All language subtitles for B.W.S10E01.Milking.Costa.Ricas.Most.Dangerous.Pit.Viper.Human.Blood.vs.Snake.Venom.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD2.0.H.264-playWEB_track3_[eng]

Nature
is riddled with dangers.

And to the untrained eye,
if you don't recognize

one of its many
biological landmines,

it's possible that your next
step could be your last.

Spiders, scorpions, centipedes,
and even spiky plants

can be considered
explosively perilous

if they catch you off guard.

But nothing is more serious than
stepping on a venomous snake.

On this adventure, we're going
to take a look at Central

and South America's most
notorious pit viper, a snake

that I am all too familiar with
and a reptile that you should

definitely be aware of lest
you accidentally encounter it

while hiking in the rainforest.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

What do we got?

We got a fer-de-lance
right in front

of us right under this leaf.

Look at this right in front
of me, right in front of me.

Look at that camouflage.

Holy cow, his head's coming
right up past that leaf.

Oh my gosh, that
is the camouflage

that you hope you recognize
before you step too close.

The snake literally just
crawled up underneath the leaf.

Its nose is just poking up
right in the middle of the path

that we are walking down.

I don't see it.

Right, right--
look at this bright leaf

in front of me.
You see this?

Its nose is just sticking
up on the top of it.

You see that?
Got it.

Keep your light there.

Completely
hidden, the fer-de-lance,

arguably the most
dangerous snake in Central

and South America.

Yes, I was hoping we'd
see one of these tonight.

One thing we've
never done before

is tube one of these
vipers and take a closer

look from that position.

So I'm going to slowly
lift back this leaf.

I have no idea how
big the snake is.

This is sometimes the
funnest part, what's

the leaf going to reveal?

How big is this snake?

It looks sizable.

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah,
that's a good-sized snake.

Oh, buddy, look at you.

OK.

Right now, it is still
saying to itself, I'm hidden.

Nobody sees me.

If I don't move, maybe you
guys will just pass right by,

and I'll continue about my
night hunting for prey items.

But we definitely want
to get a better look.

All right, Mario, the snake is
actually in a absolutely perfect

position for us to try to get it
safely inside of a snake tube.

It's the safest
situation for the snake,

and it will put the least amount
of stress on it as possible.

Get your camera to too
much closer than that.

What's amazing
about these snakes

is that they can go from
completely gargoyle statue

still into explosive action.

And these snakes can launch
themselves 2/3 the length

of their body forward, which
is why they are incredibly

dangerous to work with.

Oh, oh.

And just like that, I
dropped my snake tongs,

and the snake is on the move.

OK.

We need a light.

It's just kind of slithering
slowly, which is good.

It's not being too explosive.

Like I said, they can
move incredibly quick

when they need to.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, careful.

All right, Coyote.

Can I step in?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'll tell you what, why don't
you take the snake hook.

Yeah.

I'll take the tube.

You got the right gauge?

- You're going to pick it up.
- I'll pick it up.

OK.

Go ahead, switch.

This never gets any easier.

This is definitely the
most dangerous part.

Angled down.

Like, yeah, angled.

Not yet.

Not yet.

Now.

Now.

We got it.

Here we go.

oh, look at the
fangs inside there.

OK.

Be very, very gentle now.

OK.

You just have to take a deep
breath after successfully

getting control of
a snake like that

because the bite from this
species is extremely toxic.

Hemotoxic and cytotoxic, it
will break down red blood cells.

This is one of the
most potent bites

of any venomous snake on the
Western half of the world.

And if you're bitten
by a snake like this

and you do not get the proper
care, it could take your life.

Now when I turn the
snake like this,

you can see the scalation
is very, very defined.

It's very rigid, very bumpy.

It's got incredible
texture to it.

And that texture also helps to
keep these snakes camouflaged.

One of the names that this
snake is commonly known by

is the lancehead.

And that's because
of the triangular

nature of the head
almost looks like the tip

of a lance or a spear.

And like all pit
vipers, they have

a heat sensing pit,
which, of course, helps

them to detect their prey.

And while they will take
advantage of mammals,

certain times of
year, these snakes

primarily feast on amphibians.

