- What you see here on the table,
are pair of HexArmor bite-proof gloves.
Supposedly, these can withstand the bite
of a venomous snake.
What I'm gonna do is slowly move my hand
in towards the snake's nose.
Let's just see what the aggression level is
as I moved my hand in towards his face.
(intense dramatic muusic)
Okay.
It's a beautiful night in Costa Rica,
and I'm sitting next to one of the most iconic snake species
in this country.
That is an Eyelash Viper.
that we've worked
with this species in the past.
In fact, I found the yellow phase of the snake
out in the wild several years ago.
But this one here is actually ambassador for its species.
It was born and raised in captivity.
This snake specifically is used to help educate people
about the snakes that live here in Central America,
and why you want to safely avoid them at all costs.
Now, this snake is not necessarily as toxic
as something like a Fer-de-lance
which makes it the perfect subject matter for tonight.
What you see here on the table
are a pair of HexArmor, bite-proof gloves.
Supposedly these can withstand the bite of a venomous snake.
Now obviously I wouldn't try this
with something as large as like a Western Diamondback,
an Eastern diamond back or Fer-de-lance,
but the Eyelash Viper has smaller fangs
and I feel a little bit safer
free-handling that snake with these gloves.
We'll get to that risky entertainment in just a few moments.
But first, what I wanna do
is take an educational look at this incredible reptile.
And the Eyelash Viper, is an arboreal species
which means they're primarily found up in trees.
And as you see the snake right here
gently clutched on this branch,
it almost looks as if it's a gargoyle
staying completely still.
And this is usually exactly how you will see
these snakes out in the wild,
waiting in ambush.
They're ambush predators.
And all they need to do is hang from a tree branch
and wait for something to come close.
They primarily feast upon animals
that are gonna be up in the tree tops.
Lizards, frogs, bats, even birds
fall victim to snakes like this.
And you see that position that snake's in right now,
that S-curled shape, head pointing down.
Something gets close it strikes out
and with those hinged fangs
injects a hematoxic venom.
Now what's unique about the Eyelash Vipers
as compared to many other Pit Viper species,
is that when they bite, they actually lock on.
When you think of something like a Fer-de-lance,
it's gonna strike out, inflict the bite,
let go and then track its prey,
once it is succumb to the venom.
But with a snake like this that lives up in the trees,
it needs to bite and hold on.
If this guy bites a bat and that bat falls out of the tree
the snake's gotta go all the way down to the ground
to get it.
So this snake wants to bite, hold on,
and then it's got its chance for a meal.
And the name "Eyelash Viper."
Where does that name come from?
If you take a real close look at the face of this snake,
you'll see two little modified scales
growing just above the eyes.
So it makes it look like horns
or in this case, a pair of eyelashes.
Now scientists believe that these modified scales
perhaps help them navigate through the arboreal environment.
Maybe pushing away plant matter
or possibly to help keep them camouflaged.
These snakes are incredibly good at keeping themselves
hidden within the environment.
Now, if you're to go out
into the Costa Rican Rainforest at night
the thing that's actually dangerous
is that if somebody grabs onto a branch
let's say you're moving through the environment,
you grip onto something, helping yourself navigate.
If one of these snakes is in the tree,
that's how you're accidentally bitten.
These snakes are not necessarily going to ever be aggressive
towards humans unless threatened.
However, if you were to unfortunately be bitten,
it is a hematoxic venom
and that means medical emergency.
Now, you guys clicked on this video
because the thumbnail likely has this snake
close to my hand, it's like, "Oh my gosh
is coyote going to get bitten by a venomous snake tonight?"
I'm not attempting to provoke a bite from this snake.
The reason that I'm going to try to handle this snake
with bite-proof gloves
is because it's a fragile species, right?
A snake of this size is rather delicate.
It's not something that you wanna squeeze and hold on.
You don't wanna pin its head,
you don't wanna have complete control of the snake.
The idea is that if I can hold it gently with these gloves,
it may be a tactic that we use in the future
to handle small venomous snakes.
Coral snakes, Sidewinders, Eyelash Vipers,
these are perfect subject matters
for using these bite-proof gloves.
I also have to be aware of how close
this snake gets to my face.
So keeping it out in front of me like this
is extremely important.
Remember, they've got a rather far reach
and a snake like this can lunge forward
nearly two thirds the length of its body.
I'm bitten in the face by a snake like this,
It's going to be a very bad end to my day.
