- if the bullet antis the grand finale on my quest to findthe most painful sting in the insect kingdom, the tarantula hawk isdefinitely the last act. and right now mark isshooting b roll of it inside this littleglass enclosure. and boy, it does not look happy. (intense buzzing) now they say that thesting of the tarantula hawk
is number two on theinsect sting pain index. it's like beingstunned with a tazer and they say it putsyou into a state of paralysis forup to five minutes where all you can do is scream. as you can tell, we'repretty excited about this. - [mark] all right coyote. (deep breathing) you okay, man?
your heart racing? - a million miles a second. this is the mostnervous i've ever been to take a stingerbite from anything. my hand is shaking. are you guys all ready? - [mark] oh yeah, i'mready if you're ready. - i'm ready, i'm ready. here we go.
i'm coyote peterson. and i'm about toenter the sting zone with the tarantula hawk. - [mark] go for it. - one. (exhaling) two. here we go, three. (screaming) (drum beat)
(roaring) i think we can allagree that i have done some pretty crazy things. like the time wherei stuck my arm into the mouth of an alligator, to show you why gettingan alligator as a pet is not a good idea. ready, everyone ready? rolling, gopro rolling.
one. two. three.(screaming) ooh yeah, he is into my arm and he is holding on. then there was the timei put that same arm into a container fullof blood sucking leaches to show you what it's like to be feasted on byone of the world's
most notorious parasites. look at that. they are all over me. oh, i can definitelyfeel something happening. it feels like sandpapergrinding against my skin. you guessed it, theydrank a lot of blood. and it's all about theamount of anti-coagulant that actually went into my hand. i may be bleeding forhours at this point.
oh yeah, then therewas that time i took a sting from the velvet ant. which is ranked ashaving the fourth most painful sting inthe insect kingdom. (dramatic music) (yelping) (groaning) oh my gosh, guys,this is super bad. like i said, i do somepretty crazy things.
but the reason i dothem is so we can learn about these animals, the dangers of theirbites or stings, and so that ultimatelywe walk away with a newfoundrespect for some of the coolest creatures on our planet. aah! oh that hurts. ow!
ah! ah, can you see that? oh man, this was not a goodidea, ladies and gentlemen. woo doggy. however, in order to be apart of these experiments, i have to first get myselfup close with the animals. and sometimes that'seasier said than done. - [man] careful! he's gonna get it.
i think he sees it. oh. what happened? go, go, go! (hollering) what's wrong, did you catch it? - yeah, i caught it. oh, but the bad news is, i caught something else, too.
- oh my goodness. that is the worst chollaspike i've ever seen. - oh, hold on a second. hold on, hold on, idon't wanna get stung by a tarantula hawk. - [man] they'reall over you, man. - hold on a second, letme get this under control. - [man] oh my gosh. did you get thetarantula hawk, at least?
- i did, i did, i caughtthe tarantula hawk. - [mark] you nervous? - [coyote] do i look nervous? - [mark] yep. - yeah, guys, i amthe most nervous i have ever been before one ofthese bite or sting episodes. as we know, yesterday imade this awesome catch. i caught a tarantula hawkand i was so excited. and then i fell intoa cholla cactus.
and then i realizedwhat i had done. i set the table for today where i'm going to be stung by a giant spider wasp. now, the tarantulahawk is the second the only thing morepainful than this is the bullet ant andi felt that to work my way up the rungs ofexperiencing these painful insect stings,
i kind of had tosee what it was like to be stung by a tarantulahawk before i actually take on the bulletant challenge. woo, deep breath. all right, let'sbring in the wasp. oh boy, this is gonna be bad. - [man] oh boy. - [man] that's a big one. - that is the largestspecies of wasp
in the united states,ladies and gentlemen. now, you look at this insectand you say to yourself, tarantula hawk, wellit's not a tarantula and it's not a hawk. but like a hawk theyhunt for tarantulas. what these females will dois fly around in the sky and they can actuallysense chemicals in the air that will tell them where atarantula's burrow exists. they will land on the ground,
skitter across, and godown into the burrow. they will use their frontarms to tempt that tarantula to come up out of its burrow. and that is where aboxing match begins. the tarantula hawk willdodge left and right, taunting that tarantulauntil it rears up on its back legs andexposes its fangs. now, you would think thattarantula is going to bite down and killthe tarantula hawk.
not gonna happen. this hawk is so quick, she will spin herabdomen up underneath the belly of the tarantula, insert that quarterinch stinger, and the venom willinstantly put that tarantula into a state of paralysis. now, the tarantula is not dead. it's just like this.
i'm in intense painand i cannot move. and this, ladies and gentlemen, is where the truehorror story begins. it's in a state ofparalysis and the female pulls the tarantula backdown into its burrow and there, she proceeds to layan egg on top of its abdomen. she then leaves the burrow and the tarantula is left there, still alive and in apermanent state of paralysis.
eventually that egg hatches, and the larvae theneats the tarantula while it's still alive. how's that for onecrazy horror story? okay, so they say that thesting from the tarantula hawk is so painful itwill put even a human into a state of paralysisfor about five minutes. i know what you're thinking. coyote, this isabsolutely crazy.
