- Wooo, look at that. - [Mark] Whoah man,
that is a long snake. - [Coyote] Now this
is a nocturnal and
an arboreal species, which means that
they're out in the trees at night hunting for their prey. Now they (vinyl record scratching) Oh man.
- Oh jeez. (tropical adventurous music) - What's going on Coyote pack? Right now, we are on the
Caribbean side of Costa Rica, and for the past two
weeks, we've been staying at the Costa Rican Amphibian
Research Center Reserve. Just across this bridge
right here is the rainforest. And every single night
we've been out there looking for animals. Now the one thing I love
to do when I'm on location, is to take an entire evening
to see how many animals we can get in front
of the camera. So we've got Mark there
right behind the lens. - [Mark] What's up guys? - We've got Mario over here. - Hi guys. - [Mark] There he is. - And of course,
the rest of the crew right there behind the scenes. Now it did rain
today, so I must add. (sloshing) That it's gonna be pretty muddy. - [Mike] Yikes. - But if you guys are
ready, let's head out there and find some creatures. - [Mark] What do you say Mario? Let's do it, right? - Let's do it. - [Mark] Alright, let's go. - [Coyote] Here we go,
off into the rainforest. Good news is, I
already hear frogs, so we're gonna find something. You really have
to take your time, when you're searching
in the rainforest, because everything is so
incredibly camouflaged. Nothing there. You move slow, because
you also have to watch out for venomous snakes
everywhere that you step. Oh, here we go. There's our first animal. Alright, Mark. - [Mark] What do you got? - I'm gonna lower my flashlight, just kind of frame your
shot in this general area, and tell me if you can
see what I just saw. See if the audience
can recognize it. - [Mark] I can't see
any eyes shining. Oh I see it. There it is. - [Coyote] Do you
know what that is? - [Mark] That is a
walking stick, right? - [Coyote] You're
absolutely right. Let me just grab onto it here. Whoah, come here, buddy. Awesome. These are usually
pretty difficult to see, because look at it. It looks just like a
sick or a piece of straw. - [Mark] That is awesome. Do those things bite? - They do not, which
is good news for me. Watch this, I'm just gonna
let it walk on my face. It's one of the few
creatures that I'm completely comfortable letting do this. - [Mark] Ah, it might
poke you in the eye. - Now the reason that I did
that is to show you guys just how good they can climb. And look at that,
they're actually capable of hanging upside down. They have these little
hooks on the bottoms of their feet, which allow
them to be completely mobile no matter where
they are climbing. Okay, I'm gonna try to
bring it back down here and put him on the tree. Oh, come here buddy. Let's try to find something
a little more dangerous than the walking stick. Very cool first animal, though. (suspenseful music) Definitely watch where
you're walking Mark. - [Mark] Yeah, I'm trying
to keep an eye out. - It's crazy. In the two weeks
we've been here, we have seen so many snakes. It's like you just step
and you're like, whoah, there's a snake
curled up right there. - [Mark] Now, would a
fer-de-lance be below the water or do they stay on the surface? - Yep, they would be
staying right up on top. But they would be
curled up in a ball and almost impossible to see. Come on, come on, come on. - [Mark] Got it. Where is he? - [Coyote] Right there,
coming to the surface, do you see it? Got it! Yes! - [Mark] Nice snag. - The one handed grab. My favorite way to
catch mud turtles. Alright, let's track
it back this way, and get up onto the embankment. - [Mark] Alright, cool. - Yes! Wooo, look at you. Snapping at me. That is a white-lipped
mud turtle and they can be
pretty aggressive. Let's see what
that bite is like. I don't know, should I do it? - [Mark] I don't know,
what do you think, is it gonna hurt? - I think it's
probably gonna hurt. Let's see. Ach, yeah that hurts. Look at that though. Just like the neck
of a snapping turtle. Look at that, oh, it
didn't break skin. Thank you, I appreciate that. The eyes almost look like the
eyes of a snapping turtle. And then they have
that masked structure right on the sides of the cheeks and that very distinct
white nose and beak. Well cool, second
animal of the night. And you guys know I can never
