Original subtitles

That alien-looking creature right

there is famous for having the fastest

punch in the animal kingdom.

And today we're going to answer the question

as to whether or not it can blast a hole in a human hand.

The acceleration rate of a mantis shrimp's strike

has been scientifically clocked around 50 miles per hour,

similar to the rate at which a 22 caliber bullet

leaves the barrel of a gun.

They use this strike to kill their prey, an oceanic buffet

line of crustaceans and fish.

To better understand what a prey species might experience when

impacted by that strike, I'm going to bravely embrace

the slap shot wrath of Stinger.

Orange Stinger!

Here we go, buddy.

Currently, the Columbus Blue Jackets' angry-looking insect

holds the NHL mascot record for fastest slap shot, scorching

goals 75 miles per hour.

To replicate a mantis shrimp prey species, such as a crab,

I'll be armoring up in full goalie gear, which,

like a crab's protective exoskeleton,

will work to defend the soft insides of my body.

Don't ask me why, but I have a feeling that this

is still going to be painful.

Boom!

I feel like you should just punch me in the chest

once so that I can just feel.

Oh!

Yeah.

So just that impact is noticeable.

I feel like these pads have the least amount of protection

on the chest, strangely enough.

In the NHL, most players fire slap shots between 80

and 100 miles per hour.

Stinger is capable of whipping consistent zingers

between 50 and 60 miles per hour, which

is pretty fast for a mascot.

So how does that equate to impact force?

Well, for starters, the equation to measure impact force looks

like this, where m is the mass of the body, the hockey puck,

v is the velocity or speed at which

the hockey puck is traveling, and t is the time

it takes to make impact.

Save your brain the mental math.

We ran the calculations, and a hockey puck

traveling 50 miles per hour has an impact force of 5.24 newtons.

That might not seem like much.

But trust me, even with my exoskeleton

padding, when those pucks hit in the right spot,

they definitely hurt.

Oh!

Oh!

You missed!

That definitely knocked the wind out of me.

The was-- that was the mantis shrimp shot right in the chest.

Oh, man.

That was a full on impact.

Well, if I was a crab, I would definitely be dead at this point

and the mantis shrimp would be feasting upon my remains.

For years, you guys have been asking me to be punched by one

of these tiny boxers so that we can answer the question,

is the mantis shrimp capable of blasting a hole in a human hand?

The peacock mantis shrimp is a cunning predator,

and its merciless strike is inflicted

using raptorial appendages.

These medieval-looking weapons come equipped with a smasher

and a spear, allowing the animal to use one or both tools

based on the victim it plans to eviscerate.

What's more impressive is the shrimp's ability

to create a cavitation bubble formed when

an object, like the smasher club of a mantis shrimp,

moves through water at an incredibly high speed.

Remember, our little crustacean friend's strike

has an acceleration rate of 50 miles per hour.

When the bubble collapses under surrounding pressure,

it creates a burst of high energy light, heat, and sound.

Basically, a catastrophic shockwave that stuns

or kills the shrimp's target.

So what do you get when you combine

the smasher's lethal impact and an exploding cavitation bubble?

Nature's most deadly strike, also known as fatality.

Now, to test out the punch of the mantis shrimp,

in my opinion, there are two different ways

that this can go down--

a defensive punch or a predatory punch.

A defensive punch would work like this

and it's the first thing we're going to try.

Imagine an eel investigating the underwater environment.

Now, mantis shrimp are incredibly territorial.

And if that eel sticks its nose down into a mantis

shrimp's whole, bam!

It's going to get a shot straight to the nose.

So I'm going to turn my fingers essentially

into the nose of an eel.

Oh.

Try not-- oh, look.

He's coming right out at me.

All right, it's definitely curious.

I'm just going to pretend that I'm an eel investigating

around the rocks, looking around in the sand coming

this direction. Oh, boy.

OK.

I think the mantis shrimp is definitely on to me.

I could see its eyes twitching.

The little antenna up front beginning

to sense that a possible predator is near.

Keep it there.

OK.

He's definitely investigating my fingers.

Oh. Oh!

Ooh, he just hit me right in the tip of my fingernail.

Not very hard though, just a tiny little test punch.

By no means was that a full on swing.

I'd call that investigative.

I think we have failed on the defensive punch tactic.

He just tickled the tips of my fingers and realized,

this isn't going to eat me and this

isn't something that I can eat.

So, how are we going to possibly then pull off a predatory punch?

Great question.

This mantis shrimp eats a variety of different prey items.

One specifically is known as a krill.

And with these strapped to my fingers,

will it come out and try to remove them off

of my fingers using its hammers and, quite

possibly, its harpoon?

I have a feeling that if a punch is going to happen,

it's coming from the predatory approach.

Now they have an incredible sense of smell

and an incredible sense of sight.

And right now, because we are attempting the predatory punch,

he seems to be pretty chill and just tucked down on the rocks.

Let me try to get my fingers-- oh,

there's the antenna now sensing the shrimp,

OK, something's happening.