And with all the rain that just
recently moved through earlier,

I'm guessing this
snake is on the hunt

for any sort of creature that
can possibly come across.

Whether it's a mammal
or an amphibian,

it is fair game if you
are a snake like this

out and on the hunt.

Now one of the reasons I
was so excited to have come

across a fer-de-lance
tonight is that I've always

wanted to show you
guys what happens

when you mix this pit viper
venom with blood, human blood.

But to safely do that,
we're going to need to head

back to DeLand, Florida.

If we connect with our friends
at the Reptile Discovery Center,

we can actually get hands
on with one of these snakes

in captivity and
safely show you guys

what it takes to not
only milk this species

but also to mix its
venom with human blood.

Interacting with the
fer-de-lance ants

is like handling a
loaded gun, and just

a single mistake could quickly
turn into a medical emergency

or worse.

This species is responsible
for 90% of the snake

bites in Central America,
making them the most

dangerous snake in their range.

Sounds horrific, but
here's the good news.

If a bite victim is taken to
the hospital in a timely manner

and antivenom is administered,
the survival rate

is extremely high.

We have returned to the
Reptile Discovery Center

in DeLand, Florida.

Millions of you enjoyed
the previous episodes

we filmed here.

So it's an absolute honor for
us to return and once again

work alongside Carl and Mara.

This serpentarium
is not only home

to dozens of the world's
most dangerous snakes,

it is also the first
step in the production

of life-saving antivenoms.

Yet in order for antivenom
to be created, first

you need the snake's venom.

And to get the venom, you
need to milk the snakes.

Behind us is a room filled with
snakes, and in one of those

boxes is the fer-de-lance,
Central and South

America's most notorious snake.

And today, we're
going to milk it.

Are you guys ready for this?
- We're ready.

I think so.

Are you nervous?

Never.

- Let's bring out the snake.
- Beautiful.

OK.
She's coming up.

All right.

Now remember, Carl and
Mara are professionals.

They do this on a weekly basis
working with these snakes.

But it's going to be
really interesting to see

the fer-de-lance not in
its natural environment.

I don't know what the
snake's are going to look

like, how big it's going to be.

So I'm ready to be surprised.

This is going to get intense.

Boy, here we go.

Wow.

Yeah, that's-- that's
about the size we're used

to seeing in Costa Rica.

Look at that.

They are big,
well-adapted pit vipers.

They have highly
developed venoms.

Toxic venoms tend to be
tremendously hemolytic,

in other words, do lots of
destruction to blood cells.

And so they account
for a lot of bites

in South America, as you know,
or Central and South America.

And so it's a really a
formidable pit viper.

So a bite from this
snake without antivenom

is almost guaranteed
to kill you?

I'm not going to say
always lethal because, again,

sometimes a bite
from that snake will

result in a minor envenomation.

He won't give you anything.

But a severe or a
significant envenomation

by that snake without
treatment would

probably result in fatality
or perhaps the loss of a limb.

OK.

So, Carl, at this point, the
snake is looking right at us.

I feel like it's probably a
good point to milk this snake.

What's this process
going to look like?

So the catch here is going
to be a little bit different.

If you start to really
look at that snake's body

language, Coyote,
he's starting to kind

of get act up a little bit.

He's starting to get nervous.

And fer-de-lance can be
really flighty snakes.

Now, have
you ever had one jump off

of the table?

We have just not
quite as far as you.

I keep wanting to
look off at the camera,

but then I keep my
eye on the snake.

It looks like it's
in launch mode.

OK.
Absolutely.

I think
this is probably the moment.

What do you guys need me to do?

Just step off to the
right a little bit.

We're going to give Mara little
room to kind of work her magic.

I'm going to secure him, and
then I'll hand him over to you.

Nice.

Look right--

The pressure's coming down.

All wound up.

Oh, that's a strike.

- And there's full pressure on--
- Oh, perfect.

Good.
Don't change anything.

Perfect.

That's a strong snake.

Good.

So, Carl, this is the most
important part right here,

right?
- Yep.

And you'll see,
normally fer-de-lance

are good solid venom producers.

And went light today.

OK.