resist catching turtles. Ready to put him back? - [Mark] Let's do it. - [Coyote] Okay. (atmospheric music) There's a monstrous
tarantula that lives right in the crux of that tree. I think I can kind
of put this in front of the tarantula and get it
to pop up out of the hole and then maybe grab ahold of it. - [Mark] Alright man, good luck. - Wow, it's so quick. There's just no good way. - [Mark] Alright, let's go guys. - [Mario] Oh right here,
look at this guy, he's huge. - [Mark] Whoah, what is that? - [Mario] Big tarantula. - [Coyote] That is
a huge tarantula. Okay, well, we go
after one tarantula, and he's actually
smaller than this. This looks like it's a male. Boy, I'm tempted to
try to pick it up, but I'm not %100 percent
sure what species this is. Now, I know my spiders
that are in Arizona, but the ones here in the
rainforest of Costa Rica, it's like, I just don't
know if it's worth the risk trying to handle it. It is very very flighty. I'm gonna try to
just pin it, ready? - [Mark] This is risky. - [Coyote] Oh look out
Mark, it's on your leg. - [Mario] Mark, it's on you. - [Coyote] Don't
move, don't move. - [Mario] It's on you man. - [Coyote] Don't
move, don't move. Okay, let me try that again. It's very strong. - [Mark] Okay you got him. - [Coyote] There we go. (suspenseful music intensifies) Okay. Okay, now we got
it under control. That's a big spider. Now I am going to go
ahead and set it down on my hand. Oop, just jumped
right off me, okay. Has no interest in
just hanging out, but there it is, back on
the floor of the forest. Well if there's anything
that can possibly give you a nightmare out
here in this rainforest, it's definitely a
giant fuzzy tarantula. Alright, let's keep moving
and see what else we can find. A lot of vine tangles. Oh, here we go look at this. - [Mark] Oh, you got a snake. - Yeah. That is a blunt-headed snake. Look at that, just all
curled up in the vines. - [Mark] Look at his eyes. Is that venomous? - Mildly venomous. But rear fanged, and they
are not prone to biting, so, keeping my fingers
crossed on this one. Wait 'til you see how long
and slender this snake is. They often times do musk, as a secondary defense. Wooo, look at that. - [Mark] Whoah man,
that is a long snake. - Wow, look at that snake. Oh no, it is, it's
musking all over me. Oh no, I knew it
was gonna happen. I was trying to be as
gentle as possible. The most interesting
aspect, look at those eyes. Enormous eyes. Its head is mostly eyeballs. Now this is a nocturnal
and an arboreal species, which means that they're
out in the trees at night hunting for their prey. Now they (vinyl record scratches) Oh man.
- Oh jeez. - [Coyote] You rolling? - [Mark] Yeah, I'm rolling. - Well, there is
nothing more dangerous than that moment right there. Now there is no
question about it. I just had my butt inches away from that fer-de-lance Why don't you hold on
to that for us, Mario, wildlife biologist
can wrangle that. I am going to gently move this
fer-de-lance out of the way. Okay? - [Mark] Sure. - Look at that. This snake doesn't want to
strike unless it is threatened, so it felt as long
as I stayed there and I was perfectly camouflaged, maybe nobody would notice me, and we'd just keep our focus
on that blunt-headed snake. Thank you little fer-de-lance
for not tagging me, because even a
fer-de-lance of this size would send me to the hospital. Okay, I'm gonna place him
over here in the leaves, set him down, and
let him take off. Ready? (suspenseful music) There you go. (sighs) Every once in a while,
you just say thank you to the universe for letting
you escape completely unscathed when you get that close
to a very dangerous snake. Wow, okay, back to the
blunt-headed snake. Woo, that was a close one. Alright, Mario, let's
bring that snake back in and continue this
intense snake segment. Now I was saying,
look at those eyes. They are so enormous. This snake's head
is all eyeballs. That's because they're
out here hunting at night. This gives them good vision. Now what they focus
on is small lizards. So let's say it's
an anole or a gecko, this snake will sneak up on it. You can see how it can
stay completely still. Look at that, looks
just like a vine. So if a little gecko's
wandering around on a leaf right there, and then
the snake strikes out and is able to consume it. Very very cool. Well, we've got a snake
that is relatively safe, and then a relatively snake
