Original subtitles

Hello, maggots.

Oh, boy.

How have I found myself in this seat yet again?

Coyote Peterson in front of a container

filled with creatures that very well may eat him alive.

Well, I've always been curious as to

whether or not maggots eat human flesh, alive or dead.

And today, we're going to answer that question.

But before we get into the entertainment-- my feet go

into this container-- with 300,000 maggots,

first, we need to learn something

about these creepy creatures.

So we're going to take the science train to the Ohio State

University and learn a little something about these creatures.

Choo, choo.

Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo.

Choo, choo.

As a graduate of the Ohio State

University, I'm returning to campus

to learn more about maggots before I

serve myself up as a meal.

So I'll be chatting with Dr. Julie.

She studies bugs and how they survive during the winter.

Specifically, insect diapause, which

is a state of suspended animation similar to mammal

and reptile hibernation.

Maggots are an ideal test subject for her research

because like Jon Snow, they can sense when winter is coming.

OK, Julie.

Let's get right down to it.

I think we all want to know what exactly is a maggot.

Yeah.

So a maggot is an immature stage of any kind of fly.

So a maggot is a baby fly then.

Yes.

I could see the similarity to human babies.

Soft and squishy and round and you know.

Yeah, except they have an exoskeleton.

Really?

There's an exoskeleton on the maggot?

On the maggot, yeah.

Going from larva to pupa, maggots

obviously need to fuel up.

What would you say maggots primarily feast on?

Maggots like to eat rotting stuff like dead carcasses

or roadkill in the woods.

If given the option, will they eat human flesh?

So that's kind of a tricky question to answer.

A lot of them will only eat dead stuff.

But there are some that will burrow into human flesh

if given the chance.

So maggots will technically eat humans if given the chance.

Some species--

Some species, yes.

Some species.

How fascinating was that?

And now that we've set up the science,

it's time to perform an experiment of our own.

Now, perhaps you noticed the beautiful meat socks

that I was sporting earlier on.

Now, those socks aren't necessarily

going to attract the attention of maggots,

so what we've constructed today is a real meat sock.

If you would-- thank you, sir.

Ugh.

Take a look at that.

It's chicken skin sewed together with bacon.

Now, we're going to stick one of my feet

with nothing on it, live human flesh,

down and into the maggots.

On my other foot will be the meat sock.

Will the maggots be able to tell the difference

between a living human foot and a living human foot

covered in dead meat?

Now, have you ever heard of meat socks?

I have not heard of meat socks.

Tell me more.

You have not heard of meat socks.

This is specimen number 001.

Take a look at this here.

Wow, that's some pretty fancy sewing.

Yeah.

What do you have to say about that?

That's impressive.

I've never seen anybody make socks out of bacon before.

Now, this is the meat sock that we have composed

that my foot will go inside of to see if the maggots will not

only eat the dead rotting skin.

Yeah.

But go through the skin and--

thank you for that-- into my feet.

Have you ever thought about crafting a pair of meat socks

so that you can become a human experiment for your maggots?

I have not.

We could help.

Yeah.

You come up with this design and advance it further.

Sure.

My maggots really like to eat liver.

OK.

So maybe some liver socks.

Perhaps the sole of a sock, and we

could go sort of more of a shoe.

Yeah.

You've got a liver sole and a chicken skin outer.

And what we really love about our design specifically

is the bacon brim.

The bacon brim is a nice touch.

Whoa.

My foot is going into the meat sock.

Oh, that is very slimy.

And my foot is in.

Ooh.

My foot is encased in chicken skin and bacon.

OK, here we go.

Just do it, Coyote.

Just go for it.

Wow, they're really warm.

They're generating a lot of heat.

Oh, that is really weird feeling.

It feels like warm rice.

All right, so I'm working my foot down and into the maggots.

Oh, that is a really, really, really weird feeling.

Now, it's time to add in the delectable meat sock.

Oh, that is weird.

I can feel them all moving around the edges of the sock.

All right, I'm going to slowly massage the meat

sock down and into the maggots.

Oh.

They are very, very dense and very, very squiggly.

Now, the clock begins.

My feet are completely submerged.

And now, it's time to sit back and find

out whether or not maggots will feast on human flesh.

The life cycle of a fly breaks

down into four distinct phases.

First, a female lays a batch of eggs in some type

of decaying organic matter.

The process is quick as these eggs will

hatch in less than 24 hours.

This is the second stage known as larva or maggot.

These hungry baby flies gorge themselves

in order to grow and eventually molt

into their next stage, pupa.

During this stage, they develop a cocoon-like shell

that looks like a mouse turd where they go

dormant and do not move or eat.

Inside the cocoon, they metamorphosize, growing

wings, antennae, and legs.

Just like Jeff Goldblum in the mid '80s,

they hatch out as a fully grown fly.

And the cycle repeats itself.

My feet have been in here for about 30 minutes.

And I can feel that the maggots are beginning to work

their way into the meat sock.

So there are now maggots in between the chicken

skin and the human skin.