Sometimes, the snake's going
to give us only a small amount

of venom or his venom.

And the big difference
here is you've

heard the term milking snakes.

Yes.

In the old days, they used
to press on those venom glands.

They'd squeeze
that snake's head.

We don't do that.

We just allow the snake to
bite and give us what he's

going to give us voluntarily.

And sometimes they don't
give us a lot of venom.

Remember, venom to
the snake is precious.

These are defensive
bites, and he really

has venom to obtain his food.

Mm-hmm.

Great job on the body.
OK.

So I'm going to go
back into the cage now.

But even that little bit, you're
looking at about 100 milligrams

of dry weight there.

That's absolutely probably
multiple lethal doses of venom.

- Wow.
- Good.

Beautiful job, Coyote.
- You got him?

Yep.
OK.

Perfect job.

Thank you.

Did you hear that?

So just that amount of
venom, not even a full venom

yield capable of
killing multiple people

when it's at dry weight.

Now, Carl, question for you.

Yes.

What is this
venom going to do to your body?

So the little thing
in your bloodstream

that allows platelets
to stick to it and clot

is actually being broken apart
by some of these venoms that's

being sliced into pieces.

And so that net there,
that clotting net

that's going to allow the
platelets to stick to it

is being destroyed.

And so all of a sudden, you're
beginning to hemorrhage,

you're beginning to bleed.

You go into shock.

You've got all kinds
of fluid problems.

Your kidneys are beginning
to fail because you've

got all these things floating
around in your bloodstream that

shouldn't be there.

And of course, like all pit
viper bites, lance has swell

and they destroy
tissue, something

they call metalloproteinases.

So it's a messy snake bite.

It's a painful snake bite.

They often result in
amputations because of a delay

in treatment or no treatment.

So you'll see people missing
fingers or even bigger parts

of their body with these guys.

So it's a dangerous snake.

It is serious business
if you're bitten,

so you have to admire the
snake from a safe distance.

Now the next thing that we
want to do is take this venom

and mix it together
with blood, of course,

my blood and this time in less
of a rudimentary situation.

And we're going to put it
underneath the microscope

and see if we can see some of
those blood cells breaking down.

That sounds excellent.

You're stepping up your
experiment a little bit.

We really applaud that.

And as you said,
maybe we'll get lucky,

and we'll be able to
see some of these toxins

at work under a microscope.

Today, we are
at the Reptile Discovery Center

located in DeLand, Florida.

This serpentarium is home
to several of the world's

most dangerous snakes.

And earlier today, I assisted in
milking the venom of three pit

vipers that are
frequently encountered

in the Eastern United States.

The copperhead--

Oh, that was fantastic.

- the water moccasin--

I'm going to get my stuff.

- and the Eastern
diamondback rattlesnake.

Whoa!

That was a serious
venom yield right there.

Normally this venom is sent to
their Medtoxin Venom Laboratory

where it is turned into
life-saving anti-venom.

But today, we're
going to perform

an experiment unlike
anything you have ever seen.

OK.

Crew is all set up.

All right, guys,
so today's experiment

is going to show us what
happens when snake venom mixes

together with human blood.

I've always been curious what
happens when a snake bites you

and that venom enters
into the bloodstream.

So today, what we're going to do
is take eight vials of my blood.

We're going to create a control.

And then we're going to mix
venom into three different vials

and show you exactly
what happens.

I know, it seems like, Coyote,
get to the point already.

I'm only prolonging this because
I'm so squeamish around needles.

You guys have no idea how
nervous I am right now.

I could take bullet ant stings.

I could take bites from
giant desert centipedes.

But when it comes to sticking
a needle into my arm,

nothing makes my skin
crawl more than that.

We've got a medic
on set with us.

And she is going to
safely draw out my blood.

I need you to just
keep your arm very still.

Very still.

Don't jerk it back.

And if you feel like you're
going to pass out, tell me--

OK.

- if you get lightheaded, or
you start to feel really hot.

OK.
I'm already hot.

I'm sweating bullets
right now, like,

more nervous than I was
for ants, centipedes, like,

worst day ever.

Even hotter than
you are right now.

- OK, yeah.
- OK.

Are you ready?

