- Snake! - Snake?
- Snake! - Wait, wait, wait, wait.
- You need to grab it. - Yeah, yeah.
- Is that venomous? - It is.
- Yeah. - It is venomous.
- Watch it, watch it, use the snake hold.
- Wow, that looks just like a garter snake.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second.
(dynamic jungle music)
- [Coyote] No matter what location we visit,
the Brave Wilderness team always seems to have success
locating its native snake species.
This is partially due to the fact
that our wildlife biologist, Mario Aldecoa
has had a lifelong fascination
with these often feared reptiles.
The island country of Japan was to be no exception
and today we are exploring a remote stretch of wilderness,
that has already produced one of the most common
and friendly species, the four-lined ratsnake.
Snake, snake, snake!
Mario, what is that?
That's a ratsnake, right? - Ratsnake.
- Got its tail, got its tail. - Got it?
- That is the four-lined ratsnake,
one of the coolest constrictor species here in Japan
and actually one of the largest snakes,
that you'll find anywhere here in Japan.
In the hours previous, consistent rain showers
had moved through, saturating the landscape
and bringing this mountainous environment to life.
This forest is ancient.
Oh no, here comes the rain again,
I thought we were out of it.
It is relentless and the thing about rain like this
is if you're looking for reptiles,
they're likely hunkered down,
if you're looking for amphibians, it can be perfect.
There are newts in this area,
there are also giant Japanese toads
and either of those species would make a great episode,
it's just a matter of finding one of those specimens.
Alright, keep going.
As we continued onward, we eventually found ourselves
in a series of grassy thickets,
which we knew would be perfect for snake activity
and sure enough, it was Mario,
that made the next slithering discovery.
- [Mario] Ooh, guys,
snake! - Snake?
- Snake! - Wait, wait, wait, wait.
- What kind is that? - Is that a keelback?
- Oh, dude, this is a keelback,
you need to grab it. - Yeah, yeah.
- Is that venomous? - It is.
- Yeah. - It is venomous.
- Watch it, watch it, use the snake hold.
- Wow, that looks just like a garter snake.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on a second.
- That's a tiger keelback. - Outshone,
yes, dude, good spotting!
Wow, I would have probably grabbed that
and thought it was a garter snake,
it looks just like one.
Hold on, let me see if we can get it
to stay completely calm. - Whoa.
- Whoa, okay, alright, hold on,
I'm gonna just try to very gently handle the snake,
staying very calm, here we go.
Okay. - Whoa!
- [Coyote] There we go.
I handled the snake really gently, they're not very strikey.
Okay, wow! - So what would happen
if the snake bit you?
- It would really have to latch on and bite down
to get that venom into me,
so I'm not real, real worried about that,
what I don't wanna do though is actually head this snake,
because what's very unique about this species
is not only is it venomous, it's also poisonous,
they have two glands right on the back of their neck
and what they'll do sometimes,
if they feel threatened is puff themselves up
and these glands will actually eject poison.
Now if something comes in
and tries to bite down on this snake
and gets any of that poison in its mouth,
it has a very awful taste, so similar to a dart frog,
dart frogs get their poison
from the small ants that they eat,
this snake gets its poison from the toads that it eats.
Now that name, tiger keelback snake
comes from the fact that they have keeled scales
running along the length of their body
and when this snake breathes, you can actually see
the black stripes and the orange coloration,
as we know, that bright coloration is aposematic,
warning any potential predator, that I am toxic
and in this case, both venomous and poisonous.
Whoa, that is a cool looking snake.
Now, if you didn't know any better,
you look at that snake's face,
it looks just like the face of a garter snake,
which is a completely harmless species,
but there are no garter snakes in Japan.
I am free handling this snake at this point,
I'm trying to be very gentle with it and very calm,
you're probably saying to yourselves,
"Coyote, you're free handling a venomous snake,"
but like I said, these snakes are not very bitey
and they're rear-fanged, fixed rear fangs,
so for this to actually inject venom into me,
it would have to latch onto my finger and chew,
almost the way that a heel monster chews on its prey
to get that venom to work into its victim.
- Okay, quick question. - Yeah?
- [Mark] So what would happen,
if you were bitten by that snake?
- That's a great question, it is a hemotoxic venom,
very similar to the venom of a boomslang,
what that will actually do is get into your system
and it will begin to haemeroage you, right,
so that means you'll be bleeding internally,
so it is a very, very bad bite,
one of the most venomous snakes,
that they have here in Japan.
Now antivenom is available for this snakebite,
but it's very hard to come by,
because people are hardly ever bitten by this snake species.
So as long as I am very gentle holding this snake,
I should be just fine.
Guys, as I often tell you, never try to handle snakes,
it's always important to properly identify them first,
never ever ever try to handle a venomous snake
the way that I am right here.
Such an unassuming looking snake, so calm, so docile,
yet it is one of the most toxic snakes here in Japan.
This was pretty awesome
finding our first two reptiles of the trip,
one non-venomous snake and one venomous,
but also poisonous snake, how cool is that?
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
Man, great find, Mario.
Of all the snake species we have featured
on the Brave Wilderness channel,
from the non-venomous to the venomous,
the tiger keelback is without a doubt a true anomaly.
Its visual similarity to the garter snake
makes it appear completely non-threatening,
but while they are noticeably docile,
the fact that they are both venomous and poisonous
makes them incredibly toxic.
Envenomation is rare, due to the snake's calm demeanor
and tendency to ward off predators
with its threatening display,
however antivenom does exist, if a bite were to occur.
That being said, I cannot stress enough
how important it is to never handle or interact with snakes,
unless you are 100% certain it is a non-toxic species
and like I always say, when in doubt,
the best interactions can always be had
by simply admiring the animal from a safe distance.
If you missed our first snake encounter from Japan,
make sure to go back and watch,
as I dive headfirst into catching the four-lined ratsnake
and don't forget, subscribe,
then click the notification bell,
so you can join me and the crew on our next wild adventure.
(light jungle music)