(slow ominous music)
(frog croaks)
- Caught him!
Yes!
- [Mark] Yes!
- In the water! - You all right?
What a grab.
- Oh. Roll, roll, roll, roll!
- [Mark] I'm rolling.
(frog croaking)
- Oh, oh!
- [Mark] Oh oh oh.
(intense dramatic music)
(deep growling)
- [Coyote] Over the past two years,
we have produced more than 250 episodes
on the Brave Wilderness channel.
And on each adventure, we do our best
to get animals up close with the cameras.
However, there are many animals
that have eluded me over the years,
including the largest frog species in Costa Rica,
the Smokey Jungle Frog.
(intense dramatic music)
(yells)
- [Mark] That's what happened last time.
- Every time, the Smokey Jungle Frog outs me.
While visiting the Caribbean Coast,
we spent time exploring the dense rainforests
of the Costa Rican Amphibian Research Preserve.
This location was a prime habitat
for these giant amphibians.
Phew, long night battling rainstorms and finally
it looks like we have a jungle frog
that is not by its hole, but it is right next to a pond.
If you can hear all those frogs croaking,
this guy can literally
leap off the embankment and into the water.
My biggest challenge would be getting close enough
to actually catch one.
These frogs are very in tune with their environment
and always have an escape route nearby
that allows them to quickly avoid predators.
(intense dramatic music)
Aww!
- Aww. - Hold on.
Shoot, all right, I'm outta here.
Coming out.
(gasps)
Ya, well.
(sighs)
Catching Smokey Jungle Frogs
is about the hardest thing I've faced
in quite some time here in Costa Rica,
but do not fear, I will catch one.
Ah, this is terrible.
We continued searching into the night
and traveled deeper into the jungle
where we came upon a swampy lagoon.
We do have another Smokey Jungle Frog
up here on the embankment.
It is definitely going to be way more difficult
to catch than even the last one.
Let's move up slow with the lights.
Let's see if I can give you a shot on him, Mark.
He is, look at the eye shine up there
underneath that branch, you see it?
- [Mark] Where?
- [Coyote] Up underneath like, see this
skinny log across the thick log?
Look straight up from that on the embankment.
You see the dark right there?
- [Mark] No.
Oh, yeah yeah yeah.
There he is, he's right behind the leaves.
- [Coyote] See it.
(crickets chirping)
(intense suspenseful music)
Got it!
(yells)
- Woo! - Yes!
- [Mark] Yes!
- Ah, in the water.
- [Mark] You all right? (Coyote yells)
- Oh, hold on, oh!
(sighs)
Unbelievably strong, unbelievably slippery.
All right, I'm coming back, hold on.
All right, I'm just coming back, hold on with two hands.
Yes!
- [Mark] Nice grab.
- That is a Smokey Jungle Frog right there, okay.
- Here, let's- - We need out of this pond
and into a controlled situation.
Whoa, what a slimy beast.
Wow, okay.
Let's get this guy out of the pond and up onto the trail.
I'd give you a high five except
my hand is covered in frog mucus.
- [Mark] I appreciate that.
- Yes! - All right.
- Wow, what a catch. - Nice grab, man.
- [Coyote] Finally, yes!
I'm not sure we could have gotten that one any better.
- [Mark] What a grab.
- [Coyote] Oh, roll, roll, roll, roll!
- [Mark] I'm rolling.
(frog croaking loudly)
- [Man] I need light.
- There it is, the famous sound that they make.
(frog croaking loudly)
Wow!
(laughs)
That is the alarm sound that we were, oh!
(frog croaking loudly) I hear you.
They're famous for making that load croaking-
(frog croaking loudly)
Alarm sound, you hear that?
Now, if you were a predator, you came in here
and you grabbed a hold of this frog and it did that,
(frog croaking loudly) that,
it would be startling and you would likely drop the frog
and it would escape.
(frog croaking loudly) I hear you, yes.
Wow, the vocal chords on that frog are incredible.
Now, a secondary defense is, you see all this mucus
that is coming off of the frog's body?
That is slightly toxic
and it is actually burning
really bad on my fingers right now.
I have a couple of cuts.
You can see it looks like foam.
Now that mucus not only keeps the frog moist,
but it also deters (frog croaks) any potential predators.
I know, I hear you, little buddy.
Now, I'm not hurting the frog in any way whatsoever.
You see it's puffing up its body.
He's like a balloon right now.
(frog croaking)
Yes, I know but have you not figured out
that you've already been captured?
Yeah?
(crew laughing)
I don't know what that was but,
ah, I'm so excited we caught this frog.
Now they are incredibly strong.
These back legs are solid muscle.