Yes, I can be ready.

1, 2, and 3.

Find a happy place.

Find a happy place.

Is this considered a lot
of blood for one sitting?

This is an OK amount.

Just an OK amount.

It's certainly not
going to harm you.

OK.

I'm going to put
the GoPro down at what this

is to see what's happening.

I can't look with my own eyes.

I can't bear.

I can't feel my
arm, like, should I

be doing anything with my arm?

No.

OK.

Are you ready?
- For what?

I'm going to take
out the needle.

Are you ready?
- Yeah.

Is it out?
- No.

Yeah, I'm ready.

Oh my
gosh, this is going

to like squirt blood
if you-- oh my god,

look at all those
tubes of blood.

Holy mackerel.

But what we're going to do
now is head down the hallway,

meet up with Carl,
and move to step two

of this experiment Holy cow.

Look at all of these
vials of blood.

That is so much
Coyote that is spilled

out in the name of science.

OK, Carl, I am back with
eight vials of my blood.

Now we're only going to need
four for this experiment.

So I'll put these other
four over here as a backup.

And we've got the entire
experiment set up.

We've got three
vials that contain

copperhead, water moccasin,
and eastern diamondback venom.

Eventually that blood
is going to trickle down

this board that we've created.

But before we get there,
let's talk about these venoms

and why they're so
potentially dangerous.

OK.

So, Coyote, all three of these
snakes cause you to bleed,

cause you to hemorrhage.

And hemorrhaging is dangerous
for a host of reasons.

Your blood doesn't clot.

You're losing blood
from your blood vessels.

Your blood corpuscles
are being broken apart.

Your red blood cells
are being lysed.

They're not carrying
oxygen to your tissues.

They all cause
you to hemorrhage.

They do it a little differently.

The mechanisms that work
do it a little differently,

but they all cause that
significant bleeding

coagulopathy problem.

OK.

Man, that is complex, but sounds
very painful at the same time.

Obviously, a lot of pain
is experienced with a bite

from any one of
these snake species.

OK.

So I'm definitely going to
put on my safety goggles

for this part.

I am going to open up this
vial and expose the venom.

Now I have this one
labeled copperhead.

And you'll see I also have
a blunt-tipped needle.

The reason for that
is if this was sharp

and I were to
accidentally prick myself,

that's just like a snake fang.

What you don't want to
do is envenomate yourself

while working with venom.

So I'm going to
just-- oh, man, makes

your hand nervous just to
pick up and hold what that is.

Right there, that is
some very potent venom.

Now, Carl, I'm going to
need your assistance,

if you can just
tilt that a tiny bit

until I'm able to
get some venom.

I think that's enough.

Yep.

That's probably more than a
full snake bite right there.

- No question.
- OK.

So there is our
copperhead venom.

Oh, one down.

Our next one is going to
be the water moccasin.

Wow, look at that venom yield.

It gives you a sense of how
dangerous cottonmouths can be.

And part of that
equation, again, is yield.

That's three snakes, of
course, but even still--

There we go.

Whoa!

That is a toxic little
mix right there.

Oh, I got a little drip coming.

It's OK.

We'll just put that there.

And now we are going to bring
up the most potent of them

all, the Eastern diamondback.

Woo, this is the
big one right here.

All right.

There we go.

And that right there would
be enough venom to kill you,

wouldn't it?

Probably.

OK.

So we've got our three
syringes of venom lined up.

Thank you, Carl.

Whoa!

This is keeping
your hands steady.

It's not an easy thing.

OK.

So the first one, our green,
is going to be the copperhead.

OK.

There we go.

Dangerous little
tube right there.

OK.

Moving on to the water
moccasin labeled yellow.

Caution, water
moccasins can be deadly,

definitely not a snake you ever
want to trifle with in the wild.

Admire these guys from
a very safe distance.

OK.

There we go.

All right, that is moccasin
venom going into my blood.

And last, but certainly not
least will be the Eastern

diamondback rattlesnake.

It's still a very, very
dangerous syringe right there.

There's still some
venom residue.

OK.

There we go.

That is Eastern diamondback
venom going into my blood.

OK.

Well, let's take 15 minutes.

