I hope you enjoyed that one because I don't think I

want to go armed to stinger again with that

intimidating little ant.

Now I am not out of the woods by any means.

I'm going to continue to monitor the sting

over the next two days.

I can tell you this, a single sting from a bulldog ant

so far does not compete with the bullet ant.

Unlike the bullet ant that just started to build and build

and build, I'm starting to really get

past that initial wave of pain.

And now I'm just really more dealing with the after effects

of the adrenaline starting to get that like, queasy stomach,

cold sweat, and just simple nausea

that I usually get after taking a sting.

But a swarm of bulldog ants, I would estimate,

could take even the most pain tolerant person to their knees.

All right, I think, I'm going to need some ice.

Sure enough, things got a lot worse.

Just hours later, the redness and inflammation

flared up and were joined by an intense itching

that lasted for several days.

Compared to other stings I've taken,

this one was a sleeper that turned into a monster.

Bulldog ants stings are known for their instant pain.

So I was shocked when I was hit with these delayed reactions.

While I did not experience the 24 hours of deep bone

break pain that the bullet ant gave me,

Oh, oh, that hurts.

That is searing pain.

This was far from an ordinary walk in the park.

In fact, as of the editing of this video,

my arm is still discolored and healing.

If I were to have been swarm and stung

like the stick in the beginning of the video,

it would have been a very bad situation.

But now I know exactly why Australians go so far

out of their way to avoid the jumping tear

that is the bulldog ant.

Yikes!

It's time to go diving.

Today, we are on the hunt for the batfish, one of the most

bizarre creatures in the ocean.

This fish is so strange, you'll hardly

believe it's a fish at all.

To find one, we will dive under Florida's

famous Blue Heron bridge and search

through piles of wreckage.

This fish is going to be hiding from us, so spotting one

will be a challenge.

On top of that, our time is extremely limited.

We only have around 50 minutes of air in the tank,

and we need to complete the mission

before the strong currents return with the tide

and make diving here impossible.

There's no time to waste.

Let's get searching.

To find the batfish, we will need to get close to the bottom

and search carefully.

They are Masters of disguise and are usually hidden so well,

you can easily miss them even if you're looking directly at it.

Do you see all of those spiky red worms?

Those are painful to touch and are called fire worms.

Fire worms are a real danger for any diver.

Their needle-like spines are covered

in a strong toxin that can sting and cause horrible pain.

Underwater, it's an even bigger risk

because the pain can cause panic attacks

and difficulty breathing.

If I were to get stung right now,

it could be an emergency situation.

Clearly they are everywhere.

So touching anything without looking first

is a terrible idea.

OK, that looks like a good place for a batfish to hide.

Let's search over there.

And I can already feel the currents

starting to come back making it harder to swim forward.

Because of the tides, there are only

two small windows of time every day to even

try to search for batfish.

But because finding one is so rare,

they are always the number one target of anyone who dives here.

Look, there's something hiding under that rock.

It's a spotted moray eel.

While most non-divers worry about sharks,

actually it's these animals that are far more

common and likely to attack.

All right, let's give this guy some space

and keep searching for the batfish.

Check this out.

That is an arrowhead crab.

They are super strange and worth a closer look.

At first glance, you might mistake the crab for a spider

from outer space, but they are actually

related to normal crabs.

If we zoom in, we can see there there are two blue pinchers

near the front of its body.

And look, there's a yellow spotted stingray.

These rays can be extremely hard to spot because they are small

and spend most of their lives buried beneath the sand.

Like other stingrays, they have a razor-sharp barb

along their tail and will sting if threatened.

And just because we can see one doesn't mean,

there aren't others hiding around.

Stingrays could be hidden anywhere down here

and is yet another reason we need to be careful

anytime we touch the sand.

OK, that's a quarter tank gone, but I feel like our luck

is starting to pick up.

Spotting all these other creatures

is a great sign the batfish could be close by.

Take a look at this spike ball.

Sometimes they're confused for puffer fish

because these burrfish are very similar looking.

Yes, those spikes are super sharp

and is why they don't have many predators down here.

Even for the toughest fish, you don't want

a mouthful of spines like that.

The tide is coming back faster than I thought it would.

