(hornet buzzes)
- [Coyote] Look at that beast.
From its head to its thorax, everything about this creature
screams, run in the other direction.
Ah!
Oh, the stinger's stuck in my arm!
(hisses)
(screams)
Searing pain!
Absolute searing pain!
(dramatic music)
- Stand by.
Stand by, Coyote, breaking news here.
Yep, action.
- Murder hornets?
This is breaking news.
Welcome to the Brave Wilderness News Network.
I'm your host, Coyote Peterson.
And unless you've been living on the moon
for the past five days, I'm sure you've also seen
the headline that's been sweeping the nation,
Murder hornets and their invasion, here in America.
Well guys, I gotta tell ya, murder hornets
are not going to invade America.
What I'm gonna do now is,
answer 10 of the most asked questions
that have been coming in through the social media feeds.
We're gonna address whether or not these hornets
are gonna show up, what exactly a murder hornet is
and whether or not you truly need to be afraid
of these seemingly terrifying creatures.
So, you guys ready?
Here we go.
Question number one, what is a murder hornet?
Well, first of all the term murder hornet
was just created by the media to invoke fear in the public.
There is no such thing as a murder hornet
and there is not any hornet species
that is going to murder humans, so to speak.
What they are scientifically known as is,
Asian giant hornets.
You guys saw me stung by something known as
the Japanese giant hornet in 2018
and that is one of the world's largest Asian hornet species.
They're multiple subspecies and the one that showed up
in the Pacific Northwest is an Asian hornet of some sort,
but that does not mean that there is an outbreak
of these insects they're about to take over the US.
Question number two, how big are they?
Well, given their name, giant hornets, they're really big.
In fact, most of the largest species measure close
to two inches in length with a three-inch wingspan.
In Japan, they refer to the Japanese giant hornet
as, the great sparrow bird.
This is because the insect is so large,
it resembles a bird when it's flying through the air.
In fact, their so loud it almost sounds like
an Apache helicopter is getting ready to land,
if one flies by you.
So trust me, you're gonna hear it
far before you see it coming.
Question number three, how did they get here?
Well first of all, let's not use the term, they.
Thus far, we have a single individual that has been found
and keep in mind, it was also dead,
which means it's not going to be reproducing.
It didn't just get here on its own.
A hornet like that cannot fly all the way across the ocean
and end up in the United States.
That is physically impossible.
The animal would have exhausted itself, died
and fallen into the ocean, far before it made landfall.
The way that it likely got here was on a cargo ship.
This is one way that a lot of invasive species
end up on our soil.
They stow away on a boat, once the boat docks,
it realizes it's on land, it escapes the boat,
and low and behold, it's out there in the environment
for us humans here in the United States to encounter.
So, that is likely how this hornet
ended up in the Pacific Northwest.
Question number four, how many are here now?
To be honest with you, I am not sure.
Is there more than one?
Possibly.
Entomologists are, specifically,
working on this topic now in the Pacific Northwest
to determine whether or not, a nest and a colony has formed.
If that is the case, once they find it,
it will be eradicated and it is unlikely the spread
of the hornets will go any further than that.
So, the concept of them moving from Washington
to New York City in the next 18 months, completely unlikely.
Question number five, how painful is the sting?
Second most painful insect sting in the world,
according to Coyote Peterson.
The pain is excruciating, it feels like someone has shoved
a red-hot poker into your arm and does not remove it
for close to six hours.
After I was stung, my arm had swollen up
to nearly twice it's original size
and I was in intense pain for almost 36 hours.
Trust me, it is not something you want to get stung by.
Also keep in mind, it is only the second most painful sting.
The most painful sting goes to the true king,
the execution wasp.
Trust me, you don't want to be stung by that one either.
Question number six, how potent is the venom?
Well, it's quite potent.
Keep this in mind, a larger insect is going to have
a larger venom yield, that means, a single two-inch
hornet is going to inject more venom in its sting
than something like your typical backyard hornet.
Now, the venom does have neurotoxic properties,
which means that it does attack your nervous system
but it also has some compounds
that can break down human flesh,
which means that it can cause necrosis.