We will return, and step
three of this experiment

will tell us
exactly what happens

from a visual
perspective when you

add snake venom to human blood.

But I know a lot
of you out there

have said before,
Coyote, you've been

bitten stung by so many things.

Get bitten by a venomous snake.

Now, Carl, I want to open
up this conversation to you

to say to everybody out
there watching, how crazy

is that notion of
intentionally being

bitten by a venomous snake?

And just so we're
clear guys, I'm

never going to intentionally
take on a bite like something

from a copperhead or water
moccasin or rattlesnake.

And tell us why
this is so damaging.

Because insect
stings and snake bites

are very different things.

And so insect venoms to a large
degree evolved to cause pain.

And they-- and basically
what they're trying to do

is get you away from
perhaps their nest

or something of that nature.

Snake venoms evolved
to immobilize and kill

the food that they eat.

And so snake venoms are
destructive on a whole host

of different levels.

So you're-- you're just-- you've
got blood chemistry problems.

You've got neurological
issues happening.

You've got cardiac
issues happening,

a depolarization of the
muscle cells in your heart.

You've got maybe
all of these things

nephrotoxicity,
myotoxicity, cytotoxicity,

cardiotoxicity, neurotoxicity.

A snake bite can be a very
dangerous event, in fact,

it can be a lethal event.

And on a cellular level,
it's catastrophic.

It's nothing to be fooled
with or taken lightly.

There's no question about that.

OK.

It has been roughly 15 minutes
that the venom has been

percolating inside of my blood.

And now's the big moment.

What I'm curious about, what I
know you guys are all curious

about, what exactly happened to
my blood with that venom inside?

So the first thing
that we're going to do

is put on my safety glasses.

Good idea.

Always important
to have on safety

glasses when you're doing
science experiments.

So we've got another blunt-tip
needle that is the control.

That's the blood that's in here.

And when I hold it
up and look at it,

yeah, that still
looks super liquidy.

So what we're going
to do is pull blood

from each one of
these vials, and I'm

going to make a little streak
just like that on the top

of this Plexiglas board.

We're going to see what happens.

Does it run down?

Does it turn into jelly?

We don't know, right?

It
can be interesting.

I guess we'll see.

And I'm just going to try
to make a nice little streak

across here just like that.

Whoa!

What?

That is some coagulation
right there, isn't it, Carl?

Oh, I see that.
Yeah.

That's great.

Wow.

That looks like a
zombie film right there.

So, Carl, tell us what
happened because there was

no venom in there yet you've
got these chunks of blood that

just looked like they
vomited themselves

down this Plexiglas plate.

When you
expose blood to oxygen,

it's going to begin to clot.

And so that's what
we're seeing there.

And that's-- that's
healthy blood then.

Absolutely.

Healthy
blood exposed to oxygen

is going to coagulate.

So for the most part, it
looks like I'm healthy.

So now we're moving
on to the copperhead.

That is our green vial here.

And I'm just going to give
that a tilt left and right.

Now, like you were saying,
Carl, that anticoagulant

makes this look like
it's a whole lot--

Very hard to
say if we're going to see

anything to the naked eye.

But I assure you what's going
on in that tube right now

cellularly is as we talked
about earlier, catastrophic.

OK.

So let's see if we can see
anything with the naked eye.

Here we go.

Copperhead blood coming up.

Wow.

Look at all those bubbles.

I did not really see
that on the control.

OK.

Here we go.
Oh, wow.

Look at that.

It's just dripping
right out of--

I'm not even applying
any pressure yet.

And look at that,
it's just dripping

right out of the syringe.

Whoa!

Look at that.

Boy, it's certainly
the naked eye

looks like it's less coagulation
going on there, right?

I mean, to the naked eye, I
mean, that just ran down now.

I saw a couple of little
micro maybe clots in there.

But to the naked eye, I don't
know about what you saw but--

Yeah.

- anyway interesting.

That was blood running
down that incredibly fast.

I mean, just the pace at
which it slid down and off

the Plexiglas, you can see
that a lot of the blood

here is still left streaking.

This was, yeah.

Look a lot-- you can
almost see the more

watery consistency of it.

