Mexico and Panama Deadly 60 on a Mission


Mexico and Panama

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Transcript


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My name's Steve Backshall. Wow!

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And this is Deadly 60 On A Mission.

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My team and I are travelling the world

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in search of the planet's deadliest animals.

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'I want to find out what makes them so deadly...' Oh, yeah!

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And that means getting close to them in the wild.

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Wow!

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Only the most lethal will make my list.

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And in this series, we're going to show you

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my most extreme animal encounters.

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And you're coming with me every step of the way.

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This time on Deadly 60, we're in one of the deadliest deserts I know.

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This is Mexico.

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Specifically the Baja Peninsula.

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There's more venomous and poisonous creatures here

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than almost anywhere else on the planet.

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I'm going to take you tantalisingly close to the very best of them.

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That's extraordinary.

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And then we're heading south... for some jungle action.

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The creatures we'll be meeting are all deadly in their own world.

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But there are also a lot of animals that could be dangerous to us.

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So, let's get this mission started.

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Off the coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula, in the Sea of Cortez,

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where I'm on the trail of a deep-sea monster.

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These guys are fishermen looking for the exact animal

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that we're trying to find.

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The call it Diablo Rojo which is the red devil

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and they tell stories of them ripping fishermen from their boats

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and tearing them to shreds.

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I don't know about any of that, but what I do know for sure

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is that this is one of the most dangerous animals we're going to see

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and it's called the Humboldt squid.

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The Sea of Cortez is heaving with assassin squid,

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and they're an important part of the local fishing catch.

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So we're teaming up with some fishermen in hopes of getting a look

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at one of these beasts.

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Camera.

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So what's happening now is these guys are putting lines

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way, way deep down. During the day these squid are about 200m plus

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under water, but now it's dusk time, the sun is going down

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and they'll be coming closer and closer to the surface to feed.

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So they're going to trawl around, see if they can pull something in.

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And when they do, we'll see our first squid.

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We've got something big coming in.

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I'm so excited!

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STEVE PANTS

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On the end of this line could be the creature we're after.

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How much line has he put in here?!

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I see it! I see something! I can see a light shape coming towards us.

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Here it comes.

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Oh, no, look at that! Yes! Yes! Wow!

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Look at the colours pulsing down the body.

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I can't believe it!

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There's the beak he's pointing out to us there.

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That's the danger end.

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I can't believe he's letting his fingers get that close to it.

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Look at that! It's like a giant parrot's beak.

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And it can cut straight through flesh and even bone.

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It would easily take off one of my fingers. Right,

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look down the length of all of these tentacles.

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Each one has sucker cups running all the way down the length of it

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and every one of those sucker cups is ringed with razor-sharp teeth

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that slice straight through flesh and they use those to catch a hold

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of slippery sardines and small fish

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that they're going to be eating and draw them in.

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Our next step has to be get in the water

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and get close to them in their own environment.

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So we're getting kitted up.

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For protection, our safety diver Scott, the cameraman and I

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have to wear chain-mail suits.

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In addition, we'll be attached to the boat by steel safety cables.

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That's because there's a risk that several squid could attack one of us

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and between them, they'd be able to drag their victim into the deep.

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You OK, Steve?

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Yeah, I'm fine, I'm fine.

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'Humboldt squid will hunt collectively in squadrons

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'of as many as 1,200.

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'They'll tear apart anything they can overpower,

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'including unwary scuba divers.

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'Scott spots a squid just below the boat

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'and it's a good size.'

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Look at that!

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Wow!

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'At first, he didn't seem that pleased to see us.'

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Look at all the ink it's squirting into the water!

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That's the method the squid uses to get away from its predators,

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because no predator is going to know where it is

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behind that smokescreen.

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Look at it now, covering the camera!

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OK, I'm going to, very gently, just try and take control of the head.

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Oh, I've got it!

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I've got my first Humboldt squid underwater!

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Now you can see why they call them the Red Devil or the Red Demon.

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Oh, crikey! He just made a lunge for the camera lens there.

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Wow!

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Oh!

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So strong!

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These squid really are extraordinary predators.

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In addition to their crunching beak and serrated suckers,

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they can move at speed using a siphon to power through the water.

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Look there, it's got its tentacles around my arm

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and I can feel the gripping of those teeth.

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Actually, you can feel it, even through the chainmail suit.

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And here, that's where that snapping beak is.

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Just there.

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I want to take great care not to get my fingers close to it,

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because I think I'd lose them.

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Well, I know I'd lose them.

