(dynamic music) - I know why you clicked on this video. And you know that Brave Wilderness
almost never clickbaits, especially when it
comes to Coyote Peterson putting himself in a
world of pain for science, education, and good old
fashioned entertainment. But you're probably also
saying to yourselves, wait a minute, I thought this guy retired from intentional stings
after the executioner wasp. So let me explain exactly why we're here. Okay, so the craziest moment of fate just happened moments ago. We are on location in Texas, and we're currently in the
process of filming an episode about alligator gar,
big conservation episode for this fish species. And I'm standing on this embankment here that you see out behind me, and an enormous wasp comes
and lands at my feet. It was a cicada killer, one of the largest wasp species
here in the United States, and an insect that I have
not yet been stung by. Now there are two reasons
I was not stung by it. One, is I've never seen one before. And two, according to
Justin Schmidt's pain index, it only ranks as about a two. He was stung by the western cicada killer. This is the eastern variety, and they're the biggest of
the five cicadas killers. Now this wasp is currently
going through a very tricky time in its existence, because earlier in 2020, this wasp was deemed
as quite possibly being the murder hornet, more
scientifically known as the Japanese or Asian giant hornet. The Cicada killer is a species that is naturally found here
throughout the United States. But size-wise, and
color-wise, creepiness-wise, it definitely ranks on the
same scale as the giant hornet. So over the course of
the past couple months these cicada killers have been coming out from under the ground to hunt for cicadas. People have been seeing them
and they've been thinking, giant murder hornets are
invading the United States. That is not the case, because like I said, cicada killers have been here just as long as we have been here. What I'm going to do
today, to get to the point, is ultimately be stung by a cicada killer to prove that this is not an insect that you need to be afraid of. I know you're shaking your
heads right now saying, Coyote, wait a minute, are you coming
out of sting retirement? Not technically, I'm not gonna get stung by a bunch of other bugs. But, my goal here is to prove that this is not a giant hornet, and it is not a creature
that you need to be afraid of if you see it this summer. Now the crew's behind the scenes right now getting the macro shots. And the way that we caught this wasp is it went down into its little burrow, I quickly took a water bottle that we had in the back of the vehicle, put it over its hole, it flew
right in, and we caught it. So if that's not fate saying it is time to get stung by the cicada killer and take it out of the
villainous spotlight, I don't know what is. We've got this beautiful
backdrop here in Texas. We've set up in the shade. We've got an awesome frame ready to go. Cameras are being set. And if you guys are ready, I think I am ready to come
out of sting retirement, temporarily, to be stung
by the cicada killer. Okay, here we go. (ominous music) Hey, Coyote Pack. If you can't wait until Saturday and want to enter the
cicada killer sting zone before anyone else, join
memberships right now to unlock the full episode. I know you're shaking your
heads right now saying, Coyote, wait a minute, are you coming
out of sting retirement? I'm Coyote Peterson. And I'm about to be stung
by the cicada killer. Oh my goodness, that
stinger's in, here we go. (animals calling)