do you wanna know whatcoyote's thinking right now? this is absolutely crazy. but i think if youguys are ready, i am ready to be stungby the tarantula hawk. here we go guys. chance, bring inthat butterfly net. i'm gonna lift this up. we're going to actuallyplace the capsule inside of the butterflynet just like that.
lift it up and i have a set of entomology forceps here. see that? and these have a very soft tip. i'm gonna be ableto pick up the wasp with these forceps. what i'm gonna do firstis reach my arm in there and remove the glass capsule. once the glass capsule's out,
the net will falldown on the wasp and i'll be able to insertthe forceps in there, pick up the wasp, and remove it from the net. okay, ready, here we go. - [mark] the butterflynet is here to try to prevent the waspfrom flying away. - yes. [mark] because how hard was it
to catch this wasp? - extremely difficult. we've been trying for daysto catch one of these. and it was a very painfulexperience to get it based on the fact that i fell into the cholla, okay,ready, here we go. you ready? - [mark] i'm ready. - i'm removingthe glass capsule.
trying not to disturb the wasp. okay, this is good. - [mark] part one, successful. - part one is good, i'mgonna remove the stick. stick is out. okay, now i'm going tofold this over like that. - [mark] this is thelast little break between you and being stung, what's going through your mind?
(deep breath) - what's going through mymind is don't get stung right now just through the net. i have to get it perfectlywith the entomology forceps. if i don't get itright on its thorax, we can't make this happen. - [mark] i don't know, man, i think you're kind of stalling. - i'm not stalling.
trust me, i'm not stalling. oh boy. - [mark] careful. - got it. - [mark] oh boy. - [coyote] that is theposition that we want. - [mark] oh boy, okay, so we gotta hurryup and do this. - that is a perfecthold right there.
now, before, look howmuch my hand is shaking. hold on. (mumbling) okay, we've got areally good hold. - [mark] wow, look atthat abdomen going. - i got a reallygood hold on her. it took me a minuteto get the right hold but the right holdis what is important. now, i do have theglass capsule right here
so i'm hoping that ihave the wherewithall after the sting toquickly pick up the glass enclosure and put itback over top of the wasp so it doesn't escapeand we can get some more bebo shots with it. but, guys, do be awarethat if i do immediately go into a state of paralysis, just let the wasp fly away. don't try to grab it,don't do anything.
it will be back into the wildand everything will be fine. - [mark] all right, coyote. okay, here we go. i'm coyote peterson, and i'mabout to enter the sting zone (deep breath) two. - [mark] you all right? - oh my gosh! - [mark] tell mewhat you're feeling? - i can't move my arm.
(heavy breathing) that is the most intensepain i've ever felt. don't think i can talk. (wincing) - [mark] are you okay, man? i'm getting nervous. are you feeling anything like, do we need to be worried? - no, i just can't move my arm.
i think i'm gonna cry. coyote peterson doesn'tcry though, right? it is, it's like my armis in a state of paralysis right now. aah.(groaning) - [mark] do you need anything? - right there. oh wow. aah.
argh. - [mark] it looks likeyour arm is swollen up. - oh, second wave of pain! it's actually recedingat this point. ah, wow. that zone right there isa hot, radiating pain. and you can see the stinger, where it went in right there, that red mark, i've readthat it's like getting tazed
with a tazer gun. i've never been tazed before, but i can tell you that thepain is unbelievable right now. all up and down my forearm. wow, i actuallyslightly liken it to the gila monsterat this point, it feels really hot. really, really hot. ah, ah hot to the touch.
wow, it's, push it, see if my arm is warm to you. - [mark] oh yeah,it's all really, it's like really hot. - oh, let me walkaround for a second. ah. okay, okay. let's come backinto the scene here. ah, ah you little bugger.
ah, i am lightheadedat the moment but the sting from thetarantula hawk is serious. i can see why it'sranked as a two on the insect sting pain index. and at this juncture, ithink it's safe to say that i have workedmy way up the ladder and i'm ready for thebullet ant challenge. i know you are all waitingin anticipation for that one. trust me, it's coming.
i'm coyote peterson, be brave. stay wild, we'll see youon the next adventure. all right, let'slet this go back off into the desert. we safely releasethe tarantula hawk back into the wildand as it flew away i think we wereall a bit relieved that this sting wasover and done with. and while theimpact of the sting
and the intensity of the pain was far superior tothat of the velvet ant, it only lasted forabout five minutes. i had no majoradverse reactions, however, my arm was sorefor the rest of the day. and 24 hours later, it looked like a water balloon and it really itches. and i really shouldn'titch it but ah,
that feels so good. the tarantula hawk isan extraordinary insect. and while theirsting is powerful, they have no interestin stinging humans. if you ever see one in the wild, admire it from a safe distance, as you have absolutelynothing to fear. that is, unless youare a tarantula. have you ever wonderedhow to properly
care for an insect sting? if so, make sure to checkout this behind the adventure and don't forget to subscribe so you can join me and the crew on this season ofbreaking trail. oh, that may be the bestfeeling i have had all day. (sighing)