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That's the really ferocious bit of the Humboldt squid.

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'And just as I'm trying to get a better look...

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Oh, crikey! It's got a hold of my hand!

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It's actually... Argh!

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Oh, dear, me! This... Argh!

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The strength of the beak -

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it just actually bit me right through the chainmail suit.

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It really pinched my arm.

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You can see how easy it would be

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for a creature like this to power itself away, using that siphon.

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But also, to create that smokescreen

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that is going to make it almost impossible

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for another predator that uses sight to hunt by

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to find the Humboldt squid.

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OK, Scott.

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I'm just going to release it now.

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That really is a sea monster,

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if ever I saw one.

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Ha! I don't think anyone's going to doubt that the Humboldt squid

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has got to go in the Deadly 60.

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Thanks to its siphon, it's jet-propelled...

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..and locks on to its victim with thousands of sucker-cup teeth...

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before devouring it with a scalpel-sharp beak.

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Believe me, Humboldt squid got the adrenaline going.

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Leaving the coast, we're heading for the Baja Peninsula's dry interior,

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in search of a highly venomous collection of creatures.

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Top of my agenda is one of the world's largest wasps,

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which also has one of the most painful stings of any insect.

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Oh, there's one, look.

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This huge insect is the toxic tarantula hawk wasp.

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So called because it hunts tarantulas.

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Here it comes, here it comes.

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What he's doing at the moment is just circling around this area

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trying to find his food.

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'Well, actually, that's food for its young,

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'in the form of a giant spider that lives underground.'

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Has he found one?

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'Our guide's seen a wasp disappear into a burrow.'

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That hole there...

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is the hole of a tarantula.

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'This is our chance to catch the wasp on the way out.'

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-It's coming out, it's coming out, it's coming out.

-Got him.

-OK.

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Right. I've got to be ever so careful how I do this,

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because the tarantula hawk wasp

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has a sting that's reputed to be

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the most painful

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of any invertebrate.

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Ooh! And he's off! No, come back!

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Ah.

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'Yeah, that wasn't a great time to break my net.'

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Got it! Got it, got it, got it, got it, got it!

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Oh, no! He went out the hole!

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Oh, no, I can't believe it! That's so frustrating!

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You come back here now!

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I had him

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but I've got a great big hole in my net.

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And he just flew straight out through it.

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-He's coming this way, Steve.

-Right.

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Got her. Got her. Right.

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Now, this time, you are not getting away.

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I've got to be ever so careful. I don't want to damage her,

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but also, her sting is absolutely paralysing.

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There she is.

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That...

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..is the tarantula hawk wasp, or pepsis wasp.

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And she is...

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..one of the most incredible predators

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found anywhere in the world.

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Look at the size of her sting.

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(Right. There we go.)

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Look at that.

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Glorious, glorious colour -

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very vibrant metallic blue,

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with bright orange wings,

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but don't let her beauty fool you.

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This is one the most grotesque killers

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in the whole of the animal kingdom.

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This giant predatory wasp first locates a tarantula...

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..then outmanoeuvres it and hits it with a paralysing venomous sting.

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The spider's still alive but completely defenceless.

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Then things get REALLY nasty.

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The wasp drags its paralysed victim to a safe place

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and lays an egg in the spider's abdomen.

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The egg hatches out into a grub, which grows,

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slowly devouring the living spider from the inside out.

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Look at the mandibles. Look at the size

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of these jaws here.

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This creature here has a strength way beyond her size.

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Well, if I was to get stung by this,

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I'd be able to think about nothing else for 24 hours.

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So, I don't think there is any doubt

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that the tarantula hawk wasp has got to go on the Deadly 60.

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It vies with the Japanese giant hornet

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for the title of biggest wasp in the world...

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it preys on even bigger spiders...

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..paralysing them with an incredibly painful sting.

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Approach with caution - this insect is deadly.

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'As bad as a sting from this wasp could be,

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'when we head South to the jungle,

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'we'll be meeting a creature capable of inflicting even more pain.'

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'But first, this is Baja,

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'just about the best place in the world for all kinds of rattlesnakes.

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'I can't leave a hotspot like this without devoting a day

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'to getting some rattlers on my list.

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'In no time, we've got one.'

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Hey, yeah, you beauty!

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OK, guys.

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No.

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Don't go anywhere.

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I didn't want to say anything, cos I didn't want to tempt fate,

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but this was exactly the animal I've come here hoping to find.

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Got it. Got it. Yeah.

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This is THE snake

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of the Baja Peninsula.