(exhales)
It takes a little bit of nerves
when you start thinking about handling a venomous snake.
And while in the past,
I've interacted with many different venomous species
to actually be hands on with one
without controlling its head,
is something that I have not attempted before.
So if you're ready,
it's time to free handle the Eyelash Viper.
(dramatic intense music)
What I'm hoping is that I will be able
to get it, to just kinda come right out onto my hands.
So you see that?
The snake is backing its head up ever so slightly.
Now that position right there,
definitely could warrant a bite.
But you'll notice the snake is not aggressive
in any way whatsoever.
It's sensing my hand,
I see the tongue flicking out.
It's investigating me saying,
"Okay. This is something new in my environment,
but it doesn't look like something
that I would necessarily want to eat."
So I'm going to gently,
see if I can bring it up.
Oh, there we go.
Let's see if I can get you to come up to my hand.
There we go.
Okay. This is going really well so far.
Really really well.
There we go.
And I just wanna make sure
that I'm not constraining the snake too too much.
There we go.
Oh, I'm gonna keep you right there.
That's perfect.
I'm very happy about that position.
If I just keep my hand like this
you see how it's causing the snake to balance itself
into a curl position.
That is absolutely perfect.
Now on camera, it's tough to tell exactly
how close that snake is to my face.
It probably looks closer than it really is.
So I don't want any of you to think,
"Coyote, you've got that Pit Viper way too close to you."
Trust me guys.
It would take a huge jump for it to be able to leap out
and get me in the face.
At this point it's also why
I'm keeping my hand slightly here blocked
just in case something crazy happens.
But if I turn it like this,
you can really get a great look at that snake's profile.
They are just so incredibly beautiful.
And like all Pit Vipers,
they have a heat seeking pit
and this snake is capable of sensing
all sorts of different heat registers.
So if this snake spots something like a lizard,
this snake is using its incredible eyesight
to be able to identify animals that do not have warm blood.
Notice the vertical pupil that expands and contracts
based on the amount of light in the environment
which helps them to see incredibly well at night.
And for anybody that's afraid of snakes,
the fear which is called Ophidiophobia,
you can see that this is not something
that is aggressive toward humans.
And you may be saying to yourselves,
"Well, Coyote, you said that this snake
was born and raised in captivity."
Doesn't make a difference guys.
It's behaving the exact same way
that one of these snakes would in the wild.
If you're not swinging your hand in front of it,
if you're not poking out with a stick,
if you're simply admiring it from a safe distance,
it will be a great experience.
That's probably also a great spot for me to give you guys
that stereotypical warning where I say,
"Never go out into the environment
and try to handle a snake."
Now, the people that use these HexArmor gloves
are typically professionals.
Anything could happen here.
I could be bitten while I do trust the gloves.
I would never want you guys to be in a position
where you could accidentally receive a bite
from a snake like this.
And like I said earlier, the reason
that I'm using these bite-proof gloves tonight,
is to test out whether or not free handling
smaller venomous snakes like this
is a good tactic for us moving forward.
So if I were to physically grab onto the snake
or pin its head down with a snake hook
or hold it with snake tongs,
puts a lot of stress on the animal.
You can see how calm it's being right now.
And this is an awesome way for us to be able
to get these animals up close for the cameras,
without putting a lot of stress on them.
I'm gonna try a little experiment here.
What I'm gonna do is slowly move my hand
in towards the snake's nose,
not to necessarily provoke a strike
but let's just see what the aggression level is
as I move my hand in towards its face.
(suspenseful music)
Very slowly,
(suspenseful music continues)
look at that.
The snake just basically stays in gargoyle mode.
Yep. I bumped you on the nose just a tiny bit there.
You can see it's kinda curled his head back
in a little bit of a strike pose saying,
"Okay.
You got close let's not push it too much further than that."
And I won't,
but that's exactly what I wanted to try to determine.
Is this snake feeling completely calm
because it's not restrained?
It has no reason to strike out and try to bite me.
Wow.
What a cool experiment this was tonight.
Determining that using bite-proof gloves
is a great way to interact with smaller venomous snakes.
It's allowed me to stay calm.
The snake has stayed calm
and we've gotten a really cool Central American species
up close for the cameras.
The one and only Eyelash Viper.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave.
Stay wild.
We'll see on the next adventure.
All right, I'm gonna place you back behind your tree branch.
Sound good?
(lion roaring) (birds chirping)
(bear woofing)