And it's really hard to hold the camera steady.

But I'm seeing something bright.

Let's close in on those pillars.

Wow, that is a giant yellow seahorse and a super rare find.

I didn't even know we could find these here.

If you look carefully, you can see it's

covered in small black dots.

And to handle these strong currents,

seahorses use their tails to anchor

on nearly anything they can grab onto since they

aren't very good swimmers.

But that has to be the most colorful

seahorse I've ever seen.

Very cool, but we need to move on.

Visibility is starting to get worse,

and time is really running out.

There's definitely a lot of life down here, but still

no signs of the batfish.

Air supply's just above 40%.

We really need to hurry up.

OK.

This is the perfect habitat.

Let's search this area well.

Batfish are masters of camouflage.

Still seeing fireworms everywhere,

just can't get away from them.

All right, no luck in that pile.

These sandy bottoms are probably our best

bet with the remaining air.

While it is common to find them tucked in debris,

you can also see batfish in areas like this.

I'm seeing something up near that wreck, definitely

some activity in the debris around it.

Jeez, this wreck is absolutely covered in fireworks, too.

But what do we have here?

Oh, that is a pair of spiny lobsters in a big sea

urchin behind them.

And right next to them is another arrowhead crab.

Still no batfish.

All right, it's time to get back on track.

We have about 20 minutes left before I run out of air.

This search is not over.

Seen something now lurking behind that piece of rubble

there, see it 4 meters away?

Let's check it out.

It's a sea robin, another bottom-dwelling fish

that can actually walk.

Truthfully, this is about as close

as you can get to a batfish without actually being one.

We need to be careful here.

I don't want to scare it away too soon.

Sea robins are fast when they want to be.

Approaching now.

OK.

This one is a northern sea robin and is right next

to a bandtail puffer.

He is watching me.

All right.

So their most unusual feature has to be their ability

to walk on those spines, which are

nothing more than modified fins, but they

definitely look like legs.

This fish could have easily been named the spider fish.

And as you can see, they use their legs

really well to walk around so they can scavenge for food.

OK.

He's thinking of fleeing now.

And this is a good time to see the display

of those wing-like fins.

And there he goes flying across the sea floor.

When they deploy their fins, it allows them to move

quickly for short periods.

And they can glide along the sea floor almost

like the wings of a bird.

Let's give this guy some space.

We are still on the hunt for the batfish,

and we're not giving up yet.

All right, I'm seeing something there.

Bingo, target spotted.

That is a batfish.

Zoom in.

All right, approaching.

Let's see how close we can get.

This is a polka-dot batfish, a slow swimmer

that can also walk along the seafloor using

its two stubby fins as feet.

I'm going to try to get even closer to show you how it blends

in with its surroundings.

They usually remain still to look like debris on the sea

floor, which helps them ambush their prey

when it swims too close.

In this case, it's helping us get

a lot closer with the camera.

Whoa!

Here he comes making a fast break.

Let's try to follow, and hopefully he'll stop again.

This might be my only shot to see one of these.

OK.

Now for something really weird, I'm

going to attempt to show off its gills which are actually

located behind its armpits.

This might be a little tricky.

There they are.

The batfish gills are oddly located behind their fins,

which helps them remain still and camouflage.

I've just above 15% air remaining,

and every breath counts, especially

when you found one of the rarest animals down here

and have more to see.

You can really get a good look at its strange shape

from this overhead shot.

Check out that triangle body.

OK.

Here we go, nice and calm now.

Game on.

Let's try to look for the most famous attribute

of the batfish, their lure.

Since they're a member of the anglerfish family,

they are equipped with the built-in fishing

rod just above their mouth that retracts in and out.

Yes, it actually is a fishing pole

that moves out of their face much like a transformer.

They use this lure to attract small fish and other animals

that they can gobble up.

I won't be able to hang on much longer until we have to surface.

Come on, one time.

There it is.

Did you see that?

Let's play that back.

What?

It actually has a lure on the end of the rod

that it flings out as well.

I didn't even know that it could do that.

Holy cow, I cannot believe how much it can

transform its face like that.

That is absolutely amazing and cooler than I

could have ever imagined.

All right, batfish footage secured and mission

accomplished.