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As a kid growing up in Ohio, I was obsessive when it came to learning about animals. Whether that was watching documentaries or reading books on different species, I was just like a sponge. I absorbed it all. All my knowledge of wildlife is self-taught, though I have the greatest respect for anyone who has gone through the process of getting a zoology or a biology degree.
I work with wildlife biologist Mario Aldecoa on the Brave Wilderness videos, and we always do extensive research before we go out into the field. You don't just head out into the wild and say, "today I'm going to find this species of rattlesnake." You have to be aware of, and educated about, up to 100 species when you enter into an environment. And even then you might encounter more.
Ironically, I discovered the idea of being bitten and stung intentionally almost by accident. We were filming with a North American porcupine in Montana in 2014, and the porcupine handlers were wearing leather gloves that came up past their elbows. We realized we didn't know a lot about how the quills worked and that aspect was actually really interesting. We asked the handlers how they would feel about me getting quilled to show people what happens and how to properly remove porcupine quills from their pets.
That was filmed before we even launched Brave Wilderness on YouTube in 2014, and when we published the video, people loved it. We realized that a situation where I am a human guinea pig being intentionally harmed by creatures was very intriguing to people, and that evolved into bites and stings.
In the early days I received a scorpion sting and an alligator lizard bite and both got millions of views. So we learned that we were really able to get people's attention and bring them an education about a species—whether it's an alligator snapping turtle, an American lobster, a bullet ant, a giant desert centipede and the list goes on and on. I've been intentionally bitten by around 50 creatures now. Even a tactically trained law enforcement K-9 has turned me into a human chew toy!
Some bites are venomous, and others like that of a tactically trained K-9, a snapping turtle or a lobster, are obviously not. I'd also never be bitten by something like a rattlesnake or a cobra. The level of danger that involves is on a scale that becomes unintelligent. Our goal is to show you that these creatures are not something to be afraid of if you admire them from a safe distance.
When it comes to an animal that's going to sting me. Picking it up with the entomology forceps and placing it onto me leaves the insect or creature thinking it can't get away on its own. That sting is a defense.
The two most painful stings in the insect kingdom that I have experienced are the executioner wasp and the Japanese giant hornet, which is now known as the murder hornet.
Stings are used as a defense, and the amount of venom they inject is nowhere near the amount that would come from something like a rattlesnake bite. Insects don't use their venom for the purposes of getting food. It's defense or it's a breeding technique. The tarantula hawk stings and paralyzes a tarantula so it can lay an egg on it.
Bites are different. The venom yield from a rattlesnake or a gila monster or a giant desert centipede bite is far more powerful in volume and potency than a sting. The two most painful bites I have taken; one was intentional which was the giant desert centipede and one was unintentional which was the gila monster. Both of those bites, which had a high venom yield, were the two most excruciating, painful situations I have been through.
The gila monster is the only venomous lizard in the U.S., and within the first two hours of its venom taking effect on my arm, I was in a state of delusion where I actually started considering that removing my arm would be less painful than the feeling of the venom working its way through my system.
My thumb was in its mouth for less than a second before I ripped my thumb out of its teeth. But the venom traveled all the way up my hand, through my arm and into my shoulder and chest. The pain lasted for about eight straight hours before it started to subside. I had read that the pain was like hot lava coursing through your veins and it does feel like that. Nothing can stop it. There's no anti-venom. Unless I am having a negative allergic reaction to venom, I just had to endure the pain.
The other extremely painful intentional bite was from a giant desert centipede. That pain, after about nine hours, was so intense and the swelling was so bad that my arm looked like a hotdog that was ready to explode. I did go to an emergency center on that occasion and was prescribed pain medication to reduce the swelling and pain.
The most dangerous thing about all venoms is how an individual's body reacts. So I was only ever really afraid when I was bitten by the gila monster, because that was an unintentional bite. And while I do know that there are no cases of people dying from their venom, you never know exactly how your body is going to react.
Someone could be stung by an insect like a honey bee—I have actually been stung more than 30 times at once—and go into anaphylaxis if you are allergic. Fortunately, I have not had bad allergic reactions to any of the stings or bites that I have taken, and after we started experimenting and saw that. But of course, people often ask what happens when my time is up and I do have an allergic reaction?
That's why we always have an epinephrine pen on location, and we also have medical professionals on standby when I do these episodes. We have even taken it as far as to have an emergency satellite phone that would ensure that in an emergency a helicopter will arrive within minutes to take me to a health center.
With each episode we have multiple warnings throughout to say that I am a professional who has done a lot of research, that we work with medical professionals and that this is not something that you would ever want to try to recreate yourself. Interestingly, we've actually been tagged in stories where kids have been bitten on accident by creatures and because of our videos they knew exactly what to do to get help or how to stay calm.
The other aspect to keep in mind is that a lot of these insects or creatures that I have been bitten or stung by take a lot of effort to find and are very difficult to catch. The odds of somebody ever going to the extent of going to the rainforests in Central or South America, hiking to the elevations where these executioner paper wasps live, successfully capturing one and taking a sting are very small. You're not going to bump into one of these things in your backyard in the U.S.
Though it's fair to say that some of these things you can bump into; rattlesnakes, gila monsters, tarantula hawks and giant centipedes. If you live in the south west of the U.S. those species are pretty common. So I think what we have done successfully is show people what happens and why you shouldn't reenact it. Trust me, you don't want to end up like me, writhing around on the ground!
When it comes to kids in particular, I think we have done a good job of showing them that admiring these things from a safe distance will give you the coolest encounter you can possibly have. The sting and bite content is also only a small part of what we offer, we make sure there is a balance between content about conservation work for wolves and alligators and seeing me being eaten alive by piranhas, which is an episode we have coming up in November.
We also always take the safety and wellbeing of the animal or species that we're dealing with really seriously. I look at these creatures' lives as the most important thing. We always show the release and that animal is treated with respect. You see that it returns to the wild.
I had thought that at some point, someone would walk up to me and tell me I'm a ding dong for getting stung and bitten. But I get everyone from the muscly dude at a bar wanting a picture, to the three year old telling me they love it when I get stung by stuff, which is pretty amazing.
I actually interact with my audience 365 days a year. I think that's the difference with movie star fame and me. If I saw Jennifer Aniston on the street I'd be super nervous to approach her, she's a movie star! But people watch me on their phones and I think I'm very approachable. And there is no me without our audience, so I think it's really important to embrace them. People feel they know me and can approach me, and they can. I will never be too busy to talk.
I think people who have known me a long time understand my desire to be creative and my drive, my love for animals and the willingness I have had my entire life to do some pretty crazy things. My friends and family think it makes complete sense, and that it looks like I'm having a good time doing it. Which I really am.
Nathaniel "Coyote" Peterson is an Emmy award-winning host of Brave Wilderness on YouTube and has also hosted Coyote Peterson: Brave The Wild on Animal Planet. The channel has had more than 3.6 billion views since it launched in 2014. Peterson has a new book, The Beast of Bites, which is available to order here.
All views expressed in this piece are the author's own.
As told to Jenny Haward.