Now Mark, look at this frog's toes.
What is it missing?
- Webbing? - That's right,
because this is a terrestrial species.
Now, they're oftentimes living in burrows,
and that is what these frogs
have been escaping into all night
or up underneath root cavities,
but this one was right on the edge of a pond
likely hunting because they are ambush predators.
And no wonder, look at how big it is.
Wow, you are just a beast!
Oh, it's incredible.
Now, all amphibians have toxins in their skin.
I've handled many amphibians on the strip to Costa Rica,
but nothing has actually made my hands burn yet
and all that foam in all those small cuts on my fingers
is stinging really, really bad right now.
So I won't be able to hold onto the frog for too long,
but what amazing coloration.
Now, you can see how this frog
looks just like the leaf litter,
so if it was kind of down here on the ground,
just hiding underneath things amongst the leaves.
Now, during the day, they will do that.
Just stay hidden on the forest floor.
And you can see that very distinct camouflage on the back.
Looks exactly like the cut outs
in some of these leaves and the ferns.
And if you lift the frog up, get that little piece.
(frog croaks)
Oh, oh!
He's squeezing me with those front arms, they're-
Oh, oh!
- [Mark] Oh, oh, oh!
- Oh, I got him, I got him, I got him, oh.
- [Mark] Man, he's slippery, isn't he?
- Unbelievably slippery, well all that mucus-
- [Mark] Oh man, you are muddy now. (laughs)
- Yeah, ah, I wasn't gonna let this one get away.
(laughs) This frog is definitely making us ...
Aw, I'm sorry, buddy, you got mud on your face.
You got mud on your face, it's okay.
- [Mark] Here, hold on a second.
I've got a bottle of water.
- Yeah, you've got a bottle of water?
There we go, a little drink, there we go.
And then you're just rinsed off a little bit.
I'm covered in mud, too.
This probably isn't helping, but I want you guys
to be able to see the beautiful
camouflage of this frog's face.
They're absolutely gorgeous.
It's kind of like a giant wood frog.
There we go. - That's golden.
- Look at you, yes.
Look at the eyes, amber and gold, beautiful.
Look at that, okay, hold on just a second longer.
Now, I do believe this is a male
because you can see on the fingers here,
they have these little hooks
and that helps them to hold onto the females
during the breeding process.
And, actually during breeding season,
the males' forearms get significantly bigger,
and one of their defense postures,
and to defend their territories
because they're very territorial,
they will puff up their bodies,
push their arms out like big bodybuilders
and then defend their territory from other impressing males.
Now, here's something that's really interesting
about the tadpoles of these frogs.
Now, they lay their nests in like a giant clump of foam
and as the tadpoles are developing,
the ones that grow quicker end up eating the smaller ones.
So, in a sense, this frog is a cannibal.
Buddy, you eat your own kind, that's kind of crazy.
Wow.
(laughs) Oh, man.
What a catch.
And a second catch diving right there into the mud.
- [Mark] Can you show us the legs?
- Ooh, oh, that's a risky game,
but let me see what I can do here.
- [Mark] Yeah, I'd like to see the stripes.
- I do not wanna lose the frog.
Oh, oh, oh.
He's very slippery.
Now, the mucus that he's secreting
makes him even more slippery.
That's about as far as I can show you right there.
- Okay, cool. - Does that help?
- [Mark] Yeah.
It really looks like tiger stripes.
That's really cool.
- Now this is the largest frog species here in Costa Rica.
They do get a bit bigger than this,
but as compared to the ones we've seen tonight,
this is an absolute giant.
Look at that frog.
Wow, what a night.
It took us hours, but we finally managed to catch
the one amphibian that has been eluding me
every time I've been to Costa Rica,
the Smokey Jungle Frog.
I'm Coyote Peterson.
Be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
(frog croaking loudly)
Oh.
- [Mark] He's saying goodbye.
- I think he's ready to go.
We're gonna set him down right here,
and he's gonna plop all the way back down into the water.
(laughs)
Did you see that distance?
- [Mark] Yep.
- That was awesome.
What a night.
If you thought catching the Smokey Jungle Frog
looked difficult, make sure to go back
and watch the time I finally managed
to get the Spiny Tailed Iguana up close for the cameras.
(intense music)
Okay, oh, it definitely made a go at me there.
Wow.
And don't forget, subscribe
to join the pack on our next adventure
when I get dangerously close to the Spectacled Caiman,
coming this month on the Brave Wilderness channel.
Got it, got it.
Hold on a second.
- [Mark] That is a huge caiman.
- [Coyote] Holy mackerel, okay.
(deep growling) (rolling thunder)