that was incredibly dangerous right next to me. Pretty good opportunity
to give you guys a good look at some of
the reptiles that are here in the rainforest. Alright, let's put this
one back into the tree and watch our step
where we're going. We'll see you later. Let's definitely look in
here, it's a good spot for insects and arachnids. - [Mark] Let me get across here. - Oh, there's a
scorpion right there. - [Mark] Where? - Look at that. - [Mark] Oh jeez. Oh wow, that's a good sized
one for the rainforest. - [Coyote] A decent size, yeah. Here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna pin it
with my flashlight. You got a shot on it? I'll be as gentle as possible. This isn't going to hurt
the scorpion in any way. It's probably going to
get pretty angry though. - [Mark] Okay I'm ready. - [Coyote] Here we go. I got it. Wooo! (laughs) I do believe this is the
blue mountain scorpion, a rather rare species that
is pretty newly discovered. I wonder what would happen
if I let go of its tail. Think it would sting me? - [Mark] No, I doubt it. - There you go. You can see the stinger's
completely curled up underneath the tail. Wow. - [Mark] Get your heart
racing a little bit when you let the
stinger go like that? - A little bit. It's been an on edge
sort of night after that fer-de-lance encounter. And now to free
handle a scorpion. But, always cool to
come across any sort of creepy crawly out here. Alright, let's let him
back up onto these boards and see what else
we can come across. You ready? - [Mark] Yep. - [Coyote] Oh boy, oh boy, no no no no no no, let's do this, oh no, I do not want to
agitate the scorpion. Wooo! Scorpion safe down
into that crevice. I tell you what, free handling
one of those arachnids definitely gets your
heart rate going. Okay, lets keep 'em going guys. Guys let's move up this way. - Okay. Whoah, whoah. - [Mark] Whatcha got? - [Mario] We got a
venomous snake, Coyote. - [Coyote] What? - [Mario] Yep. - [Coyote] Where? - [Mario] Right here. Watch your step. - [Coyote] I just
walked right past there. - [Mario] It's
really camouflaged. - [Coyote] Ooh, is it
another fer-de-lance? - [Mario] No no, it's
actually a jumping pit viper. - [Coyote] Oh my gosh. - [Mario] Look at that pattern. - [Coyote] How did I miss that? I literally just walked
right over the top of this log and I looked
down where I was stepping, but I did not look to the side. Alright, let's get
it off the log. This is definitely one
worth getting up close for the cameras. They call them jumping
pit vipers because they will lung out. Gently pick it up with
the snake hook here. They tend to stay pretty docile. There we go. Woo, look at that robust body. Okay, back it up slowly here. Alright, I go the snake
under control here. I'm gonna move down real slowly. Now like a water moccassin,
they will oftentimes just curl up into
a ball and display their white mouths. Let's see, look at
that, totally calm. Very unlike the
fer-de-lance, which is a very skittish, snappy snake. I'm gonna get a
little lower there, still out of the
strike zone, but I want to be very careful. I'm looking this snake
right in the eye. And I can tell it's a pit viper, not only from the
shape of its head, but look at the distinct pits
right behind the nostrils. Let's see if I can
point that out. Look right there. That's how they sense heat
and not only their prey, but also potential predators. So right now, this
snake is thinking, ooh, got these big bright lights, got all these human bodies,
way too big to consume, so I better just keep
myself calm and collected. Alright, Mark, I'm
gonna hold it up just a little bit, so you
can get a better look at it. Now the bite from this
snake is very powerful. They're actually referred
to as the pit bull of the pit viper family. And when they bite they hold
on, scrunch up their face to protect their eyes
and they do not let go. So getting tagged by this snake, would be really
really bad for me. Pretty cool though,
getting up close with the jumping pit viper. Alright, back in the
forest with this one. Come on little buddy,
back up on your log. This is so cool, I just
wanted to stop for a moment and show this to you guys. Look at this. There is water just flowing
through the forest right now. We have had so much rain
over the past couple of days, the forest is alive
with frog sounds, and snakes moving about hunting, but here, I'm gonna