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It's a red diamond rattlesnake.

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If I lay it down,

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you can see the distinctive diamond-shaped pattern

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running all the way down its back.

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The colouration on that can be a really vibrant red,

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which is where it gets its name from.

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The rattle's not used at all in actually catching its prey.

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The whole purpose of it is getting rid of animals

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that are big and might threaten it,

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but are far too big for it to try and eat.

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Rattlesnakes are in a group of snakes called the pit vipers,

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and if you look very closely at his head, you'll see,

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in between the nostril and the eye

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a tiny pit which can sense heat

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in the moving muscles of the things it feeds on.

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It's actually quite a lazy snake.

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The way it was sitting when we found it is how it will spend

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its entire day and sometimes two or three days at a time

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until a warm-blooded animal like a small mouse walks past.

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And then, the movement is like lightning.

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It's less of a bite, really, and more of stab.

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The fangs deliver a dose of haemotoxic venom,

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attacking the victim's circulatory system, causing unchecked bleeding.

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The snake then retreats and waits for the animal to die.

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If you were a mouse,

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you wouldn't last seconds with the red diamond rattlesnake.

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'Well, that's one for the list

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'and I reckon there's more rattlers to come.'

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I don't believe it!

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Wow, that is a very heavy-bodied snake.

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'First was another, bigger red diamond rattler 100m away.'

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Look how thick and heavy the body is.

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Look at that. That's a big venomous snake.

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Really big.

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'Two rattlesnakes in ten minutes! Surely it couldn't get any better?

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'Well, yes, because it's after dark that rattlesnakes get active.'

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Ooh! There's a completely different species of rattlesnake

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just over here.

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'It's a Baja rattler, unique to this region.'

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Right. Stay there.

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It's OK. It's OK, it's all right.

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-SNAKE RATTLES

-Listen to that!

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This place is absolutely crawling with rattlesnakes.

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I don't believe it! Come round, guys.

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'And then, to top off the best snake-hunting day I've ever had,

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'a speckled rattlesnake.' Look at that tail going!

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'So I've notched up three kinds of rattlesnake - the red diamond,

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'the Baja and this speckled rattler in less than eight hours!'

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Well, this has been one of the best snake-catching days of my life,

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and there's no way I can leave here

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without putting all of the rattlesnakes of the Baja Peninsula

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onto my Deadly 60.

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Right, off you go, fella.

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With heat-seeking pits, it finds prey in complete darkness...

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then it strikes in a split second...

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..injecting a fatal dose of venom with its fangs.

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Baja's rattlesnakes are all on the Deadly 60.

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Baja, Mexico, has more than lived up to its lethal reputation

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and I've had a blast!

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Now this mission's going South, in search of equally deadly predators -

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and potentially my most painful encounter yet -

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in the rainforests Central America.

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In Panama's remote jungle, we've set ourselves

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and almost impossible task -

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to try and find and film a giant aerial predator

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that dominates the treetops - the harpy eagle.

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It's first thing in the morning and we're heading into those hills

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in search of our harpy eagle.

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The guys here have said there's a nest two, three hours' walk away.

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'And it's only thanks to their local knowledge

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'that we've any chance of finding one.'

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This is SO exciting.

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Walking through the forest, knowing that, perhaps, two hours away,

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is an encounter with a harpy eagle,

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an animal which I've never seen and is one of the most special.

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These extraordinary-looking birds are extremely rare.

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It has talons the size of grizzly bear claws...

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..and a two-metre wingspan.

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The harpy is one of the heaviest

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and one of the most powerful birds of prey in the whole world.

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But more than that is the fact that they are so difficult to see.

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I know people who've lived their lives in these forests

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and never come across a harpy eagle.

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This could be one of the greatest privileges of my whole life.

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'If we ever find one.

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'After hours slogging through the forests, our guide spots something.'

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-WHISPERS:

-He's pointing at something.

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He's pointing up that way.

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I think that's where the nest must be.

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-WHISPERS:

-Oh, my goodness!

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This is her tree.

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It's HUGE!

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It's called a kapok tree.

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Harpies always go for what's called an "emergent" tree.

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That is one that bursts up above the canopy,

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the tallest trees for miles around.

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-She's calling.

-BIRD CALLS

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That is beautiful. She knows we're here.

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Our job now is to find another tree here somewhere that we can climb

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so we can film it.

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'The plan is to use a lookout tree to get up

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on the eagle's eye-level and hopefully see it in action.

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'Our climbing expert, James, is going up first

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and he's taking no chances.'

