- I see it.
(threatening music)
I got it!
- [Mark] Careful, careful, careful. (woots)
- Oh my gosh, are you ready?
- [Mark] Yeah.
- Oh! (scowls)
Don't move, don't move, don't move!
I got it, I got it, I got it!
There he is.
(threatening music)
(rainforest animals sing)
The rainforest of Costa Rica
boasts being an incredibly diverse ecosystem
with literally thousands of plant and animal species.
While many of these creatures are nocturnal
and rely on the darkness of night to help keep them hidden,
there are also plenty of diurnal, or daytime, animals
that one can encounter.
Today we are exploring
the Costa Rican amphibian research reserve
located in the Central Caribbean zone, its 121-acre expanse
is home to over 50 species of amphibians
including the iconic green and black poison frog.
My goal was to find, safely catch,
and get one of these rainforest gems
up close for the cameras.
Ah, no!
Ah, they're so fast.
However, catching a poison frog
is far easier said than done.
I just saw one.
- [Mark] Did it hop away?
- Yep, it's right in the sleeves.
Hold on.
- [Mark] Did you get it?
- I sure did.
No, I did not.
Are you serious?
- [Mark] Anything?
(Coyote grunts)
Let go of the burrow.
- I don't know where it went.
Oh, jeez.
Ah! (screams)
- [Mark] What is it?
- Stinging ants.
(inhales painfully)
Little fire ants. (screams)
One of the dangers of catching poison frogs
is you just throw your hands into everything
and I just threw my hands into a mound of fire ants.
(exhales)
Gosh, this is more difficult than I thought it was gonna be.
All right, come on.
Not only are these amphibians small and speedy,
they're also incredibly aware of their surroundings.
Oh, there's one on that leaf.
So at any sign of danger,
they immediately flee into their burrows.
This is a bromeliad plant.
You see how thick the middle of it is.
I'm just gonna bend this leaf down a little bit,
take a little glance in there.
You see all that water?
That pocket of water is exactly
what the female frogs are looking for to lay her eggs.
- [Mark] Oh, there's a poison frog right there.
- Where, where, where?
- [Mark] There's two.
There's a red and then there,
oh, the red one's just tucked behind the leaf.
But there's a little green one.
- [Coyote] Oh, oh, oh, that's a baby one.
Oh, it's a froglet.
We're definitely looking for something
that is way bigger than that.
- [Mark] The adults are hanging out
by the plants, too, right?
- Yeah, they can be.
You can obviously also find them around on the forest floor
hiding in leaf litter or up underneath root structures.
All this area like this,
just a matter of kind of trekking through it
and getting lucky actually spotting one.
All right, I'm heading in to here.
As we travel deeper into the rainforest,
the wet and rocky terrain
only became more difficult to navigate.
And the ever looming cloud layer overhead
threatened a terrential downpour at any moment.
But I was determined to catch one of these frogs.
Okay, well, so far I've missed catching
a lot of these poison frogs.
We've seen them and as soon as you see one,
they disappear to their burrows.
We've been out here for, I don't know.
What would you say?
Close to 3 1/2, 4 hours now?
- [Mark] Yeah, I know.
I think the rain's gonna start rolling in soon.
- I did not anticipate it taking this long
to get a little green and black frog
in front of the cameras.
But we are not giving up.
We're definitely seeing them.
It's just a matter of Coyote actually catching one.
All right, let's keep moving.
(threatening music)
There's a frog.
- [Mark] Ya got one?
- Yep.
- [Mark] Where, where, where?
(Coyote grunts)
- Went right up underneath those roots, you see that?
- [Mark] Where'd he go?
- Right there, you see?
There's this rock here.
Look behind it.
See those roots and those rocks?
Yeah, back up in there.
The frog pretty much just disappears.
Now you may be thinking,
"Well, Coyote, just stick your hand in there.
"Get the frog."
There could be snakes in there.
There could be spiders in there.
I certainly don't wanna disturb the animals' homes
so in all fairness that frog evaded capture.
(threatening music)
And then finally the combination of patience
and a little persistence paid off.
- [Mark] Did you hear that?
- Yeah, it's definitely a frog.
I wanna see if it calls again.
No, your camera did get that sound, did it?
You weren't rolling it?
- [Mark] No.
- Yeah, I definitely heard one.
All right, I'm moving up this.
It's definitely worth looking.
