- I'm Coyote Peterson and
today we're going to talk about the worst animal bite of my
life, and it happened yesterday. Oh he bit me. Yeah he got me good,
he got my thumb. - [Offscreen crew member] Do
you want me to keep going? (adventure music) - [Coyote] Since beginning
this journey of bringing wild animal adventures to
the world I have found myself in many dangerous situations. Some of them planned. Man, that was intense, getting
swatted at by a Grizzly bear. Okay so now we want to
get you guys up close with some of Adam's
incredible features. Some of them by chance. This turtle just bit
the top of my thumb off. Big time. And all of them, which I hope
serve as both educational entertainment but also as a
lesson into why you should never approach wild
animals on your own. And that's just going to
keep bleeding, and bleeding. My job is dangerous, I think
we can all agree on that, and sometimes I do push
things to the extreme. One, two, three, (Coyote yelling in pain) However, anytime we visit
a location like Arizona's Sonoran Desert, we try
to be as calculated and safety conscious as we can. Priority number one, guys, is safety. This environment is
incredibly hostile and if the heat doesn't
get you, watch your step because the biological
land mines just might. That is so cool, this is
the second gila monster that we've encountered
in the Sonoran desert. It's a big one! He doesn't want anything
to do with us right now, he's just laying low
to the sand saying "Okay, don't get any closer." And while I have
encountered, handled, filmed, and released many
dangerous creatures even I make mistakes. (camera banging
against the ground) (Coyote hollering in pain) Yeah, he got me, he bit me.
- [OCM] Are you sure? - [Coyote] Yeah, he
definitely bit me. - [OCM] Do you want
me to keep filming? - Yep, he got the
whole top of my thumb. He ran right past the
GoPro and he got the whole top of my thumb. Just stop, stop
filming, stop filming. Well, yesterday I took
the worst animal bite I've ever received. It happened right here and
I was bitten by the only venomous lizard in
the United States the Gila Monster. And it was bad. Here's what happened, we
were out here filming B roll, walking up this wash
that's on the backside here and I spotted a gila monster. He was just laying right here
along this log and I said, "Well, we don't need an
episode with a gila monster, "we've already done that"
but we wanted to get close and at least get
some B roll shots. Didn't need to catch the lizard,
didn't need to handle it. We got some great shots
with the C100 camera and then I said "You know
what, let me get a couple "shots with the GoPro.
He's super calm, he's just "chilling out." Got close, started doing
some sweeping shots over him, I think he felt cornered,
I got a little too close and literally, in a
flash he jerked his body and latched on to my thumb. Immediately my natural
reaction was to pull my thumb back extremely
quickly, which I did, and that's why I have all these
razor blade looking slices on my thumb, I literally yanked my
finger out of his mouth. I grabbed on to my finger
the moment that I was bitten and almost immediately
the pain from the venom started surging through my hand. - [OCM] Is it bad? - [Coyote]
Oh my god, it burns already. It's burning really bad already. (Coyote grunting in pain)
- [OCM] What happened? - [Coyote] He turned
and just spun and got right past the
GoPro and bit my thumb. I was extremely fortunate
in this situation. After the bite we consulted
with reptile experts and venom experts. There's no anti-venom you can
take for a gila monster bite we monitored my body
for hours at a time. We made sure that my
heart rate was low, we monitored the swelling,
we took photographs as you'll see some of
the photographs here. As the hours went by the
pain was so excrutiating I really had to just go
into a mental state where I told myself "You can make
it through this pain." It was the worst pain
I had ever experienced, the throbbing, the
squirming of my body, and of course the
constant fear that, "Is this only going
to get worse?" because as the venom
started traveling up my arm into my shoulder I
didn't know at what point it was going to stop and
that's when I really started to get nervous. It was really mind over
matter at that point. The fact that I didn't go
into any sort of anaphylactic shock, I knew that I was going
to be okay, it was just a matter of toughing through
the pain, which was kind of like they explain, hot lava coursing
through your veins. It's been 24 hours and I
feel extremely fortunate to only have a swollen and
sore thumb right now. Anytime you're bitten by
an animal, venomous or non-venomous, make sure that
you seek medical attention. This was not the gila monster's
fault in any way whatsoever. I got too close. Hopefully there's a good lesson
that comes away from this, gila monsters are not an
animal that you should ever go out and try to handle. If you see one in the
wild, take a photograph from a safe distance. Give it five feet,
zoom in with your lens and take a photograph like that. I learned the hard way and
I know from here on out I'm certainly going to give
gila monsters the space that they deserve. I'm Coyote Peterson,
be brave, stay wild, we'll see you on
the next adventure. If you thought that
was one wild adventure check out the time I was
chomped by an alligator lizard. And, don't forget, subscribe
to join me and the crew on this season of
Breaking Trail. They're called alligator
lizards for a reason. Ow, ow, ow, ow! (animal sounds)
I just discovered him from this post and I realize just how amazing of an animal handler and entertainer he is. I'm glad that his overall message is, "don't go out and do these things without others," and, "It's not the animal's fault if I get hurt."
Because that's what it comes down to when dealing with wild or even domesticated animals. It will always be your fault for getting yourself hurt.
Seeing him painfully clutching to his crotch in the first 5 secs is an incentive, I guess.
Goes on watching with a mean grin...
Edit: Seriously now, this guy is amazing. /u/Fuieken nailed it, he does a great job both entertaining his viewers and showing them the good example of respecting wildlife for what it is. Thanks OP for a great link.
This channel is great. Entertaining and informative.