So that's-- that's
the blood cells

breaking down and not being
able to hold on to each other.

Again,
to the naked eye,

that's what it would look like.

Again, guys, we can't stress
enough how the internal aspects

of what's happening
on a micro level

that if we had a super powerful
microscope we'd be able to see

are happening.

I mean, this is just explosions
of blood cells and everything

breaking down apart inside.

All those little cell
walls are being affected.

OK.

Here we go, water moccasin.

You can see there
the blood definitely

looks very thin as well.

Again, a whole cocktail of
proteins and toxins that

are just turning this
blood into who knows what.

Again, wow, so that's--
that's having trouble

actually sucking the blood.

There we go.

A little more clotting
in this sample.

Here we go.

OK.

Now my glasses are fogging up.

I'm going to do my best
to keep my hand steady.

But even interacting
with venom and blood

definitely gets your heart
rate going, that's for sure.

That is my blood mixed together
with water moccasin venom.

And again, you can see
that that blood just

wants to come out of
the tip of the needle

without me applying
any pressure.

It's just dripping
out on its own.

So I'm going to very slowly
apply a little bit of pressure.

There we go.

Wow.

Look at that.

There's
certainly some clots

visible on that sample--

Oh, yeah.

- more so
than the copperhead.

That is true.

Look at that.

You can still see all of that.

It looks like a worm going
down the side of the Plexiglas.

But certainly
the copperhead venom

appeared thinner.

And the cottonmouth venom in
relationship to the control,

tough to say, but
maybe we're seeing

some anticoagulant
activity there, maybe.

So here we go.

I've got the Eastern diamondback
venom in my blood there.

The top coming back off.

There we go.

Syringe going in.

Again, guys flat tip needles,
even if I were to prick myself

with a needle with
venom, that is just

like suffering envenomation.

Oh, yeah, look at that.

Look how thin that blood is.

That pulls up way easier than
the copperhead or the moccasin.

Wow.

Look how-- look
how watery that is.

That's crazy.

What does human blood
look like once it's

been envenomated with Eastern
diamondback rattlesnake venom?

Here we go.

1, 2, 3.

There is a little bit
of coagulation there.

Wow.
Look at that.

That's some
significant clotting.

And remember on this one,
Coyote, Eastern diamondback

venom we think there
are both anticoagulant

and pro-coagulant
activity happening.

But that's interesting.

OK.

Well, there we have it.

Between the control, the
copperhead, the moccasin,

and the Eastern diamondback
rattlesnake visually

across the board, it
looks like there's quite

a bit of difference, right?

Even with the control, I don't
see any speckling in the blood

as compared to these three.

But from your
expert perspective,

Carl, what is it that
we're really seeing here?

I mean, it looks
like a horror film,

but it's tough to tell
with the naked eye.

Yeah.

So, Coyote, you
know, I think, we

need to point out
that this experiment

is a really crude experiment.

You know, what
we're seeing, we're

kind of speculating
a little bit and

based a little bit on what we
know about these given snake

venoms.

But this really needs to be done
under a microscope in a really

controlled setting where we
don't have this time difference

going on, and we're
not sure, you know,

the amount of venom being
used is exact to get

a real sense of this.

But I think it's safe to say
that what's happening here,

whether or not we can
see it with the naked eye

is serious and catastrophic
damage on a cellular level.

And I think for everybody
out there watching,

the big takeaway is the pit
vipers in the United States

have the potential
to be very dangerous.

This is not a species
you would ever want

to interact with in the wild.

And for everybody out
there that's asked, Coyote,

will you get bitten
by a venomous snake?

The answer is no.

You guys can see that this
is, again, catastrophic.

We want to encourage the
viewers to admire these animals

from a safe distance.

Don't try to kill them.

Don't try to catch them.

Don't ever experiment with
yourself happen If you take--

No questions.

I think that's an
excellent synopsis.

And hey, man, are you
going to clean this up?

I will, yes.

I will clean up all
of the mess that I

have made here in the lab.

But for everybody out
there watching who's

wanted happen if Coyote Peterson
was bitten by a venomous snake,

there you have it guys, my
blood tangling with venom.

I'm coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on
the next adventure.