This is a bit steep, but...
Jeez it's muddy.
I see it and it's definitely...
- [Mark] Is it catchable?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well none of the rest of them have been.
Hold on a second.
I'm gonna have to dive for it.
Yes! - [Mark] Did you get it?
I got it!
And a hand full of grass, too. (woots)
All right, I'm coming down, are you ready?
- [Mark] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Oh, yes!
- [Mark] Careful, careful, careful. (woots)
You all right? - Okay, yeah.
Covered in mud, handful of leaf litter,
but I definitely have the frog.
Oh my gosh, are you ready?
This has been one difficult amphibian to come across.
Ready?
Oh! (grunts)
Don't move, don't move, don't move.
I got it, I got it, I got it.
- [Mark] There he is.
- [Coyote] Okay, hold on.
Just let it come down there on a nice flat spot.
It's gonna get away.
I got it. (exhales tiredly)
See how jumpy they are?
I literally am gonna have to hold
onto this frog's leg the entire time.
Let me wash off my hands in the stream here
so I can get a good handle on it.
Ah, covered in mud again!
My pockets are wedged full of mud.
Totally worth it though
because now we have the green and black poison frog
up close for the cameras.
Oh, you are not going anywhere.
Wow, well there it is.
The black and green poison frog.
They are so incredibly fast.
And the reason I've had so much trouble
is because they often hang out
right in front of their burrows
or in front of a root structure.
So as soon as they feel vibrations in the ground,
any sort of sounds, make visual contact,
they say, "Bloop," and disappear down into the ground.
Now, aposematic is the term that you always here me saying
when it comes to these brightly-colored animals.
What aposematic means is that it's a warning sign
to any potential predator that I am toxic.
If you eat me,
if the stomachache doesn't make you keel over,
it may in fact actually kill you.
This variety is slightly more toxic
than the granular or the strawberry poison frogs
so I am definitely gonna be washing my hands
after handling this frog.
When I climbed up the side of the hill,
its back was actually toward me
which is the only reason that I think I was able to leap
and grab ahold of the frog.
But as you can see,
as soon as I gave it any runway for getting an escape route,
it immediately hopped off my hand and made a break for it.
And the thing is a lot times you try to catch poison frogs,
whether it's this variety or the strawberry poison frog
or the granular poison frog,
you think that you've got the frog,
but they move so quickly.
As soon as you grab down at it,
because you have to be gentle, the frog is already gone.
This is a terrestrial species of frog.
You'll notice that it doesn't have webbing
in between its toes.
They're moving throughout the rainforest
searching the leaf litter for any small bugs
they can come across.
They're opportunistic feeders.
But this species specifically loves to feast on ants.
And it's actually the alkaloids in the ants
that give this frog its toxicity.
- [Mark] Coyote, why is this considered
the most iconic poison frog?
- [Coyote] Just look at the coloration.
It's absolutely gorgeous.
That green and black marbling is so incredibly distinct.
And look how evenly it's spread throughout the frog's body.
Now I do have an admiration for these frogs.
But if there's somebody that really loves these frogs,
it's Mark.
- [Mark] Ah, jeez, yeah.
- [Coyote] Yeah, calling you out.
- It's true.
Since I was eight years old,
that's my favorite amphibian right there.
Actually I have a mousepad of that exact frog.
- [Coyote] He does.
I bet you're pretty excited.
Once we get this episode through post-production,
you get to edit the thumbnail.
Because Mark edits all the thumbnails
for the YouTube channel guys.
You're gonna actually be scrolling your mousepad
over an image of this frog
while editing an image of this frog.
- I know.
It's kinda crazy, but I'm excited about it.
- [Coyote] Very cool.
All right, well, I am muddy, I am sweaty, and I'm exhausted.
But we finally managed
to get the green and black poison frog
up close for the cameras.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
Over the years filming brave wilderness episodes,
I have managed to encounter many species of frogs.
Whether they were giant bullfrogs of the south,
culturally iconic red-eyed leaf frogs,
or tiny toxic jungle jelly beans,
the green and black poison frog is certainly one
that I will always remember
as being well worth the epic adventure,
an incredible challenge to get up close for the cameras.
If you thought the green and black poison frog was colorful,
make sure to go back and watch our episode
about the red-eyed leaf frog.
Don't forget, subscribe so you can join me and the crew
on this season of Breaking Trail.
(birds sing)