So, it is a very potent sting, just a single sting, alone,
is more than a single human would ever want to handle.
But several stings, let's say, 20 to 30,
could potentially kill a human.
But death usually occurs as a secondary allergic reaction.
So, it's not so much the stings as much as it is,
being allergic to the insect's venom.
Question number seven, will the giant hornet
sting me for no reason?
No, these hornets will not sting unless provoked
and by provoked I mean, if you tried to catch,
tried to kill or tried to spray one
of these creatures with an insecticide.
Just like all hornets and wasps, if they feel threatened
they will attack.
Now, a single hornet is likely to just leave you alone.
If you accidentally stumble upon a nest and disturb it
that is how you get swarmed
and that is the worst-case scenario
that, hopefully, none of us will ever have to deal with.
Question number eight, who needs to be afraid?
Honestly, nobody.
Nobody that's human, that is.
Now, beekeepers, definitely, need to be aware
because it's the bees that do need to fear the hornets.
Specifically, European honeybees
because they have not yet evolved to a state
where they are capable of forming a defense
against these hornet's attack.
What the hornets will do, is come in and decimate
an entire colony by stinging and decapitating
all the worker bees, they work their way in,
eventually kill the queen
and then they eat all of the larva.
Now, Asian honeybee species have worked out a way,
through evolution, to create a defense
against giant hornets.
They will form something known as a, bee ball.
Where they will surround a single hornet,
beat their wings as fast as they can
and raise that hornet's body temperature
to the point where, essentially, they cook it.
However, European honeybees have not figured out
how to do this, yet.
Which means, if giant hornets did become a stronghold
here in the United States,
beekeepers would, definitely,
need to try to protect their colonies from these hornets.
The biggest threat is that the hornets would come in
and wipe out our honeybees.
Question number nine, what should I do
if I see one of these hornets?
Well, you definitely don't want to approach it.
You definitely don't want to provoke it
and you don't want to try to catch it or kill it.
If you can, from a safe distance, get a photograph.
Verifying the species identification is the most
important thing we can do right now.
Take that information and provide it to your local
Fish and Wildlife Department.
They can help you properly identify the species
and then they will get in touch with entomologists
that can come out into your area
and determine whether or not there is a hive
or colony that has taken root, in an area near you.
Question number ten, is the hype real?
Are giant hornets going to invade America?
To be honest, I would say it's very unlikely.
Even if a colony has established itself
in the Pacific Northwest, entomologists are gonna
track it down and destroy it long before the hornets
are going to spread from Washington,
clear across to New York.
I'm so confident in saying that,
that I would come out of sting retirement
and get stung by one, if it was here in the United States.
- That's right, that's right, Coyote Peterson is coming
out of sting retirement, print the headline!
You heard me right.
- No, no, that is not what I'm saying!
I'm not coming out of sting retirement,
see, this is how things get out of control in the media.
It is all hype, what I'm saying is that your odds
of being swarmed, let alone stung, by giant hornets
this summer is virtually impossible.
Which means, head out enjoy your picnics,
you are not going to be running into
giant man-eating hornets.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
- Breaking news, breaking news, giant man-eating hornets!
- They're not man-eating, I told you this!
If you wan to learn more about giant hornets,
make sure to go back and watch my epic,
yet, clearly painful encounter
with this greatly misunderstood insect.
- [Cameraman] You gotta tell us if you're in trouble.
Are you gonna be okay?
- When the stinger went into my arm, I had this wave,
like a wave came over me and I got super dizzy,
almost didn't feel what was happening,
and then the pain was immediate.
Immediately searing.
(groans loudly)
Oh, and make sure to subscribe,
click the notification bell, enjoy memberships,
so you can follow along with me and the crew
on our next wild adventure.
- [Cameraman] Wow.
- Oh my gosh!
- [Cameraman] I can see that your wrist
is starting to swell, do you want to take your watch off.
Need help?
- I got it, I got it, I got it.
(groans loudly)
No relief yet.
It's just a matter of harnessing the pain,
controlling the level of pain
and rolling around on the ground and screaming
at this point, really doesn't do me any good.
All right, let's cut cameras and come back
in about five minutes.
Let me get a drink of water.
(animal growling)