- What's going on guys?
I'm Mark Laivins and right now,
we are in one of our favorite locations
in all of North America, the Sonoran Desert,
and as you can tell,
nighttime has already descended upon us,
which is the perfect time
to find all kinds of cool creatures.
So if you guys are ready,
let's turn our flashlights on and hit the trails,
to see what we can find.
(dramatic music)
(energetic music)
Under the heat of the midday sun,
spiny cacti and scattered shrubs
appear to be the only life forms persistent enough
to thrive amongst this dusty landscape.
But don't let its appearance fool you,
the Sonoran Desert is indeed rich with life,
and also happens to be one of our favorite locations
to explore for animals.
Over the years, we have stumbled across
so many unique species that as a production team,
we knew this would be the perfect place
to test out the new camera gear
for our upcoming television series on Animal Planet,
because after all, what better way to test out a new camera
than to go film with some amazing creatures?
So Mario and I set off for another desert expedition.
The hot temperatures of the Sonoran Desert
often feel inhospitable, not only to us,
but also to the many animals that call this region home.
It's not exactly impossible
to look at creatures during the day,
but it makes it much more difficult
when they're hiding from the scorching sun.
And on top of that, many species found in this area
are actually nocturnal hunters.
So we waited for the sun to go down and the air to cool,
in the hopes of spotting some creepy crawlies
on the prowl for their next meal.
Mario, you seeing anything?
- [Mario] Not yet, a few signs of movement.
Maybe some rodents.
- Yeah, I saw a rabbit earlier,
but it was too fast for the cameras.
I'm really surprised
I'm not seeing anything up in the trees.
I figured we'd see some lizards sleeping by now.
Might be a little too early still.
Oh, hang on.
You see that?
There's something crawling just behind that tree.
Let's go check it out.
(dramatic music)
Oh, it's a tarantula!
Oh man, look.
That is a good size Desert Blonde Tarantula,
if I've ever seen one.
I think there's only one way
to present this tarantula, Mario.
I think I'm gonna have to pick it up, and to be honest,
I've held tarantulas before, but not a wild one.
You think I'm gonna be okay to pick this one up?
- [Mario] Of course, man.
You see Coyote do it all the time.
- I know, I know,
but it's a lot easier to get behind the camera,
and watch him do it.
It's another thing to do it yourself, but yeah,
I guess there's only one way to do the scene properly,
and that's to get hands on.
Here we go, alright.
Nice and easy.
(dramatic music)
Oh, oh, oh, see that?
It's actually starting to flick hairs,
which means it's a little agitated.
So I'm gonna give it a second.
When tarantulas become agitated,
they can actually flick some of the hairs off their abdomen
into the air to deter a would be predator,
and those hairs can actually be very irritating
to your nose and your eyes.
So certainly don't want to get any of that around your face,
but also, I really don't want
to agitate her too much either.
Let's give her a second to calm down and I'll try again.
Alright, here we go.
I'll try to coax her this time
with a snake hook, see if that helps.
(dramatic music)
Come on girl,
I do think it's a female based on the body mass.
Oh, phew.
I'm nervous. (laughs)
I'm not gonna lie, guys.
Picking up a wild tarantula, not the easiest thing to do.
It's definitely a lot of willpower involved.
Alright, let's try this one more time.
Got my face in a barrel cactus too.
(dramatic music)
Oh, there we go.
Here we go, alright.
Oh wow, check that out.
Oh man, it feels so cool.
There are actually little hooks on the bottom of the legs,
and I can feel them grasp on to my skin
as she's walking over my hands.
I'm gonna try to talk a little more gently now
'cause I don't want to scare her.
That is the Desert Blonde Tarantula,
and like all arachnids, they have eight legs,
and most tarantulas are covered in hair,
as is this one.
The reason we found a spider out tonight
is likely because it was on the prowl looking for prey.
These spiders are known to eat all kinds of insects
and things out here crawling around at night,
but if it's unfortunate enough,
even a small lizard
could become victim to a spider this size.
So one gruesome but interesting fact about these tarantulas
is how they digest their food.
