- I'm Coyote Peterson and you're never gonna believe
what I have cupped in my hand.
Are you ready?
One, two, three.
(dramatic music)
Ah! It's going up my arm!
(dramatic music)
(suspenseful music)
By the light of day,
the desert appears to be void of any living creatures.
And if you find yourself in the heart of the Sonoran Desert,
the intense sun and scorching heat
can reach temperatures close to 110 degrees Fahrenheit.
Survival in those conditions without water and shade
is almost impossible.
However, as the sun disappears beyond the horizon,
and the cool darkness of night sets in,
the seemingly uninhabitable desert
awakens with creatures.
Exploring the desert at night is a true adventure.
Right now I'm sitting in the middle of a wash,
which is pretty much the equivalent
of an animal superhighway.
I say we head that direction
and see what we can find.
Power up your flashlights to brave the night
and you're almost certain to have some animal encounters
that you are not likely to forget.
Oh jeez. Come here.
Check this out.
- [Camera Man] You got some?
- [Coyote] Yep! Woah!
It's neither a scorpion or a spider.
It's a solpugid.
Also known
as a wind scorpion
or a sun spider.
Now they're actually really fast,
so I'm hoping he's just gonna stay--
- [Man] How dangerous is this? - [Coyote] on that rock.
Well they're not venomous, so it's not that dangerous.
But if you look at that front set of mandibles right there?
Get your finger close to that
and you're gonna get quite the pinch.
And these guys have an incredible
defensive posture.
Look at that. They will not back down.
That is for sure. Okay, stay right there on that
rock. - [Camera Man] Oh my gosh.
- [Coyote] Okay. I'm gonna...
alright, he's like, okay!
I've been spotted.
You gonna go on my hand?
There we go.
Look at that.
Oooh boy, stay there.
Stay there, stay there.
- [Man] No.
- [Coyote] Okay, don't want it on my back.
Don't want it on my back. Get on my hand.
Oh my gosh! It feels so creepy.
Like a tarantula, only faster,
thankfully it doesn't have a stinger like a scorpion.
Look at that. Okay.
Stay.
Now these arachnids have become
incredibly famous on the internet.
We actually have them all over the world
and there're some famous pictures out there
floating around where people will actually
hold them up in front of a camera
with a forced perspective to make them look
so much bigger than they really are.
This is honestly the biggest one that I've ever seen.
And just like any arachnid, they do have eight legs
but this front setup here which is actually nine and ten,
are the pedipalps.
And unlike a scorpion, they don't have pinchers,
but they have all these sticky little hairs.
So let's say,
I hope he doesn't lunge out and bite me,
if a moth flies towards him like that?
You see that? Watch.
Like that.
He can grab with those pedipalps
and those little hairs are sticky
and then he shoves his prey
right into those front mandibles
and oh, come here, come here.
And then he's got dinner.
And that's basically like being thrown
into a set of giant, razor-sharp--
- [Man] Oh!
- [Coyote] sheers. Look out, he's coming towards your leg.
Okay, I got him, I got him, I got him.
(exhaling loudly) (suspenseful music)
Okay, that gets your heart racin'.
- [Man] Have you been bit by one of these?
- [Coyote] No.
Worst case scenario, if I am bitten
by this creature, it is nonvenomous.
Most people think that this is a venomous animal
like a scorpion or a spider but
a bite from this is gonna cause a little bit of irritation,
but if I take a bite, I'm gonna be just fine.
- [Man] Would you be willing to take a bite?
- Really, you had to ask that?
- [Man] I dare you.
- [Coyote] I mean, this is the biggest one
that I've ever seen.
It actually could kinda prove a cool point
that they are not venomous despite the fact
that they look like they're the predator
from Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous movie.
Getting this speedy arachnid under control
was rather difficult
but once I had it gently placed in my fingers,
it was time to test out those vicious-looking chompers.
I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter the strike zone
with a solpugid.
Ready?
One, two,
(dramatic music) three.
(dramatic music) Ow! Ow!
Aahh! Ooh, yeah, can you see that?
Holy cow that hurts.
Wow, that pressure is unbelievable.
Oh my gosh, his little mandibles are razor-sharp!
Ow!
Jeez that hurts, like little tiny needles
going into my finger.
- [Man] So how was that?
- That was not fun.
He didn't actually break skin,
although it felt like he was cutting through
using his mandibles like scissors.
As you can see, Mr. Solpugid is just fine.
I think I'm a little worse for the wear
but the point is,
I'm actually not bleeding
and he certainly is not venomous.
Not a creature that you need to be afraid of.
Just when I thought the creatures of the desert
couldn't get any more bizarre?
We bump into the solpugid.
And gettin' bitten by one?
Guys, that's an experience that I'm certainly
never gonna forget.
But hopefully we've proven that these little arachnids
are not venomous and their bark,
sorry buddy, is far worse than their bite.
I'm Coyote Peterson. Be brave!
Stay wild! We'll see ya on the next adventure.
Alright little predator. Back off into the desert with you.
(suspenseful music)
If you thought the solpugid made your skin crawl,
check out my encounter with a true living nightmare,
the giant desert centipede.
And don't forget, subscribe!
To join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
One really interesting feature about this centipede,
is see how he's got that dark spot on his tail?
And those two little, oh!
That's close to my hand.