- There is the chance
that I will be bitten. Be prepared. If that happens, there's
going to be a lot of blood, so brace yourselves. One. Two. Three. Hands going in. Start the clock. (reels whirring) (fast drumming music) (sinister music) No fish other than the shark has driven fear into the heart of humanity like the piranha. Native to South America, there are over 50 described species, and they inhabit pretty much
every freshwater system, moving in schools and silently
stalking their next victim. I'm no stranger to these toothy fish, and in the summer of 2019 I became witness to their
razor-sharp weaponry. Okay, so getting ready
to swim with caiman, and we're also catching
piranha in the process, and I tried to get a picture and had one bite the tip of my finger off. That is a lot of blood. Those teeth are razor sharp. I tried to peel down
the lip just a tiny bit and it went (mimics chomping) like that, and really took a good chunk
out of the tip of my finger. And just in case you're
wondering, yes, it hurt. But are these fish truly aggressive? Clearly, if you catch one, put your finger close to its mouth, and try to see its teeth, you will end up like me. But do they have an
appetite for human flesh? We are about to find out if I can be eaten alive by piranha. Today, I'm in my home
city of Columbus, Ohio, and I will be conducting
this crazy experiment at Aquarium Adventure. Their impressive
12,000-square-foot facility is home to thousands of
fish, marine animals, and every size aquarium
you can possibly imagine. I am here to visit the resident population of red-belly piranha. The dinner table has been set, so let's get right down to business. I have to admit, it's pretty intimidating
standing behind a tank filled with red piranha. Now, if you look at one of
these fish as an individual, it doesn't seem that threatening. But when you see six of them
swimming around like this, that's what you call a school. And when there's six fish, yeah, it definitely gets your heart racing. Now the big question that
we wanna answer tonight is whether or not piranha
will eat human flesh. But before we do that, first let's take a look at some of the cool anatomical
features of these fish. Now, when you look at the piranha's body, they've got a very dominant head. Those big bulbous eyes tell you that these fish have incredible eyesight. But the thing that's most
noticeable is that big underbite. That lower jaw tells you
that this fish packs a punch when it comes to its bite. The jaw structure is broken down into four different sections. What's so cool about these teeth is that they're interlocking, razor sharp, and triangular in form, and they lock together
like pieces of a puzzle. Add that together with the
shaking and the spinning, and oh, buddy, you get
attacked by a swarm of piranhas and you're going to be
in a very bad situation. And similar to sharks, they replace their teeth throughout the entire course of their lives. But unlike sharks, these entire jaw segments
replace themselves periodically, which means that an
entire section of the jaw falls out of the fish, and then a new section grows right in. In the wild, piranha are
considered predators. In many instances, they are opportunistic, which means that they'll feast upon pretty much anything they come across. But it's primarily their sense of smell and their ability to hone in on hearing that makes them such
an effective predator. You have to think about
where these fish live, throughout water systems in South America that are oftentimes quite murky. So, when the fish can't see its prey, it needs to hone in using smell and sound. Oftentimes, they will attack things that are splashing about. This may signal an animal
that is rooted and struggling, which obviously makes
for an easier victim. When it comes to attacking
large prey items, yes, they have been known to attack things as large as livestock. Of course, humans have been bitten, and close to 200 bites are
reported every single year. When you look at the piranha,
you think to yourself, okay, obviously with that
dentition, it's a predator. But this is not an apex predator. There are many other animals within the piranha's environment that will take the opportunity to feast on one of these fish. Caiman, otters, river dolphins, and even waterfowl like herons and egrets will definitely take the opportunity to eat one of these fish. That's why they move together as a group. When you have a school, you seem bigger and more intimidating, which means you're much less
likely to be predated on. All right, I know what
you guys are thinking. Coyote, you're going the
long way around the fishbowl! Let's get into the experiment. We wanna find out whether or
not you're going to be bitten by one or all of these fish. There's six of them in there, so I'd say the odds are pretty good. So, if you guys are ready,
I'm Coyote Peterson, and I think it's time to
be eaten alive by piranha. And I'm not gonna shake
my hands around there and cause a disturbance. I'm gonna gently place them in
slowly and see what happens. I'm gonna keep my hands
there for 60 seconds. There is the chance that I will be bitten. Be prepared. If that happens, there's
going to be a lot of blood, so brace yourselves. (sighs) (growls) Okay. (sighs) All right, I'm stalling. Here we go. One. Two. Three. Hands going in. Start the clock. 60 seconds. (sinister music) They're definitely moving much
