- Let me just see how close he'll let me get the snare.
I don't think I can get him from here.
(suspenseful music)
- Nice.
Good job.
(adventurous music)
- Whenever we visit a location, I'm always on the lookout
for my next potential lizard catch.
Look at that.
Over the years, I have captured many of these
speedy reptiles, from collared lizards
to turnip-tailed geckos.
However, on the Pacific side of Costa Rica,
there's one particular lizard
that has evaded me for several years,
the spiny-tailed iguana.
A giant amongst resident lizard species,
this iguana may look slow and lumbering
with its calm demeanor;
however, this creature is incredibly quick
when it needs to be.
Oh ho.
Catching one by hand can be difficult.
So today I'm going to employ a strategy
that many herpetologists use in the field
to get up close with lizards.
Using a bamboo pole, some paracord, and a multi-tool,
I was able to build a snare
that would allow me several extra feet of reach.
I am going to loop the paracord through this notch
and then tie it across the top
and the snare will dingle down right from there.
That snare will then go over the head of the lizard
and the weight of its body once it starts to run
will pull it taught, I'll have it on the end of the rope
and hopefully we'll be able to catch it
and get it up close for the cameras.
Oh, there's that big one there.
(suspenseful music)
Let me just see how close he'll let me get the snare.
I don't think I can get him from here.
- Hold on tight.
- I know.
Nice! Got him, here.
Oh my gosh. That is a big, big lizard.
Big lizard.
Hold on.
I'm gonna grab him right at the back of the head.
(drums)
(lizard screeches)
Got him.
Whoa. That is a serious dinosaur right there.
Look at that creature. Wow.
Okay, hold on a second,
let me get the snare off of here.
Whew.
- What do you think, man?
That was a great grab.
- My God, it is really really strong.
It is really strong.
I do not want to get bitten by this creature.
Hold on a second.
Let me get a good hold on his head here.
I'm gonna cut the snare rope.
Okay, alright.
Let's back up here, and go down to the trail,
I want to keep the lizard as calm as possible.
Let me get the noose off of him here.
Woo, okay, definitely made a go at me there.
Wow. Oh.
The teeth in there, you know Mario,
can you help me out, can you grab...
- Yeah.
- That rope? I got a pretty good hold on him.
Just, you kinda gotta like, gently loop it up over his head.
Okay, I'm gonna pull him back.
There we go. Okay.
There it is.
That is the spiny-tailed iguana.
It might as well be a dinosaur.
Oh, can you guys believe it?
It has taken me days to capture one of these lizards.
Now, oh, let's take a real good look at this creature.
Look at the spines running down the length of the body,
and then of course here on the tail,
and you can see where they get that name,
spiny-tailed iguana.
If you zoom in there you can see all the spines
running along the length of the tail.
They are incredibly sharp.
Now they can use this as a defense against predators.
They will whip this tail around almost like a Stegosaur,
and this is like a bunch of barbs
laced underneath with muscle and bone.
It is so incredibly strong.
Look at the hind legs.
Now these creatures are terrestrial,
but they are capable of climbing.
Those claws and those strong forelimbs and back legs
will allow them to easily scurry up
something like this, a side of a cage around here.
When we first approached,
it was on top of that monkey enclosure
and of course they can climb trees.
Look at the stretch of that mouth, though.
Oh my gosh, it's like looking
into the throat of a Tyrannosaur.
Now you look at a creature like this,
and it has this razor sharp teeth,
but believe it or not, these lizards are herbivores,
which means that they eat plants.
Just the other day we witnessed one
eating some hibiscus flowers.
You think to yourself, wow, this creature
could take down pretty much anything,
maybe a bird or other lizards, but nope,
sure enough, they're interested in fruits and flowers.
Look at the coloration of this reptile.
It's like a grayish blue,
all of these really rugged scales on top of the head,
and it feels like sandpaper.
Mark, just describe to everyone out there watching
what it feels like.
- Oh wow. Yeah.
Feels like it's about, like, 100 grid sandpaper.
It could do some damage if it whipped you, yeah.
- Well you can understand why it was so dangerous
for me to try to capture one of these by hand.
And I think I could have done it
if I'd gotten it right behind the head,
but a bite from a lizard of this size
can easily send you to the hospital.
Not only are the teeth sharp, but they're curved backwards.
So if it bites, and it shakes it head, yeah.
Your fingers are going to get shredded.
Can you imagine something like this, you know
60 plus million years ago,
and maybe three or four times the size,
because that's what was here on the planet
during the time of dinosaurs.
So impressive. So unbelievably prehistoric.
(laughs) this was absolutely incredible.
I have been trying for days to catch one of these lizards,
and sure enough, here hanging out
at Kids Saving the Rainforest,
and I managed to get the spiny-tailed iguana
up close for the cameras.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave,
whoo, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next location.
Alright well this is it.
The moment that we release the spiny-tailed iguana
back into the environment.
Gotta be really careful that I don't take a bite here.
I'm gonna set it down right there.
One, two, three.
Whoa. That was a fast lizard.
If you thought catching a spiny-tailed iguana
was exciting, make sure to go back
and watch the time I managed to get
a collared lizard up close for the cameras.
And don't forget, subscribe
so you can join me and the crew on our next location.
(wilderness sounds)