OK.

Oh, it's definitely going for him.

Grappling but not-- oh, he's grabbing them away from me.

No, no, no.

He's got one.

Shoot.

He did not punch.

He's just grabbing.

Oh.

This is the right idea though.

Ugh.

Those little claws are so sharp.

He literally stole one of the shrimp off the lower fingers.

And now, oh, he's got a mouth full of shrimp.

Come back in.

They are gluttonous though.

And from previous feedings, we know

that he will take more pieces of food

than he normally needs just to stow them away under the sand.

And that's what they'll do sometimes.

Kill a crab or bust open the shell of a clam

and take the insides and hide them

and actually come back for them later on, caching their food

and storing it for later.

Ding, ding, ding.

All right, guys.

I think the fight is over.

While I hate to admit it, I'm officially

declaring myself the loser.

The mantis shrimp didn't win by knockout,

but it did win by stealing the fight.

It tore the shrimp right off of my fingers,

and now it's back in its corner enjoying a meal.

So what did we learn today?

Well, a mantis shrimp raised in captivity

doesn't seem to be as aggressive as we had hoped.

I was barely punched once, definitely didn't hurt,

tickled with its claws and, without question, did not

feel the wrath of its harpoon.

Now, would a mantis shrimp from the wild

behave differently when defending its territory?

Could quite possibly be the case.

So is the hype and the aggression

level of mantis shrimp all that it's built up to be?

Or are these creatures simply misunderstood, beautiful,

curious, and charismatic?

I'm going to go with the latter in this instance.

But who knows?

Maybe at some point there will be a rematch

and I will get the chance to ultimately

get blasted by a mantis shrimp.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave.

Stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

I am super excited.

The creature that we're looking for tonight

is probably one of the most bizarre animals

that can be found in Australia.

And we have featured some interesting things

over the years on "Brave Wilderness,"

but I can promise you, nothing compares to the turtle frog.

We needed rain to find this frog and the rains have come.

You are not going to want to miss this.

Finding a turtle frog is almost impossible, because you have

to be in the small remote desert they live in Western Australia

while it's raining.

And this only happens a few times a year.

Yes!

Yes.

Next to no footage exists of this species.

If we find one, this will be the very first

high-quality footage ever seen.

Oh. Stop the car.

I see something on the road.

First sample of the night, a really cool lizard.

Oh, my gosh.

It's got a huge tick on him though.

I'm going to try to pull this off.

Look at that.

Got a tick.

Oh, my gosh!

See that?

That is a big tick.

And that is a really cool lizard.

Very good sign for our search tonight.

We're not exactly looking for shinglebacks,

but this one was crossing the road so we wanted

to move him out of the way.

You're welcome.

All right.

Let's let you go off the road so you can continue on your way

and we'll continue on ours.

This rain has the animals on the move.

Like all amphibians, turtle frogs need moisture

to survive and to breed.

That is why they come up to the surface after it rains.

Without this rain, the frogs will

remain buried beneath the ground and impossible to find.

To make matters worse, turtle frogs only

come to the surface at night.

We're going to have to look and listen closely

to even have a small chance at spotting one.

All my life, I've been a frog nerd.

And I've been able to track down iconic species

like the red-eyed tree frogs and poison

dart frogs of Central America.

And I've also gotten hands on with all different kinds

of toads, from giants--

Oh.

Wow.

- to the most colorful.

Got him.

Like this extremely rare harlequin toad.

However, the turtle frog has always been my grail animal.

And tonight is the first time in my career

I'll have a shot at catching one.

But if we're going to do that, I'll

have to rely on all my years of experience and animal-catching

tricks to track one down.

Perfect habitat for the turtle frog.

See that right there?

That's sand substrate.

Turtle frog, it burrows down up to three feet below the surface.

So it really needs the sand to be able to do that.

OK, let's keep looking.

We're definitely on the trail now.

It's really a miracle in itself that we got prime turtle

frog conditions tonight.

Like seriously, all week long, the forecast called

for clear skies and no rain.

But tonight, out of nowhere, the rain rolled in.

And I have to say, it's making this adventure

feel like destiny.

Oh.

Guys, I got something.

All right.

So what you're looking at there is this spiny-tailed gecko named

for the spines on the tail, which are actually just modified

scales, and they're soft.

They're not sharp at all.

Now, these geckos have a pretty unique defense mechanism

where they're able to actually secrete a chemical mixture

from their tails.

They like whip it at the predators trying to eat them,

and it doesn't taste very good.

The eyes of the gecko are probably

some of the coolest eyes on the planet.

They actually don't have eyelids,

so they have to lick their eyeballs to keep them moist.

Can you imagine that?

Licking your own eyeball?

I'm sure glad we have eyelids.

Love these geckos.

OK.

We're going to let this gecko go back in the bush

and keep looking.

Well, that's a good sign.

We're continuing to see new creatures.

Guys.

Guys, I got one.

Look at this frog.

Holy cow.

That is cool.

Wow.

We found our first amphibian of the night.