kinda turn like this. Look up that pathway,
this is just water flowing through the forest. - [Mark] And this
is not a stream. - No, this is not a stream. This is just a path through
the middle of the forest that has water
flowing through it, which is great for us to
be able to find animals. So the environment is rich and hopefully we're gonna
come across more great things. Let's keep going. (mellow adventurous music) There's a glass
frog right there, right there on that leaf. - [Mark] Is that what's
making that peep? - I don't know if that
one's making that exactly, but that's a glass frog. Got him. - [Mark] Okay, cool. - Yes, okay. Double check for snakes,
think we're good. There he is. Look at that little guy. - [Mark] Whoah,
look at his eyes. - [Coyote] You know
who it looks like? Kermit the frog. And actually Kermit was designed off of this exact frog species. Now they call them
glass frogs because their bodies are
semi-translucent,
especially on the body. Actually some species, I
can't tell with this one, let me hold him up here for you. - [Mark] No that one
has a white bottom. - It has a white bottom, okay. Some of them have bellies
that are completely clear and you can actually see
the organs moving inside. That is one adorable frog. Now up against the
light like that, its body is semi-translucent. I can actually see some
of the organs and veins in there pumping, working away, keeping this frog alive. - [Mark] Alright,
let's let him go. - Alright, let's do this. I'm gonna try to
just let him hop right back up onto this leaf. (suspenseful tribal music) Light, light light. Got it. - [Mario] Oh, that's
a coral snake. - [Coyote] That
is a coral snake. - [Mark] That's a
very dangerous snake. - [Coyote] Yes, that is
a very dangerous snake. Is it a coral? Yeah. That is %100 percent
a coral snake. You do not want to be
bitten by this snake. Now this does not
have hinged fangs like a pit viper. They have small fixed fangs, but they are extremely venomous. Why don't I pin its head
and get it under control. - [Mark] You sure you
want to head that? Oh my goodness. - Wow. The best way for us
to present this snake, because it was moving
so much, was for me to actually just head it
and get it under control. That is an enormous
coral snake, is it not? - [Mario] Yeah. - The biggest one
you've ever seen? - [Mario] Yep. - They are incredibly
fast, incredibly strong and the venom is
incredibly potent. Being bitten by this
snake would be just as bad as being bitten
by a fer-de-lance. I can't believe how
many snakes are out here and on the move tonight. Unbelievable, now, it
is musking a little bit. It was very scared
when we came up on it, and moved very quickly
and I was able to gently grab ahold of it
with the snake tongs. And I have a good
fixed hold on the head. Gentle, yet controlled,
as you can see there. And it is just, wow,
look at the irridescence to the scales. Can your camera pick that up? - [Mark] Yeah, it is
a beautiful snake. That is really impressive. - Now the bright
coloration of this snake goes in line with
the aposematic term that I often use with
the poison frogs. Anything that has bright
coloration is a warning that I am toxic. And in this case,
it's a venomous snake, not a poisonous frog. And again, a bite from
this snake would send me to the hospital. Now most of the snakes
that we have come across so far here in Costa
Rica are pit vipers, but this one is an elapid. They are actually
related to cobras with a very very potent venom. (sighs) Well it certainly has been
the night of serpents, between my close call
with the fer-de-lance and then of course,
that jumping pit viper and now, the coral snake. I'll just be happy
when we get this one back off into the rainforest. I'm Coyote Petersen. Be brave, stay wild. We'll see you on
the next adventure. If you thought the creatures
on the eastern side of Costa Rica were
creepy looking, make sure to go back
and watch the episode that follows our adventure
into the western rainforest, where I get up close
with a giant cockroach. And don't forget, subscribe, so you can join me and the crew on this season of
Breaking Trail. (adventurous music) (coyote howling)
I love that guy me and my son love watching his show its very kid friendly
Anyone interested in skipping to the scary wary snake carry jump to 6:55 where he almost gets his cheeks bit.