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You'll notice that, in addition to all the normal climbing gear,

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James is also wearing a stab vest

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and one of these, very much like the things worn by riot police.

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There aren't many animals on the Deadly 60, let alone birds,

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that you have to wear this to get close to.

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But it's all for good reason -

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James has been attacked by a harpy eagle before and they're fearless.

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This bird is a top predator and will take on large, tree-dwelling prey,

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including coatis, sloths and monkeys.

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'James has done his recce up high, but has he seen our eagle?'

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Can't see the tree, let alone the nest.

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-OK. That IS bad news.

-JAMES SIGHS

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'Time for Plan B.

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'Next morning and we've found another tree,

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'that will hopefully give us a better view of the eagle's nest.

0:20:510:20:54

'James is rigging the tree in preparation for a climb

0:20:540:20:57

'and I'm going up, too.'

0:20:570:20:59

'Fingers crossed, we actually see the bird this time.'

0:21:010:21:05

-Cor, dear. It's properly sweaty work, isn't it?

-Oh, yeah.

0:21:100:21:15

Right.

0:21:160:21:17

There's our eagle tree.

0:21:190:21:22

Just see the top of it

0:21:220:21:24

off in the distance out that way.

0:21:240:21:27

But she's too well hidden. I can't really see her.

0:21:270:21:30

SIGHS

0:21:300:21:32

Oh, dear.

0:21:320:21:34

This is proving to be incredibly tough.

0:21:340:21:37

They're very canny birds.

0:21:370:21:40

They choose spots where they can see their prey.

0:21:400:21:43

They've got a good view of monkeys and sloths, things they like to eat.

0:21:430:21:48

And moving they, themselves, are still quite well hidden.

0:21:480:21:55

'With time running out,

0:21:550:21:56

our only chance of seeing a harpy eagle now is from the ground.

0:21:560:22:01

We're throwing everything we have at this.

0:22:020:22:05

Can't come all this way and not see them. That would be a tragedy.

0:22:050:22:09

'Incredibly, our cameraman's zoom lens has picked out the nest.

0:22:090:22:14

'But it's empty.

0:22:140:22:16

'And we're about to give up, when...

0:22:160:22:18

'..a speckled wing flashes into shot...'

0:22:180:22:22

She is magnificent.

0:22:240:22:27

'..and then the crested head of this near-mythical creature.'

0:22:270:22:30

Well, it's cost us several bucket loads of sweat - each.

0:22:320:22:37

But finally, we've got our view of the harpy eagle,

0:22:370:22:42

something I honestly never thought I'd ever see.

0:22:420:22:46

The most powerful, one of the largest birds in the world.

0:22:460:22:49

And also one of the rarest.

0:22:490:22:52

People spend their lives in these forests and never get a glimpse.

0:22:520:22:58

There she is, stood up there in the nest..

0:22:580:23:02

I reckon this magnificent bird has got to go on the Deadly 60.

0:23:020:23:05

One of the world's largest eagles, with a two-metre wingspan...

0:23:060:23:11

and talons the size of grizzly bear claws.

0:23:110:23:15

The most powerful of all eagles.

0:23:150:23:17

The harpy eagle is going on my Deadly 60.

0:23:180:23:21

'This mission is almost over,

0:23:260:23:28

'but before I leave Central America,

0:23:280:23:30

'I promised you an encounter with an agony-inducing creature

0:23:300:23:33

'that makes me shudder just thinking about it!'

0:23:330:23:37

If you ask people who live here what animal they're most frightened of,

0:23:380:23:44

they won't say snakes or scorpions, they'll probably say

0:23:440:23:48

the tiny insects that are living in this tree.

0:23:480:23:52

It might surprise you to know

0:23:540:23:56

that they're ants.

0:23:560:23:58

I'll just see if I can get some to come out with my snake hook.

0:23:580:24:02

That's the entrance to their nest, just there.

0:24:040:24:08

And...look at that.

0:24:080:24:11

These...are bullet ants.

0:24:150:24:18

They're called bullet ants cos being stung by one

0:24:180:24:22

feels a bit like being shot.

0:24:220:24:25

They've got the most painful toxin, venom, of any insect.

0:24:250:24:31

It's a powerful neurotoxin,

0:24:310:24:33

intended to attack the central nervous system

0:24:330:24:36

of anything trying to mess with it.

0:24:360:24:38

I'm watching very carefully,

0:24:380:24:39

making sure they don't run up my trouser leg.

0:24:390:24:42

There was a guy called Schmidt

0:24:420:24:44

who tested the stings of insects to find out which are most painful.