It's not the frog we're after, but that is a great sign.

That means that we're getting enough rain for the amphibians

out here to come out of the soil.

This is the Western spotted frog.

And just like turtle frogs, they only come

out just after a rainstorm.

This is not the frog we're after, but it's a good start.

Let's let this one go and keep searching.

Perfect conditions.

We just got to keep looking.

Got the rain.

We're in the right spot.

I've already seen one species of frog.

This is like the sweet spot.

This is what we need.

We've got everything except the turtle frog itself.

After hours of searching, we weren't seeing

any signs of turtle frogs.

Luckily, my experience has taught me sometimes

the best way to find the frog you're looking for

is with your ears.

You guys hear that?

Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh.

I think I heard one.

Yup.

You guys hear that?

All right, one more.

Let's see if we can hear it one more time.

If we hear it again, we'll try to find it.

I think that's one, guys.

Let's try to canvas this area in front of us here.

Stop calling.

We must be right next to it.

Got him.

Got a turtle frog.

Holy mother.

Oh, my god!

Look, there he is.

There it is.

I cannot believe we found the frog.

Oh, my.

Oh, my goodness.

Hello.

Come here, buddy.

Oh, my gosh.

We have come so far to find this species.

There is the turtle frog.

Yeah, baby!

Woo!

What are the freaking odds, guys?

Oh, my gosh!

I cannot believe we got one.

Oh.

Hello.

Have you ever seen anything like that in your life?

This is one of the coolest creatures

I have ever laid my eyes on.

Let's just appreciate this super unique creature.

What you're looking at is some of the first HD footage

ever recorded of a turtle frog.

I mean, this species is so rare, there's very little

information to find about them.

But here's what we do know about this bizarre little frog.

Let's start with the name turtle frog, named for its appearance.

The most unusual frog I have ever seen.

But look at its head.

That dome-shaped head with the black beady little eyes

and then the circular body looks like a turtle without a shell.

This is one of the most unique-looking frogs

you will ever see.

It looks like something out of "Star Wars,"

Jabba the Hutt's relative.

Some people say it looks like a little wad of chewing gum,

and it certainly looked like that when we first saw it.

I have wanted to film, I have wanted

to find one of these frogs for my entire career.

This is a big, big moment for me.

If you can't sense my excitement after this,

this is about as big as it gets for a frog nerd like me.

Hi, buddy.

Look at that pudge.

Are you kidding me?

Has to be one of the most unique-looking frogs,

but probably the cutest frogs as well.

Super pudgy, super soft.

Feels like a water balloon almost.

And when it's walking across my hand,

you can really tell how much liquid is in the frog.

It's like a deflated water balloon.

But it is a very delicate frog, but it's somewhat stout.

Got a lot of power in those legs.

I can feel it when it's crawling across my hand.

It uses its stocky arms and legs to burrow into the soil.

It really is incredible how something so small and soft

can dig over three feet underground.

And actually, here, let me get out.

I'm going to take my pack off and get out

a little bit of water, because I don't want to dry out the frog.

One of the things you always want

to make sure you do when handling any amphibian is

make sure you don't dry them out.

And this water will help.

Oh, hey.

Came to life there. Hey, buddy.

It's all right.

Oh, my goodness.

Endemic to Western Australia, it can only be found here.

But that's not where the oddities end.

In fact, the oddities begin with this species when it's born.

It's one of the few species of frogs on the planet that

does not have a tadpole stage.

This frog begins its life with a full set of hands and legs.

What's also unique about this species

is that they have one of the largest

eggs of all frogs in Australia.

In fact, 5 centimeters is as big as they grow.

And this frog is approaching maximum length.

Now, there's a certain period of year,

we're at the tail end of it, that it's breeding

and it will actually call.

That's how we were able to find this frog.

And it was definitely a team effort.

We've got Max with us here from Australia Wildlife Encounters.

Max and I were slowly honing in on this little frog.

And then I crouched down and there

it was just like you saw it right there underneath the bush,

looking right back at us with those beady little eyes.

And it was so unlikely for us to find this frog, guys.

The rains were not supposed to come.

And sure enough, they appear today.

Almost like out of thin air, a front came in,

provided enough moisture for us to have

a chance to put this frog in front of the cameras.

And I am so excited you guys get to see it.

Now, we think this is a male because

of the way it was calling.

And when they're mating, they have an extended honeymoon.

Once a turtle frog locates its mate,

they will both burrow together for months

before actually breeding and depositing their eggs.

This is a very unique species, guys.

There's not a ton of information and very

few studies of this frog.

So when it comes to filming animal oddities,

it doesn't really get any better than this.

And I am just over the moon right now

that we were able to come out here, our first time in Western

Australia, our first time in turtle frog territory,

against the odds and, sure enough,

we were able to find one.

Oh, man.

I am so excited we got to show you guys the turtle frog.

What a cool frog this is!

Guys, are you kidding me?

All right.

Let's go put this frog back and head in for the night.

Man, that was awesome!