And I don't know where things are going to go from there,

but I'm a little nervous about this foot at this point.

The thing that doesn't translate is the smell.

The smell of these maggots, which just smells

like rotting flesh is just maybe completely

grossed out at this point.

If you examine a single maggot

under a microscope, you will see that they lack any weaponry

for harvesting flesh.

No teeth, beaks, Freddy Krueger hands, or venom laced proboscis.

Whoa, whoa, whoa.

Something might be happening with the meat sock foot.

I'm experiencing some sort of pain

on the inner curve of my foot.

Instead, maggots

have creepy mouth hooks that allow them to grapple and pull

their rough skinned bodies, scraping

like a cheese grater over dead flesh

as they squirm through a carcass.

I might be getting bitten.

It's tough to tell, but it definitely feels

like a pinching sensation.

During this process,

they also secrete enzymes called peptidases

that liquefy flesh proteins.

And when you have thousands of maggots doing this all at once,

it makes for a deliciously disgusting corpse stew that

can easily be slurped down.

No teeth needed for this meaty feast.

I'm just afraid that once I take the meat sock off,

I'm going to see like a maggot has burrowed.

They can't like burrow into my foot, can they?

Could that happen, Mario?

It's something that everyone's going to find

out at the end of this episode. - Hoo.

It has been several hours with my feet submerged into the box

of 300,000 maggots.

We are going to pull my feet up and out of the box

to analyze what they look like.

Now, the first foot we're going to pull out is my left foot.

Remember, this one had no meat sock on it.

Wow, my foot's like completely asleep

because it hasn't moved in so long.

So I'm going to bring it up very, very slowly.

Oh.

it's so warm.

Oh, that feels so weird.

Look at all the maggots that have

collected in between my toes.

Egh.

It does not appear as if this foot has taken

any impactful nibbles or bites.

Now, we're going to take out the foot with the meat sock.

Now, it's important to note that I've taken a couple of nibbles

on this foot.

And the maggots have definitely gone to town on, at least,

eating the bacon.

So let's see if any of the rest of the meat sock

has any holes burrowed into it.

Here we go.

Look at that.

The maggots have worked their way into the seams and all

into the bacon.

The sock itself is pretty filled with maggots.

Should we take off the sock?

OK.

Look at all the maggots pouring out of it.

All right.

So now, what I want to do is analyze

where I think I was bitten.

OK.

Right here, there is a very, very hard to see--

it looks like a little red dot there, some sort of nibble.

Nothing, though, that has actually burrowed into my foot.

Wow, look at that.

The maggots have completely engulfed the meat that quickly.

Hold on.

Don't get too lost in there yet.

Look at that.

They completely sucked it down in there.

Let's watch that again.

All right.

I'm just going to go ahead and keep filming this.

So what you're witnessing here are the maggots quickly

engulfing the meat sock.

It's exactly what they would do in nature,

whether with decomposing animal or plant matter.

They essentially envelop it and slowly begin to feast.

OK, my feet were inside the box of maggots for several hours.

And as you can see, they're both still fully intact,

which I think helps us answer today's question-- do

maggots eat living human flesh?

And the answer to that is absolutely not.

While it's fair to note that I was nibbled

on a couple of times, those nibbles did not break skin

and certainly did not draw blood.

In my opinion, maggots get a bad rap.

I mean, they're creepy, they're squirmy,

and they're always associated with death.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Remember, these are natural decomposers.

They're cleaning up the environment by breaking

down plant and animal matter.

So what we learned today is they're not going to eat

you if you stumble upon them.

And the next time you see a big swarm of them

consuming an animal carcass, remember,

they're simply doing their job.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.

Australia.

I think we have all been excited for the Brave Wilderness team

to finally explore this epic continent where

the goal is to get up close with some of its most

iconic animal species.

Located in Nome, a small town just South

of Townsville in North Queensland,

the first place we visited was the Billabong Sanctuary,

home to over 50 native species from koalas and kangaroos

to dingoes and massive saltwater crocodiles.

This family owned and operated establishment

is, without question, one of Australia's premier sanctuaries.

For nearly 35 years they have been contributing

to conservation efforts while also providing the public

with a hands on education about wildlife, which, in turn, has

proudly made them one of Queensland's

top ecotourism attractions.

We will be getting to know several

of their permanent animal residents, many of which

can be considered Australian icons.

But to get started, let's meet one

bizarre yet adorable creature that I bet most of you

never even knew existed.

Now, the last time I entered an enclosure like this one,

I was attacked by monkeys.

And one latched onto my arm.

Not a good day for, Coyote.

So I'm kind of hoping when I enter this enclosure,

it's going to be a little better than my last experience.

I have a feeling that this is going to be pretty epic.

Are you guys ready to meet Blossom the Possum?

Let's do it.

All right, here we go.

Oh, there she is.

Come on in, guys.

All right.

You good, you good?

Oh, my goodness.

It's you.

Hi.

That's a possum?