more with my hands in there than when my hands were not in there. Now, they may be feeling skittish in the presence of my hands. You see, my hand is pretty close. They're actually being
touched right now by the fish. Fins drifting up against me. Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. Look at that, look at that! So far, nothing. I'm gonna drift my hands
closer in this direction. Okay. My hand, my left hand and my forearm are completely surrounded by the piranhas. I can feel the tails
brushing up against me. Oh, man. Fishes' faces right close to my hand. Oh, boy, it feels like
they might take a bite. (startled yelping) Nope, nope, getting some active tails. Hand in the middle of the fish. So, my right hand is completely away from
the fish altogether, but my left hand is completely surrounded by the fish at this point. Look at that. Right in the school of
piranha, no bite happening. Okay, now I've sort of
gotten over the initial fear and the fact that the piranha are slapping their tails up against me, I'm beginning to feel like they're just gonna
ignore me at this point. So far, no bite. And I feel like even if a
bite came at this point, it would simply be a
curiosity bite to say, "What is this in our tank? "Is it something that I can eat?" Don't feel as if they're going to swarm into one of those frenzies
like you would see in a movie where they strip all the flesh, oh, boy, I thought it was
about to take a bite, there. Just getting smacked by tails. No bites happening. Hands coming out. Whew! Hands shaking a little
bit, I will admit that, but absolutely no bites. All flesh still intact. So, what we've seen in
the Hollywood B movies of these fish devouring human
flesh right down to the bone definitely did not happen
within this scenario. Okay. Ugh, gotta shake off those
nerves just a little bit. Man, when the piranha are actually slapping up against your skin, you're thinking to yourself, okay, could that next movement be some of those razor-sharp teeth taking a big circular
chunk out of your hand or out of your forearm? Okay, so the last test, the ultimate test is now going to be to hold
this fish filet underwater with my hand and see if they can tell the difference between the filet and my hand. So, this is going to
be fish flesh and oils mixed together with my hand. Let's see if they go for that. Are you guys ready? Here we go. Hand and fish filet going
back in to the piranha tank. One. Two, it doesn't get any easier. Three. (sinister music) What I'm doing is actually wiggling to play around just a little bit. Try to give them that
motion, that movement that as we've read, piranha are drawn into things that are splashing and struggling. So, if I use my hand to make the filet look like a struggling prey item, will that evoke an attack? They honestly want
nothing to do with my hand or the fish filet. So, what I'm gonna do now is
drive my hand and the filet into the school of fish
and see what happens. Slowly. Guys hungry? Free feast! Human hand, half price,
fish filet free to consume. Anybody who wanna try a taste test? Just one little bite. Anybody gonna go for it? Six fish. Six fish, six chances for a bite. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. At this point, I'm completely
at ease with my hand being inside of the piranha's tank. You got three fish on one
side, three fish on the other. They want absolutely nothing to do with the fish filet or with my hand. Okay, hand and fish filet coming up and out of the water. No bites on the filet. No bites on my hand. Perhaps the rumors that piranha are bloodthirsty, ravenous,
flesh-eating killers is nothing more than a rumor. Typically they're thought
of as being carnivores, but truth be told,
they're really omnivores. Piranha will eat berries, nuts, and pretty much anything
that they can scavenge upon. It's a misnomer in many instances that piranhas will just
strip something of its flesh if it's already alive
and turn it into a feast. Now, it is fair to say that
this is a controlled setting and these fish have been
raised in captivity. So, will piranha in the
wild behave differently? I'm not sure. Perhaps that's a test
that we need to place back out into the wild. So, the next step is for us
to head to South America, back to the Pantanal, and actually place me into the environment within a school of
these fish to determine, will piranha truly eat a human alive? Stay tuned, guys. Part two is coming soon. I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave, stay wild. We'll see you on the next adventure. Every year there are said to be around 200 piranha bites in the wild. However, these bites are minor. Generally, these fish are
shy and quick to flee, especially if larger animals like a human enter into their watery environment. So, while their teeth may be razor-sharp and their notorious
reputations always define them as bloodthirsty Hollywood
horror creatures, piranha simply desire to be left alone. Big thanks to Aquarium Adventures for letting us film at their location. And if you dream about setting
up your own aquatic system, their incredible staff will
make you feel right at home. Hey, Coyote Pack! If you thought being eaten alive by piranha was nerve-wracking, make sure to go back and watch as a swarm of blood-sucking leeches turn me into an
all-you-can-eat buffet line. And don't forget, subscribe
and join memberships so you can join me and the crew on our next wild adventure. And holy cow, is this uncomfortable. (animal roaring)