They actually inject an enzyme into their prey
that liquefies the insides
so they can drink it up just like a milkshake.
Imagine that, like a big protein shake
every time you have a meal.
Kinda gross if you think about it.
Luckily for me, tarantulas have very mild venom,
at least in most places around the world.
So if you are bitten, which hopefully I'm not,
it's usually nothing more painful than a bee sting.
That being said, any bite from any animal
needs to be taken seriously.
So I'm gonna try not to get bitten today.
Wow, I will say I was pretty nervous picking up this spider,
for obvious reasons.
Look how big she is,
but just like every time I've ever held a tarantula,
once you know the spider's not gonna bite you,
it's actually a pretty cool experience.
Alright, well I think we've held onto this girl long enough.
Let's let her back off in the night to hunt,
and see what else we can find.
Here you go, girl.
(dramatic music)
Whew, well that was awesome.
My very first time ever holding a wild tarantula.
I say we grab our things and head back out there.
Let's see if we can find something to top that.
Tarantulas are always a welcome surprise to us
because when they're on the move,
there's a good chance other creatures are too.
Now these kind of piles are great spots to look
for all kinds of creatures.
Oh, oh. (gasps)
Oh my gosh, Mario.
It's a vinegaroon.
Alright hang on, hang on.
Let's see if I can grab it without getting sprayed.
(dramatic music)
Yeah, I know.
Oh don't spray me, don't spray me, don't spray me!
Oh yeah, I got it, I got it.
Ah, it sprayed me!
I felt it.
Oh no.
Oh, I guess this will be a good time to talk about its name.
Guys, we found a vinegaroon.
Check that out.
Well, the good news is, we got hands on the vinegaroon.
The bad news is, the vinegaroon got me.
I totally just got sprayed with an acetic acid mixture
that smells just like vinegar.
In fact, I'm gonna point the business end
not toward my face.
Now these are arachnids.
They are related to scorpions,
but in fact they are not scorpions at all.
They merely resemble their cousins
because of their claws at the front,
and their elongated abdomens, but outside of that,
these vinegaroons are vastly different
than the scorpion they featured on the channel.
You want to see something neat?
Check this out.
They actually can cling on and be completely inverted.
In fact, the vinegaroon or whip scorpion
as they're also called, come in two varieties.
Both a tail whip scorpion and a tailless whip scorpion.
If you guys remember back to that episode
where we filmed the watering holes, Coyote actually put
one of the tailless varieties on his face.
I don't think I'm gonna be putting
this whip scorpion on my face tonight,
just given the fact that it just sprayed me
with its vinegar mixture.
Now you may be asking yourself, what does a vinegaroon eat?
Well, they eat all kinds
of different insects and other arachnids.
They've been known to eat things
like moths, and gnats, and spiders.
- [Mario] Do they eat salt and vinegar chips?
(drum rolls)
- They don't eat salt and vinegar chips.
In fact, I don't know
if I'll be eating salt and vinegar chips again anytime soon,
because it's gonna remind me back to the time I got sprayed
by the vinegaroon out here in the Sonoran Desert,
but I will say, what a treat.
Coming across one of the coolest creepy crawlies
to call the Sonoran Desert home.
I'm Mark Laivins, be brave, stay wild,
we'll see ya on the next adventure.
Let's put this vinegaroon back.
Hopefully I don't get sprayed again.
(dramatic music)
Easy, easy.
Phew, time to go wash our hands.
Now some of you may have been wondering,
Mark, where's Coyote?
That's a great question.
Not every trip we take includes the full team.
Remember that time I went location scouting in Iceland?
Man, that was one epic adventure,
and we're still working on
getting the whole team back there too.
So stay tuned guys,
there are even more wild adventures to come.
- Oh, got him.
Oh buddy, yes!
- [Mark] If you enjoyed this excursion,
take a look back at one of the creepiest crawlies
we've ever encountered, the solifugae.
And don't forget, subscribe,
and then click the notification bell
so you can join me and the crew on our next adventure.
(light music)