That is the brush tailed possum, the largest possum

species here in Australia and an absolutely adorable creature.

Hello there.

How are you?

Now, let's give her a second to get acclimated.

I'm just going to go ahead and see if I can gently

pet her on top of her head.

Hi.

Oh, my gosh.

This may be one of the most adorable animals we've

ever featured on the show.

And when you're thinking possum, I'm

sure if you're in the United States, you're thinking,

oh, you mean those sort of rat-looking creatures

that are running around at night with the bald, long, skinny

tails?

This creature here, though, certainly doesn't

resemble a typical possum.

Oh, I see, I see.

You reaching out to try grab on to me?

Let's see.

Oh. Yeah, no.

That's a finger.

You don't want to eat that.

Actually, let me see if we can get a little bit of leaf here.

Let's see if Blossom is hungry.

Now, they specialize in eating leaves.

Here you go.

That's a little bit of spinach right there.

Yeah, there you go.

So gentle.

And Mark, look at these front feet here.

See if you can zoom in on those.

Their hands look just like the hands of a normal possum.

Look at how sharp those claws are.

And as you can imagine, this is a semi-arboreal species,

which means that they spend most of their time up in the trees.

OK, let's bring a little more spinach in here.

Let's see if we get Blossom out here.

Come here.

Can you come all the way out?

Come on, you can do it. Oh.

Look it.

The reach for it.

The claws are going.

I know she's like-- oh, you're going to go back in there?

Now, as you can see, it is day time right now.

Blossom is primarily nocturnal.

You see those big buggy eyes?

Gives her amazing vision at night.

And of course, those large ears indicate

that she has excellent hearing.

Now, I would really love for you to come out of that box there,

Blossom, because I think everybody

wants to see your prehensile tail,

which all possum species have.

But yours is not like the typical possum tail, is it?

It's not-- oh.

That's what we call a possum kiss right there.

Nose to nose with Blossom.

OK, I think maybe a little more spinach

and you want to come out?

Look what Coyote's got.

Look at those whiskers.

Keep coming.

You can do it.

Those claws are so sharp.

All she needs to do is latch on to the spinach with those claws.

And she's kind of like, uh, I don't really want to fully

wake up for this episode.

All right, let's see. Come on.

Come on out of here.

Let's see all the way out here.

What if I put it there, Blossom?

Then what happens?

Are you going to come all the way out?

You can do it.

Everybody wants to see you.

This is your big moment.

Oh, look at this-- pumpkin, perhaps

one of Blossom's favorites.

Oh.

Oh, you missed it, right here.

It's right here, look.

Come on a little further.

I wonder if she'll walk out on my arm.

Let's see.

Let's see.

Nope.

You know what she did there?

That's called the trick move.

I was thinking, oh, if I put the pumpkin just out in front of me,

she'll walk out onto my arm.

And all she did is grab that pumpkin

and then retreat back into her little hide box.

Look at that.

This is the trickiest part-- getting Blossom

to come out in the daylight.

Can I lift up the top of her little--

can we remove the top of her box here?

Up here, Blossom.

Here come the climbing skills.

This way.

You're going to work for this meal.

Here she comes.

Come on.

Keep coming.

Oh, look how cute that is.

Look at her little nose.

Can you kind of lift her up there?

There we go.

I see the tail.

There's the tail.

Let's see if I can keep her distracted up here

and look at the tail.

See this prehensile tail?

Look at how bushy it is.

That's what really separates them

from many other possum species.

Yeah, feel that. - Wow.

Right?

But feel the underside is just like latex.

Oh, wow.

Right here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Look at that prehensile nature right there

just curling around my fingers.

And this is actually the second largest possum

species in the world and the largest species

here in Australia.

And the face almost looks like the face of a kangaroo.

Now, as we know, this species is also

a marsupial, one of the quintessential

Australian marsupial species.

And they get a lot of their moisture from the leaves

that they eat.

You can see the spinach is very, very juicy.

Look at all that juice coming out of there.

That's the good stuff, huh?

You look pretty cute just inside that little enclosure there.

What if I took a picture of you like that?

That's a pretty good Instagram post right there.

Let's see if you can get that shot.

You guys ready?

Put this right there.

What if you look at that? Oh, yeah.

There we go.

Use this to kind of get you honed in.

Oh, that's perfect.

So cute.

You're going to get so many likes, Blossom.

That's the most adorable face.

She's like, where did the spinach go?

I put it there.

All right, there you go.

What do you think?

You're going to come out?

I like how she's able to grab like a hand.

Look at that.

She can completely hold on.

And what's really interesting kind of

like the feet of the kinkajou, the pads of her feet

almost feel like latex.

And that allows them to have incredible purchase when they're

climbing around on the limbs of trees up in the treetop canopy.

Blossom, I got some more pumpkin out of here.

Well, how cool was this, spending

our afternoon hanging out with the brush tailed possum?

There you go.

I'm Coyote Peterson.

Be brave, stay wild.

We'll see you on the next adventure.