Bitten by Bloodworms!

(tense music) - Oh, it wants to bite me. (she sighs loudly) In fact, they're going to bite me. Ready? One two. Three. (tense music) (screaming loudly) Oh, it's biting me! It's good for me. (moaning loudly) Oh, it's on. He's hooked. He won't let him go. He won't let him go. (dramatic music) Oh, I have one. Oh yeah. Wow yes! This, believe it or not, is one of the most famous creatures ever featured on the Brave Wilderness channel. That's right, the original bloodworm video now has over 73 million views, but in that original adventure, we left a few things on the table that are definitely worth revisiting.

That is, the poisonous bite of this creature. Did Coyote actually bite him? (Coyote screaming loudly) - Did he bite you? -He caught me! - (laughs out loud) I already have it! -He caught me, I felt it. It was a little pinch. -Let me see, where did he get you from? - Just there. Right in the center of my finger. - I think we can do more than just a pinch of one of the only poisonous worms in the world. We actually learned something very important about this creature between the last adventure and today that will help us get an on-camera bite, but before I get

bitten

for this new bloodworm experiment, we need to find a lot more worms. that only this one.

Let's continue investigating. Bloodworms hunt their prey in the mudflats of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of the United States and Canada. They have also earned the nickname mud worm, as their habitat consists of thick mud and quicksand that can easily swallow boots whole. To find these slimy predators, worm hunters use special rakes to quickly remove mud and reveal moving worms that could be sold as fishing bait. And while they may be hard to find, some of Maine's best worm hunters could collect up to 1,000 worms a day, with the largest growing up to 15 inches long. After hours of digging and covered in mud and sweat from head to toe, we filled the bucket and set the stage for one of the worst stings we've ever filmed.

Welcome to the bloodworm bites table. What I have here in front of me are five very large

bloodworms

. No, these aren't your grandpa's night crawlers, folks. These are born killers. Armed with four venomous fangs and an equal appetite, we're told these worms pack a big bite. Some people say it's like a bee sting, and locals have even told us they've seen worm diggers coming out of the mudflats almost crying from being stung by these carnivorous worms. But there is one key piece of information we learned from the original bloodworm video to this day, and that is that you can actually direct a bloodworm.

Similar to how a herpetologist would head a venomous snake to prevent it from biting, I will actually try to grab the proboscis once it darts out and then intentionally inflict my first bite. And yes, I said first bite. There will be more than one. Now what I'm going to try to do is head up the proboscis, and while I'm trying to do that, let's go over some of the more interesting facts about this strange marine oddity. The bloodworm is a venomous segmented worm that hunts invertebrates and other marine creatures. Armed with four sharp fangs and a projectile mouth called a proboscis, they are voracious predators and as aggressive as they are strange.

One of the most shocking things about these worms is how normal they can look and then, in a split second, transform into one of the strangest life forms you've ever seen. And as if this wasn't creepy enough, things get even worse. Once the bloodworm has its prey trapped in those hooked jaws, it injects a paralyzing poison that incapacitates the victim so that it can be digested and eaten alive. This venom is chemically similar to that of a scorpion and is known to cause severe reactions in humans, such as burns, tissue damage, and anaphylactic shock. Please don't try what you're about to see.

Oh, I almost made it. Oh, I missed it. Oh, oh! Come on. Alright. I have it. Oh, it wants to bite me. That's the proboscis of one of the largest

bloodworms

I've ever seen. My God. That's more than a foot, for sure. Well, it's time to get

bitten

by one of the only poisonous worms on the planet, the bloodworm. We have it well under control. Here we go. One two. Three. Ah! (growling loudly) Oh, look at that. Ah, he won't let him go. He won't let him go. (growling loudly) Oh, he's already inside. He's really there, guys.

I can't get it out. He's biting me, he's got me good. Yes, he caught me. Oh man, he didn't break the skin. He was definitely stuck on me, but I don't think his fangs are long enough to break the skin on my finger. I wonder if I try on a softer part. Let's try my doll. It's a little thinner there, a little softer. Alright, here we go. Let's go for the second bite of three. One two. Three. Oh yeah, do you see it pulling on the skin? He's in, he's hooked. He's hooked! Yeah! (moans loudly) I can't get it off.

