BITTEN by Giant Soldier Ants!

(pat on shoulder) We need to sacrifice you once again. (laughs) - Well, I'm more than happy to sacrifice my hand in the name of conservation, so I hope you learned something fantastic today. I'm going to locate the box. I put a sleeve on the outside. - I have a question. - Yeah? - Do you feel any concern? - I have no idea what to expect, except the fact that I know those sharp jaws are going to turn my hands into minced meat. So enough procrastinating at this point. It's time to get

bitten

by

ants

. - Alright. (ominous music plays) - I'm Coyote Peterson, and I'm about to enter the pain box with 50 leafcutter

soldier

ants

.

Here we go, one, two, three. (box rings) - Okay. - It's not going to happen as fast as the yellow jackets, but my hand is in it. Okay, Jim, so you're pretty sure they'll attack and start biting. - Yes of course. Just move your fingers a little bit, you know, start creating that movement. - Any kind of vibrations? - Aha, they are making the vibrations so they can feel your hand. - Oh, no, look at them. They come towards me. - Yes. A little stronger. A little stronger. (Touch with fingers) Mm-hm. - I still don't see any bites.

Surely my hand is fogging up the inside of the box. - MMM interesting. - Mm-hm-hm. - Mm-hm. - Look what we've learned here. The ants are extremely aggressive when around their mound. But once in a box, they have no interest in, oh, oh, oh, one of them is biting me (Jim laughs) on the bottom of my thumb. A bite, ah, no, like he lets go. He just tested me and then let me go. - Just wait. No, he's still there. He is trying to find a place. -So you think that if that one bites me, he's going to, oh, he's going to pass through my fingers.

Oh, that could be really bad. No, you're just hanging out. - They are very calm. - Absolutely nothing. They are extremely calm. - Mm-hm. -So if I placed my hand right in front of the mound, they would probably attack non-stop. - Safely. - So do you think that if we took these ants to the place where we were going to release them, put them right on top of the mound, and then put my hand there, we would get a different result? - Let's try to do that experiment. - Now, Jim, what I need you to do is your ant dance.

I'm going to place my hand right on the edge of the mound and we'll see if, when they come out, they'll target my hand like the enemy. - So I start dancing? - Start dancing, friend. (loud stomp) (happy, sinister music plays) - Just wait. - Yes, they are coming, they are coming, they are coming. They come. - Oh man, the little ones are getting me too. Oh. Yes, oh, oh, oh, oh. Wow, yeah, okay, this is getting the job done. Ooh, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, yeah, okay. Here's what we know, oh, okay, Jim, take some off, take some off. - Oh, no, can you see the... - Yes, we have to get them out.

Yes, I know, take them off, take them off. - Oh, no, they're attacking me too. (laughs) Ah wah wah wah wah. - Yes, that's an explosion. That's an explosion right there. - Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. - (screams) Oh wow, yeah, they're really digging in. - Oh no. - Okay, I'd say, ah, let's get these, let's get these. - Well well. (Coyote exhales loudly) Are you okay? - Mm-hm. Okay, now I'm going to try to keep my hand hidden because I don't want to show so much blood on camera. Wow, my hand is spilling blood right now.

That got intense very quickly. Then you can see how different the results are if you shake the nest and the

soldier

s recognize you as the invader. When we placed the ants inside the box, we thought this was the result we were going to get. - It's very interesting, right? - But we didn't. Oh yeah, man, my hand is a mess. - Oh great. - Let me analyze, let me analyze. I actually have something in my bag. Uh-oh, Jim, it's bad. (laughs) - (laughs) Worse than you thought? - I mean, there's... - Oh, my God. - There's a lot. - And yet, you have blood on your hands? - Yes Yes.

I have the new Brave Wilderness viper t-shirt that will be available in the Brave Wilderness store very soon. I'm going to keep my hand, which, wow, is bleeding a lot, covered. Jim, let's step back from the mound for a second and finish. Wow. - That was intense. - That was intense. Much faster than I thought it was going to be. Is there one on my neck? - Yes. - Oh thank you. (Jim claps) Holy shit, and that hurts. Understanding the power (ominous music plays) behind the bite of these ants, - Of course. - It's unreal. - It's unreal;

They're really destructive, you know, so they can modify an entire hectare around the forest to create a huge space and even destroy entire trees. So yeah, I'm not surprised you almost destroyed your hand. (laughs) - You know the funny thing, Jim, is that he was going to give me the challenge of 30 seconds on the mound. When I did the yellow jacket box, I lasted about three seconds. My hand got stuck in the box. Help help help. - Did you understand? - And I ended up being in there for 10 seconds. This was a bad idea. Bad idea, bad idea.

I was probably there for less than 10 seconds. Probably yes. - With my hand in that. I mean, a lot of pain, and think about the nerve endings in your fingers. So quickly I had to remove my hand from that mound. - Sure. - And what's interesting too is that you think of any potential predator that comes in, like (unintelligible) to sniff the front of this and say, "Hey, is this a place to eat?" Absolutely not; If you put them in your mouth, it's game over. - Yes, exactly. I've never actually seen a predator that directly attacks leafcutter ants in Costa Rica, except for soldier ants, which are really specialized species that go after this group of ants.

But after them, I haven't seen anything else really attack them. - Well, do you know why, Jim? Because you have to be dumb enough to stick your hand in a pile of soldier ants. (Jim laughs) But thank you very much for today's adventure. We learned a ton about the society of these ants and how we can ultimately learn from this cool insect. I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave. - Stay wild. - See you on the next adventure. Oh, it's time to clean my hand. (upbeat music plays) When coming up with this episode, we knew one thing had to happen: getting

bitten

by leafcutter ants.

And while it was very entertaining, I hope you gained a new fascination and really absorbed some insight into this complex world of intelligent insects. In a time when there is so much chaos in the world, I think we can learn a lot from leafcutter ants. Patient behavior, dedicated work ethic, and the ability to function in harmony with the planet have allowed these alien-looking Earth inhabitants to survive for hundreds of millions of years. There is definitely something to be said for that and you would be wise to pay attention. If you are inspired to learn more or dare to visit Río Nuevo, where you can see this huge colony in the wild, be sure to visit the BioSur Foundation website.

Drop Jim a line. Tell him Coyote sent you and book your visit today. His presence will help us continue protecting the wild nature of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica. (waves roar) (happy music plays) (graphic blows in sight) (wolf howls)