- [Mark] Two stings, one night. I'm ready if you're ready. This is crazy, but
if you're up for it. - Here we go. One two three. Ow. Ooh-ah. (adventure music) From a bird's eye view
the Sonoran Desert looks like nothing more
than an scattering of rocks and sparse plants, but we all know by now that it is alive with animals. During the daylight hours
these creatures stay hidden doing their best to
avoid the scorching sun, yet when this glowing orb
disappears behind the mountains, and darkness sets in a menagerie of creepy crawly nightmares
emerge from the shadows. In past episodes we have shown
you many of these animals almost all of
which are venomous, and that we as a team consider to be biological landmines. Break it down a bit further, and you have what I
call the triple S, snakes, spiders, and scorpions. Just the word, scorpion,
makes my skin crawl, and the Sonoran Desert is home
to three distinct species. The notorious bark
scorpion, the stripe tailed, and the giant desert hairy. We have featured these
arachnids before, and I even free
handled a bark scorpion which possesses the most
painful scorpion sting in the United States, and for me this
is also different, and extremely nerve racking, but the reason I'm
doing this is to prove that these scorpions aren't
just out there to sting you. However, this brought about
one very interesting question. If the bark scorpion is
considered to be the worst, what is the sting
pain difference between a giant desert
hairy and the stripe tailed. So tonight I'm going
to be stung by both to bring us the answer
to that question. Warning, scorpion stings
can be incredibly painful, and potentially lethal. Never attempt to
replicate this experiment. Alright, here's the cap,
yes, Alright, lets go. There they are guys. On my left the giant
desert hairy scorpion, and on the right the
stripe tailed scorpion. Two of the most common species
here in the Sonoran Desert. Scorpions absolutely
creep me out. I'm just gonna turn this
giant desert hairy scorpion toward you there. Look at that thing,
pinchers, stingers, fur, ugh. The little stripe
tailed scorpion is
actually kind of cute. He's just curled up
in the corner there. Pretty cool to
see the difference between the two of them
up close like that. Look at that size difference. That is pretty intimidating. You're maybe wondering
to yourselves Coyote are you nervous? Oh, yeah, I am
definitely nervous because I'm gonna
be stung on one hand by one species of scorpion, and the other hand by the
other species of scorpion. Now the reason that I'm
being stung is to prove that it's not all about size. Size doesn't necessarily matter when it comes to the pain
and potency of a sting. So we're gonna find out whether the giant desert
hairy scorpion is more painful than the stripe tailed
scorpion or vice versa. If you look at the giant
desert hairy scorpion, that's a big arachnid,
definitely intimidating. Then you look at
the stripe tail, and you're like oh, he's tiny. He's almost cute. That sting can't hurt that bad. Often times what you wanna
look at are the pinchers, or as they're properly known in the scientific
community as pedipalps. Now those are the front arms that have these little claw
looking appendages, right? The pedipalps often times
signify whether or not a scorpion has potent venom. That's because the
smaller the pedipalps often times the more
potent the sting. You notice the giant
desert hairy scorpion's pedipalps are enormous right?. It can grab onto its prey,
squeeze and crush it, and then inflict a sting when it comes to the
strip tailed scorpion the pedipalps are
actually pretty small. So I'm thinking this
venom maybe more potent, but I think ultimately we're
gonna test it out on my hands, and see exactly which
one is more painful in the realm of
human experience. - [Mark] It's definitely
more intimidating to look at the larger scorpion to me. - Well, and what's cool about the giant
desert hairy scorpion, and where they get their name, is I can actually
see this really well through the light beams there, are all of the hairs that
are growing on the tail, and you may not have known this, but the little bulb at
the end of the tail there, that's called the telson, and the telson is what
connects to the stinger, and that is where all
of the venom is stored. - [Mark] Looks like it wants
to sting you right now. - Yeah, it's coming
right for me. It's thinking to itself, let
me get a wallup at your hand. Coyote, I'll send you packing, and little stripe tail, he's
just curled up in a ball there. Sayin alright I'm in
the bright lights, maybe if I don't move
I'll be camouflaged, and nobody will see me. - [Mark] Well I think
since the desert hairy appears to be volunteering
it should go first. - It does look like it's
volunteering, doesn't it? - [Mark] Yep. - Okay, now the way,
that I'm gonna do this is I'm gonna use forceps to pick up the
scorpion by its tail. Then I'm gonna actually get
a hold of the back knuckle of the tail and the
telson, and I'm going to gently place the scorpion
in the crux of my hand. I will loosely
position it in place. Let go of the tail, whap,
and I'm gonna get stung somewhere in that general area. Now in case you guys are
wondering, as always, we have epinephrine pen
right here, just in case my body has some sort of negative allergic
reaction to the venom, but keep this in mind,
there is no reported case of anyone ever dying from either of these
two scorpion species. The only real danger that
these scorpions possess is that their sting is painful. It's not going to kill you. (Coyote breathes heavily?) Well I think it
is time to compare the giant desert
hairy scorpion sting to the stripe tailed
scorpion sting. Are you guys ready. - [Mark] I'm ready
if you're ready. This is crazy, but
if you're up for it. - Puhhh. - [Mark] - You
don't wanna do it? (Coyote laughs) - It's not easy. Well, and it's not
even one sting. It's gonna be two
different stings. I've never done
two stings before. So this one is a
little bit different, but I think I am ready. Okay, so I'm gonna put
