- I'm Coyote Peterson Right now we're in
the Sonoran Desert searching for rattlesnakes, and
I just came across something pretty creepy. (adventure music) When exploring in the wild,
one of my favorite things about the desert is
that you never know what you are going
to come across. And if you dare to go
out and explore under the darkness of night,
Arizona's Sonoran Desert is a world of
biological diversity. Oh, look at this right
here, little lizard, it is a Western Banded Gecko. Oh, look at him, he's seen
us now, he flicked his tail up in the air, he's
basically saying "stay back, "I am a little beast." And that he is. But this is one of the
friendliest lizard species we could have come across
here in the desert, and they are extremely
fragile, so I'm gonna be extra gentle with him. Ooh, come here. Got him. This is the famous little
gecko species that lives out here in the Sonoran Desert. And unfortunately for
this little guy, if he's not careful, he's gonna
stumble upon what we're really looking for,
rattlesnakes and scorpions. You are just too cute to be
eaten by either of those two. We're gonna let him back
off into the desert, you stay safe little guy. Always cool to come across
a Western Banded Gecko. See you later. Capturing a gecko is what I
would call a pleasant surprise. But I think we all know
that lurking in the shadows you can also find a
whole bunch of creatures that are better
suited for nightmares. Some of them have close
to a thousand legs, some have only a hundred, which
isn't as bad by comparison, but these giants are
also armed with a very painful venomous bite. Then you have the spiders. Big and hairy, or
small and stealthy. That right there
is a Black Widow. Pick you venom wisely,
because sometimes it's the little guy that
packs the most powerful punch. Oh, yeah, then there are
the three scorpion species. You know, Stripe-Tailed,
Desert Hairy, and Bark. That's a Giant Desert Hairy. Whoah, he's a big one, too. Wow. Look at that. You're probably asking, "does
the nightmare ever end?" I guess we'll just
have to wait, and see. Shy around, (mumbles) went out. Something there. Oh jeez, look at that! Wow! Okay, don't need a
blacklight for this one. Do you know what that is? - [Voiceover] No. - That is a Whip Scorpion. Hold on. I have actually never
seen one of these before. Oh, wild, look at that. Does that thing not
look like an alien? Wow. Now this is not
actually a scorpion, and they are not venomous,
so I do not have to be afraid of handling
this arachnid. Let me try to get him
up on my hand here. I don't want to agitate
him too much because Whip Scorpions are also
known as vinegarroons. Come here buddy. Oh, gotcha. Walk on my hand. Yes. - [Voiceover] Is it safe
what you're doing right now? - It's safe enough. Look at that. As long as he doesn't
shoot me with his acidic acid, and right there
at the base of the abdomen they have two glands
that they can actually shoot two streams of acidic
acid at any potential predator. And right now he's
probably not feeling that I'm a predator because I'm
not a rodent, and that's primarily what's feeding
on these creepy crawlies. Wow. Now let's see if
he smells vinegary. Nope, he doesn't, which
is a really good sign. If he was agitated, those
glands would start to activate and then I
would know he's probably gettin' close to shooting
me with his acid mixture. Now that spray, that acidic
acid that they shoot out really smells like vinegar,
hence the nickname vinegarroon. Now, this whip that you
have up on the backside here he kinda looks like a
scorpion stinger, but no stinger on it. You see all those
little tiny hairs, it's actually a sensory organ
which helps them navigate in their environment. Now you may be wondering what
this arachnid feels like. He's actually got
some weight to him, he's pretty heavy for a
creature of this size, and his little legs
have tiny hooks on them, I can actually feel him
holding on to my hand which is why I'm able to
do this, see that, pretty much is just stuck onto my hand, this is one
well-equipped predator. Let's talk about what
the Whip Scorpion eats. You see these pedipalps up
front with those pincers? Now what they're
hunting for out here is crickets and roaches, so
if you see one of these in your yard, and you've
got a roach problem, just let 'em hang out
because he's gonna do all the exterminating for
you, and what they'll do is they'll grab onto their
prey and shove it into the set of chompers that
they have inside there. Not gonna get my finger
too close, I don't want to know what that bite feels like. But I can tell just by lookin'
in there that it is bad news. Now if you're human and you
come across one of these, I can't imagine that you're
gonna want to pick it up like I'm doing, but
if you do, and you are squirted with that acidic
acid, all you have to do is wash out your eyes
with some water, keep flushing 'em out 'til
the burning goes away, you'll be just fine. These aren't actually
venomous like a scorpion or most spider species. Now this is the first time
I've ever encountered a Whip Scorpion, and I guarantee
you it's the first time this Whip Scorpion has
ever encountered a human. Have you ever seen a
creature creepier than a Whip Scorpion? Tell me about it in the
comments section below. I'm Coyote Peterson,
be brave, stay wild. We'll see you on
the next adventure. So while it may look
like a creepy alien from another planet, remember,
if you ever see one around your house, it's the best kept
roach extermination secret out there. And when you line it up
against the other arachnids and myriapods of the
night, the vinegarroon is about as friendly and
harmless as it gets. If you though that was
one wild adventure, check out the time
I was chomped by the Solifugae, and don't
forget, subscribe to join me and the crew on this
season of Breaking Trail. I'm Coyote Peterson, and
I'm about to enter the strike zone with the Solfugae. Ready? One, two, three. (wild animal calls)