0:24:440:24:49

And this one came out on top.

0:24:490:24:52

He described it as "a pure, intense, brilliant pain"

0:24:520:24:56

that was like "stepping your heel into a rusty nail".

0:24:560:25:01

I can confirm that the bullet ant is the most painful experience.

0:25:010:25:06

I've been stung by these many, many times.

0:25:060:25:09

A few years back, I took part in a ritual in the Amazon,

0:25:090:25:13

where I was stung by hundreds of bullet ants at the same time.

0:25:130:25:18

Within a short period of time,

0:25:180:25:20

I lost consciousness because of the pain.

0:25:200:25:24

Obviously, I lived to tell the tale,

0:25:240:25:27

but I do have a very healthy respect for these ants.

0:25:270:25:32

The bullet ant's incredible sting isn't really for overcoming prey.

0:25:320:25:37

They spend time hunting up in the canopy, down on the ground.

0:25:370:25:42

They use their powerful mandibles or jaws to overcome their insect prey.

0:25:420:25:48

The sting is used for getting rid of animals that hunt them.

0:25:480:25:52

The reason it's so painful is so that if something big

0:25:520:25:56

sticks its nose in the nest, it'll get stung, perhaps many times,

0:25:560:26:01

and think that it's in real danger because of the incredible pain

0:26:010:26:06

caused by the bullet ant's sting.

0:26:060:26:09

Now, I know that, if get stung again,

0:26:090:26:12

it's going to hurt a lot, but it's not dangerous.

0:26:120:26:15

I won't have an allergic reaction.

0:26:150:26:17

If I didn't know that, I wouldn't do what I'm about to try.

0:26:170:26:23

If you're ever anywhere where there are bullet ants, don't try this.

0:26:230:26:28

I'm going to get one of these little fellas...

0:26:280:26:30

"Little fellas"?! What am I talking about? The biggest ant in the world!

0:26:300:26:34

I'm going to see if I can get one of these ants to walk over my hand

0:26:340:26:39

without biting me.

0:26:390:26:42

-Are you nervous?

-Very nervous.

0:26:420:26:44

OK. So...

0:26:440:26:47

..I've now got the world's most painful stinging insect on my hand.

0:26:480:26:54

I am very nervous.

0:26:540:26:56

Although I've been stung by this before,

0:26:560:26:58

I can remember how badly it hurt.

0:26:580:27:01

If you look at it up close,

0:27:010:27:03

it really is one of the most awesome creatures.

0:27:030:27:06

I mean, an animal this size...

0:27:060:27:09

Look at it cleaning its antennae. Isn't that beautiful?

0:27:090:27:11

Running them through his mandibles.

0:27:110:27:14

Those are his primary sensory mechanisms as he's running along.

0:27:140:27:17

It is extraordinary that an animal of this size

0:27:170:27:21

has a sting that's powerful enough

0:27:210:27:23

to incapacitate an animal the size of me.

0:27:230:27:27

Think how many times bigger I am.

0:27:270:27:30

But one little sting is going to have me crying on the floor.

0:27:300:27:35

That has to be one of the miracles of Mother Nature.

0:27:350:27:41

And, as you can probably see, I'm shaking a bit.

0:27:410:27:44

LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

0:27:440:27:46

I reckon, for that alone, the bullet ant has to go on the Deadly 60.

0:27:460:27:52

An animal this size...

0:27:520:27:53

..that can make a huge animal like me cry.

0:27:550:28:00

I didn't get stung!

0:28:000:28:01

The largest ant species in the world...

0:28:050:28:09

with a highly toxic sting...

0:28:090:28:11

take it from me, the most painful in the insect world.

0:28:110:28:15

The bullet ant is definitely worthy of a place on the Deadly 60.

0:28:150:28:19

'From on deadly end of Central America to the other,

0:28:230:28:26

'this has been a toxic tour.' Wow!

0:28:260:28:28

'I've narrowly avoided being stung by giant insects...

0:28:280:28:32

'and caught three species of rattlesnake in just one day!

0:28:320:28:35

'I've moved heaven and earth for a glimpse of a harpy eagle...

0:28:350:28:38

'and felt the full force...' Oh, crikey!

0:28:380:28:41

'..of a Humboldt squid.

0:28:410:28:43

'Join me next time for Deadly 60 On A Mission.'

0:28:430:28:45

He went out the hole! You, come back!

0:28:450:28:48

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

0:28:590:29:02

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0:29:020:29:05

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