Yes, he has me. You see it? He keeps rolling, he keeps rolling. I'm going to try to get him off of me. Oh, he's really hooked. (moans loudly) Come on. Let it go let it go. He won't let it go, he won't let it go. I have to get it out. Oh yeah. That was a bloodworm bite. Wow, that burns. God, did you get that chance? His fangs were completely trapped. Oh. Oh, that burns. Oh man, yes. You can see that there wasn't much blood from the bite, but I'm blistering, and that's probably from all the inflammation and swelling.

I seal it in the nervous system. My doll is screaming right now. Super painful burning sensation, very similar to a wasp or bee sting. Those fangs are like little claws, and they just pierced the skin and wouldn't let go. They were like barbs on a fishing hook. They were right there. And really, I couldn't get the worm out until it decided to relax a little and I pushed it back, but those fangs are definitely sharp enough. Wow, that hurt. Now that we've witnessed what a single bloodworm is capable of, let's see what happens when I dip my hands into over a hundred of them.

Do bloodworms hunt in packs? We're about to find out. Before I try to feed my hands on these four-fanged terrors, let's take a look at what they did to some normal prey in the wild. While related and very similar in appearance to bloodworms, the sandworm is not as formidable. And after a short time in a small aquarium, we can see that they are also their food. The poisonous bloodworms attacked and decomposed the sandworms quickly, and what you are seeing now are signs of chewing and dismemberment. A clear sign of active predation. If you thought a bloodworm bite was bad, check this out.

Oh! Look at all these worms. That's a container full of over 100 bloodworms in this tank, and I'm going to try to dip my hands in this tank of bloodworms for two minutes, all to find out how bloodworms hunt in packs. Ready? At three. One two. Three. Oh, that feels so weird. (tense music) (screams quickly) I just took my first bite. Hit me on the pinky. It was a bite and a release. Oh, I can feel them. Yes, I can feel more trunk moving. It's like you can feel them tense and then, poof, it goes off. It is killing me.

You can see them squirm, and they have their little sensory spikes detecting their surroundings for anything they can eat or get their jaws on. Oh, I can see that many of them are already sticking out their trunks. They feel something strange in their surroundings. I have to look the other way. This is like too much anxiety just looking at this container. This has to be the creepiest thing I've ever done in my entire life. It's so disgusting to feel all those worms wriggling between my fingers. One thing we noticed before is that as soon as one of them fires its proboscis, it seems to create a rapid-fire effect.

They all do it at the same time. - They're going crazy. - They are, I feel them wriggling between my fingers. Oh man, oh yeah. Ah! I have another one, mm. Oh my god, how creepy. Okay, how much time is left? - 30 seconds left. - Alright. This must be the longest two minutes of my life. Two minutes seems like an eternity. Ah! Oh! Oh, the bloodworm bite tank. This is horrible! Give me a countdown. - Five, four... - Ah, you caught me again! - Three, two, one! - Oh! My pinky was definitely poked on this side, and I got two pinches between my fingers, here and here.

I was definitely bitten three times. Wow. That was weird. What a crazy day on the Brave Wilderness channel. Well, I don't know if we can definitively say that bloodworms like to hunt in packs, but I'll tell you this. I'm sure they don't mind sharing a meal. But man, that original bite? That was a very, very serious bite from a bloodworm. It is absolutely swollen and very sensitive to the touch. I have a feeling I'm going to be in pain for quite a while with that. (voice-over) And he was absolutely right. Being bitten by a bloodworm was no joke and ended up becoming one of the most painful experiences I have endured thus far.

Overnight, the swelling increased dramatically and the burning around the bite spread through my hand and arm, almost locking my wrist. Then, days after the initial pain subsided, I had a secondary reaction, in which the bite area erupted with an aggressive rash and was at least twice as itchy as poison ivy. In total, it took three weeks to heal from the bloodworm poison, and I am here to officially say that the terrifying rumors about bloodworms are 100% true. So while these creatures are an important part of the inland tidal ecosystem and a valuable resource for Maine fishing towns, it is absolutely advisable to avoid their stings at all costs.

Oh, exclamation point! (mud sloshing silently) (animal howling loudly)