the stripe tail down here, out of the shot. I'm also gonna move
the epinephrine pen down here out of my pack,
and bring in this GoPro. Rolling? - [Mark] Just became
real didn't it. (Coyote takes deep breath) - Get the scorpion out There we go. It's a risky little balancing
game there isn't it? Now I'm going to keep the
plastic container right here because I have a feeling
that as soon as I am stung I'm gonna drop the scorpion, and I'mma have to put the
container back on top of it, or at least I'm gonna try. Just like I have with some
of the insects in the past. This arachnid though,
may scurry off the table. If it does don't
worry about it guys. Don't try to get the scorpion. I'll try to compose myself,
and get back under control. If it gets away it's just
gonna run off into the desert. I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm
about to enter the sting zone with the giant desert
hairy scorpion. Are you ready? (Tense music) - [Mark] As ready
as I'm gonna be. - Here we go. One. Two. Here we go, three. OW, eeya, get into
this container. - [Mark] You got
bit, I saw that. - Ah, a just a little
nick on the finger. Ah, did you see that though. - [Mark] Yeah, I saw
he wacked your finger. - Ugh, man. - [Mark] What's it feel like? - Like a bee sting actually. - [Mark] Was it instant? - Uh, yeah, it was
pretty instant. The stinger I
could feel go boop, right up underneath my skin. Ah see if it drew blood. No, if didn't draw blood. Mmm, it hurts though, it
definitely hurts, tingling. It's kind of like a bunch of little pins and needles
going into my finger. Ah, ah, ahhh, shake it off. - [Mark] Round one. - Round One Well, it' not that bad as
compared to a bullet ant or a tarantula hawk. That was honestly nothing. That did feel almost
just like a bee sting. Honestly, maybe not even
as bad as bee sting. Ugh, okay, okay, Alright. - [Mark] Ready for round two? - Respect Mr. Giant
desert hairy scorpion. Respect is what you get. - [Mark] So now that you
remember what it feels like, you've been through
the bullet ant, you've been through the
velvet ant, all these things. What's that like now? - Scorpion, now nearly as bad as some of the other
things I've been stung by, but again remember often
times with larger pedipalps it means less venom potency. The stripe tailed scorpion,
small pedipalps powerful sting. Are you ready? I'm gonna go ahead
and get stripe tail out of the container here. This is one frisky
little arachnid. - [Mark] It's so tiny. - I gotch you. Look it is just chompin onto
forceps with those pedipalps. - [Mark] And you've never
been stung by one of these. So this is a first. - This is going to
be a first, yes. (Coyote takes deep breath) - [Mark] Two stings, one night. (Camera Man laughs) - It's hard to hold the
forceps now with my finger. My finger hurts. Alright, I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to enter
the sting zone, again. This time with the
stripe tailed scorpion. Are you ready? (Coyote take deep breath) One. Two. Three. (tense music) He's right there,
let me get him. Ah, yeah he got me. Ah, did you see that. - [Mark] Yeah. - Ah, right there in
the side of my finger. - [Mark] It's turning
red a little bit. - Yeah, that one hurts more. - [Mark] Is like it burning? (Coyote groans) - [Mark] Tell us
what is happening. - It burns a little bit worse than the giant desert
hairy scorpion. Yep, see right there,
see right there on the side of finger. Ya see that? Just barely that
little red spot. That's a slightly softer
part of the finger too. Ooh, Wowzer. - [Mark] You knocked
th GoPro off. - I did, didn't I? Ouch, I like jolted the table. That one actually
gave me more of a jolt than the giant desert
hairy scorpion. Ooh, that like
shot me backwards. Did you see that? - [Mark] Yeah. That was a sharp
little, wing, ow. - [Mark] It didn't look like he was gonna sting you at first. His stinger stayed out,
and then all of the sudden at the very last second, whap. - It was delayed
that was for sure. Man my finger's burnin. - [Mark] You okay. - Yeah. - [Mark] Everybody bashes me for asking if you're okay. I'm always worried about you. - No I'm okay, I
definitely okay. What's funny is that my
finger that was stung by that giant desert hairy
scorpion does not hurt anymore. All the pain's in this hand now. This definitely hurts worse. Stripe tail scorpion
without question is a more painful sting than the giant desert
hairy scorpion. Ow, but honestly. nowhere close to the velvet ant, the tarantula hawk, or the
bullet ant, nowhere close. Alright, lets bring hairy
back up into the scene here. Alright you guys did awesome. You both successfully
stung my hands. Exactly what we
wanted to happen, and actually it's only
my hand that was stung by the stripe tailed scorpion that still hurts at this point. So what we've learned
is that often times it is the smaller pedipalps
and the smaller scorpion that has the more potent,
and more painful venom. I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild. We'll see you on
the next adventure. Ah, my finger still hurts. Being stung by these
two scorpion species has hopefully answered
the question asked to which is worse, and I think we can now
complete the hierarchy in saying that size
doesn't always matter because while it
may be the largest, the least painful sting actually comes from the
giant desert hairy, followed by the stripe tailed, leaving the reigning kind
of sting in the southwest as the bark scorpion. So now when I say
the word scorpion. I bet for many of you, a chill
still runs down your spine. However, despite their creepy
alien looking appearance, and intimidating stinger, these animals have no
interest in stinging humans. Often times do their
absolute best to avoid having a close encounter
of the human kind. If you thought getting stung
by two scorpions seemed intense make sure to go back and
see what happened to my face after getting stung
32 times by honeybees. Whoa, that one was painful, and don't forget, subscribe,
so you can join me and the crew on this season of
Breaking Trail. (outdoor noises)
Is... is that who I think it is?